Daughter seeks answers after mother murdered by mental health patient

Six months after Faye Phelps was murdered by a mental health patient, the second killing involving a patient from Hillmorton Hospital in Christchurch in just over two years, her daughter is seeking answers. RNZ national crime correspondent Sam Sherwood investigates.

It was about 7am when Faye Phelps emailed her gardener to advise him of the weather conditions from her home in the coastal suburb of Mt Pleasant, where she had enjoyed a picturesque view overlooking Christchurch for more than 50 years.

"Misty drizzle at the moment," the email began.

"So unless the sun comes out it won't be very pleasant for gardening. Leave the decision to you Elliot. I won't be available for any other contact until after 9am."

For more than a decade, Elliot Cameron had been a familiar sight for a small group of Mt Pleasant neighbours who had him do their gardens. The elderly man was aged in his 70s and could no longer bike the whole way up the hill, and now peddled as far as the bottom before catching the bus.

He was often dishevelled, his grey hair poking out at strange angles and his clothing wrinkled. It was not unusual to see scrapes on his legs or blood from a fall while gardening. He would usually arrive in some shorts, boots, a plaid shirt and a parka.

Later that day - 4 October last year - Cameron arrived at her home.

It is unclear why, but he murdered the 83-year-old mother-of-two while he was there. Her body would not be discovered for three more days when her lawnmower man arrived.

Unbeknown to Faye, or others who were employing Cameron to do their gardening, he was actually a mental health patient who had been living at Hillmorton Hospital for many years.

Phelps' daughter Karen Phelps told RNZ she wants answers. She wants to know how he was being managed, and why her family and others were not told he was a mental health patient.

"Mum should have been safe and able to live out her final years in peace. She tried to keep herself safe and was very security conscious, but she couldn't have prevented what she didn't know," she said.

"I'm angry and upset that this was allowed to ever happen. It was preventable."

The gardener next-door

Cameron first started working in the area after replying to an online job advertisement published by one of the residents about 10 years ago.

The now former resident, a businessman who did not want to be named, said Cameron came across as a "harmless, well-meaning older chap who seemed to be doing his best".

"My intent was to give him a helping hand with the work, it seemed like he needed a break."

Cameron helped the businessman with his garden for a few years before they sold and the new owners kept him on.

"He talked about some of the previous work he'd done and some places he'd been, overall I got the impression he really valued the work. I didn't feel it was appropriate to pry into his personal life too much and he never gave any indication of having mental health issues."

Faye's late husband Bill met Cameron not long after he started gardening for the businessman.

As time went on, the conversations moved from through the gap in the hedge to Cameron knocking on his door to ask for help fixing things. He would also occasionally ask for advice.

When Bill's health began to decline, they enlisted Cameron to do some gardening. Bill was reluctant at first, as he liked doing the garden himself. In late 2022 Bill died, and Faye got Cameron in on a more regular basis to do the gardening, with the communications always over email.

Karen, who ended up buying a home down the road from her mother, also hired Cameron to do her garden.

The casual nature of Cameron's work suited both Karen and Faye, as neither needed someone to do the garden every week.

Karen describes Cameron as a "very hard worker".

"Mum just thought he was a bit different and noticed he wasn't capable of doing certain jobs well. For example, he'd cut a bush back a bit too aggressively and make a bit of a mess of it or leave tools lying around the yard. So, she'd just be selective about what she asked him to do and keep it simple, like weeding, which he was good at, and sometimes pick things up after him. "

There were never any warning signs he could be dangerous, Karen says. The family knew Cameron lived in some form of shared living accommodation where meals were cooked for him.

"He would get agitated about certain things but I never saw any sign of violence in him. For example he hated cabbage trees as he considered that they caused problems in the garden with their fronds hard to dispose of. He was adamant they should be removed. That sort of thing. But nothing that signaled he was dangerous. If I had thought that there was no way he would have been gardening for Mum and there is no way Mum would have wanted him to do gardening for her. She was very safety conscious."

'Is she alive?'

Karen last spoke to her mum via WhatsApp on the morning of 4 October shortly before 10am. They exchanged messages about a relative who was selling their home.

Karen, who was on holiday in the North Island, would usually have dinner every night at her mother's home and they kept in regular contact.

She became concerned when she did not hear from her in the coming days and was unable to reach her. She was so worried she decided to head home, ending her trip early.

About 4.45pm Faye's lawnmower man Aaron finished her neighbours property and was pushing his lawnmower up her drive while carrying the rest of his gear.

Aaron, who had mown Faye's lawns for about two years, was initially going to visit her on Friday but got too busy.

He had his headphones on under his earmuffs when he looked up and saw something on the ground. When he took a closer look he realised it was Faye.

