How a grandfather consumed a deadly dose of the hard-to-come-by poison strychnine will stay a thriller after a coroner investigated his demise.
Douglas Thrift, 71, was discovered unresponsive at his rural residence in Denham, within the NSW Hunter area, on the afternoon of December 1, 2018 after he returned from enjoying a spherical of golf.
The ‘extremely uncommon’ discovery of strychnine in his system on the time of demise sparked a serious police investigation.
That probe was unable to find out whether or not the poison was consumed willingly or administered by a 3rd celebration.
An inquest in Might probed components together with Mr Thrift’s relationship together with his spouse and three sons, and his long-term struggles with alcohol.
Investigators have been unable to find out how 71-year-old Douglas Thrift (pictured) got here to ingest strychnine, a uncommon poison
Deputy State Coroner Carmel Forbes concluded it was not attainable to find out the way or circumstances of Mr Thrift’s demise past the trigger being strychnine toxicity.
‘The circumstance surrounding Mr Thrift’s demise and the way he got here to ingest strychnine stay unclear,’ she mentioned in findings delivered on Wednesday.
Police had been initially unable to find the poison at his property and it was greater than 4 years later that officers conducting a search beneath coronial orders discovered a dusty bottle of the toxin in a shed close to his residence.
Examination of the bottle discovered Mr Thrift’s DNA on the mouth and rim, however makes an attempt to acquire a viable fingerprint had been unsuccessful.
‘Given the bottle’s proximity, the truth that strychnine is so in any other case unavailable and the truth that Mr Thrift’s DNA is on the rim and mouth of the bottle, I’m glad that on the steadiness of possibilities that this bottle is the supply of the strychnine that (he) ingested,’ Ms Forbes mentioned.
‘The query stays did he deliberately take the strychnine to finish his life.’
The inquest was instructed Mr Thrift suffered from melancholy and had tried to take his personal life beforehand in 1984 and 2009.
Each of these incidents had been believed to be associated to his alcohol use and its impact on his relationships.
‘This historical past is important in the truth that on this prior try it was within the context of intoxication, a concern of dropping his spouse due to his consuming and it was impulsive,’ the coroner mentioned.
A serious investigation was launched after Mr Thrift was discovered unresponsive at his residence in Denham, NSW, on December 1, 2018, and excessive ranges of the poison had been present in his system
In an interview with police, Ms Thrift instructed officers when her husband returned from enjoying golf she may ‘odor grog on him’.
‘I mentioned one thing to him about consuming,’ she instructed investigators.
‘He lent ahead and held my face and mentioned, ‘I am right here for time, not a very long time’, then he went and laid down.’
Whereas it was attainable Mr Thrift had taken his personal life whereas drunk, the coroner mentioned there have been additionally various components that didn’t help that conclusion.
These included that he had left no word or given any indication he was despondent and that he had made plans for the long run, together with buying $100,000 value of farming tools.
The coroner shunned commenting about different methods Mr Thrift may have consumed the poison because of the opportunity of new proof coming to gentle sooner or later.
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
