HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AP) — A New Zealand diplomat’s death from a single knife wound to the heart was accidental, a Solomon Islands magistrate ruled Tuesday.
Bridget Nichols, 50, died inside the New Zealand diplomatic compound in the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara on March 17.
Initial reports suggested she was stabbed during a failed burglary in the increasingly lawless city. But police evidence presented to Magistrate David Chetwynd showed Nichols fell on a knife she was carrying and it penetrated her heart.
“Bridget Nichols died as the consequence of a freak accident,” Chetwynd said. “I would…rule out the possibility that Ms. Nichols was a victim of an attack.”
The ruling was immediately welcomed by New Zealand’s secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Neil Walters.
“While this finding does not lessen the impact of Bridget’s tragic death, it at least provides the comfort of knowing that an attack or assault has been ruled out,” he said in a statement.
At the time of her death, Nichols was working on a plan for a group of unarmed New Zealand police to be posted to the Solomon Islands to train local police.
