Nailgun death in lovers' row

GRUESOME DEATH: Damon Sturmey died after three shots with a nail gun.

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It was a lovers' tiff that went horribly wrong.

Damon Ra Sturmey, 39, is thought to have been trying to give his fiancee a fright when fatally shot himself three times in the chest with a nailgun.

He did not realise how badly he would hurt himself, New Plymouth coroner Timothy Scott said yesterday.

After a three-hour inquest, he concluded that he could find no evidence that Mr Sturmey intended to commit suicide. "I don't think he meant the wounds to be fatal."

Earlier, the inquest was told that Mr Sturmey had been arguing with his fiancee, Sarah-Lee Harlow, last August.

After being locked out of their house he returned in the morning and shot himself with a nailgun.

Three nails went into his chest, puncturing his heart.

He was alive and conscious for nearly half an hour before Taranaki District Health Board ambulance staff arrived.

Ambulance officer Janice McGiven said she arrived to find eight or 10 people outside watching as Mr Sturmey repeatedly fell over and got back up.

She said he walked toward the ambulance, telling them to go away.

Despite the resistance, the ambulance crew were able to start treating him and found three puncture wounds near his heart.

Mrs McGiven said one of the nails was still lodged in his chest. She believed he had pulled the other two out.

Mr Sturmey remained semi-conscious till the ambulance arrived at Taranaki Base Hospital in New Plymouth, where he died a short time later.

All of yesterday's witnesses were questioned by Mr Sturmey's sister, Niki Sturmey, before she addressed the coroner, saying that the family was not happy with inconsistencies in Ms Harlow's statement to police. Ms Harlow moved to Australia about two months after her fiance's death and did not attend yesterday's inquest.

Ms Sturmey said the family could not accept that her brother would take his own life.

At one stage a family member from the public gallery told the coroner they also did not believe it possible for someone to shoot themselves in the heart three times.

All of the statements were rejected by Mr Scott, who said the evidence was clear that Mr Sturmey's injuries were self-inflicted. He said he believed Mr Sturmey thought his wounds were more trivial than they were.

- © Fairfax NZ News