Commissioner knife death 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
Inquiry told High Commissioner knife death an accident:
The inquiry into the death of the New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands in March has been told that she might have survived if she had not pulled a knife out of her heart.
All the evidence presented before the inquiry so far supports the theory that the death of the Deputy High Commissioner, Bridget Nichols, was the result of a freak and tragic accident.
The Auckland pathologist who conducted Bridget Nichols's post mortem examination, Dr Simon Stables, has told the inquiry that the kitchen knife inflicted a 14 centimetre wound that went through the chest wall and the main pumping chamber of her heart.
Dr Stables said if the offending weapon had remained in place, the injury would have been potentially survivable if Ms Nichols had undergone emergency surgery.
Another New Zealand doctor, forensic scientist Dr Michael Taylor conducted extensive tests at the scene.
He has told the inquiry that he believes Ms Nichols stumbled as she was trying to step up onto the driveway at her residence while carrying a large box and that she fell onto the knife which she was carrying in a woven bag around her neck.
He said fingerprints on the knife showed she had pulled it out of her chest before trying to walk to another house in the New Zealand compound for help.
http://www.abc.gov.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-17jun2002-80.htm Submitted on 06/17/2002
Submitted by:
Peter
Reference:
Australian ABC website
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