"I just started throwing things off and calling out. I thought she had an accident. I thought she just fell over and smashed her head or something.

"I knew she was dead and I knew that she'd been passed away for a long time... I was just trying to think of the right thing to do. I was just trying to grab my phone ... and I was just shaking and trying to dial the number, and I was sort of walking around circles and calling out. My heart rate was racing, I was just in total shock."

A short while later emergency services arrived at the scene.

Aaron was stunned when he was told it was a homicide investigation.

"It was just absolute shock, and frustration and anger. Because I thought, why... she's in the heyday of her life."

Meanwhile, Karen was not far from home, waiting at a bus stop, when she got a call from police asking her where she was.

A police officer came and picked her up from the bus stop. Once inside the car the officer told her Faye had been killed and a homicide investigation was under way.

Karen's thoughts raced between taking in the fact her mother was dead, while also trying to figure out who could be responsible.

"I knew it had to be someone she knew and he was one of the only people she hadn't had police checked because he had been working in the neighbourhood for over a decade."

Cameron was arrested at Hillmorton Hospital that evening.

The following morning Karen was told who the killer was. She could not believe it. To her, Cameron appeared just a "harmless elderly man doing a bit of gardening to supplement his pension and get out of the house".

She felt a mixture of "anger, confusion, pity and revulsion" towards him.

"He was my gardener as well and I had numerous conversations with him. I liked him. I find it hard to reconcile this with what he's done."

'Mum should've been safe'

Cameron pleaded guilty to murdering Faye in the High Court at Christchurch earlier this month. The summary of facts, which details what happened that day, is currently suppressed until he is sentenced in June.

But with his guilty plea the media were allowed to report that Cameron was a mental health patient.

Karen was shocked when she was told by police that Cameron had been living at Hillmorton Hospital and that her family, and others who also employed him, were not told.

She understood the need for privacy, but did not think it was appropriate for him to be out in the public in an unmonitored way doing gardening.

"I would have thought him doing gardening in a monitored and supported way would have been much safer for the public and better for Elliot too. I would like to know why the DHB thought it was appropriate for him to be interfacing with the public and why weren't they monitoring this or supporting him in a more hands-on way out in the public realm?"

Karen, who wants an inquiry into her mother's death, wants to know if Cameron was getting adequate support for his mental health and whether gaps in his support put the public at risk.

"The best outcome now would be for the DHB to honestly examine what went wrong as quickly as possible, let the public know what it has found, apologize if they are putting the public at risk and make the necessary changes - rapidly."

She also expressed concerns for the staff at the hospital.

"I imagine this has also been very difficult for them and I hope they are getting the help and support they need so this tragedy does not result in more negative mental health outcomes. That would definitely be something Mum would not have wanted."

All of Cameron's immediate family are dead. An extended relative told RNZ the family wanted to know "what level of care he was getting prior to the time of the homicide".

"Our family have our own views about what may or may not have happened, ought to have happened," he said.

"We were pretty shocked to learn that he'd been charged with that murder. That's all I can really say."

The businessman hired Cameron a decade ago was also stunned when he learned what he was capable of.

"I typically trust my intuition about people, so it's really shaken me that he did this."

He said the case raised ongoing concerns about the availability of mental health support in New Zealand.

This case raises ongoing concerns about the availability of mental health support in New Zealand.

"It highlights gaps in treatment, which can have serious consequences for individuals and the wider community."

Nearly three years ago, in June 2022, Hillmorton Hospital forensic mental health patient Zakariye Mohamed Hussein stabbed Laisa Waka Tunidau to death as she walked home from work. Hussein was on community leave at the time of the killing.

Speaking to RNZ, her husband Nemani Tunidau said he was "very frustrated" when he heard about Faye's death.

"I think that the CDHB [Health New Zealand], the government is doing nothing… because it just keeps on coming."

Tunidau is still waiting for answers as to what led to his wife's death.

"Our family and my kids are thinking that their mother who was brutally murdered is forgotten by the Ministry of Health and the government of the day."

Tunidau said his family was still struggling with Waka Tunidau's killing. His youngest son, now 14, is still unable to walk to school on his own, afraid someone might do the same to him.

"Our life is torn apart."

Karen said given two members of the public had lost their lives at the hands of patients from the hospital within just over two years the matter needed to be "investigated with urgency".

"I just hope the report is independent and that it truly pinpoints the real issues and that these are identified and remedied. It's been three years since Laisa's death and the family is still waiting for answers and a report. Could Mum's death have been prevented if the report had been done earlier? That's three more years the public has been put at risk if there are faults in the system that haven't been identified and remedied."

Karen and her brother met with Health New Zealand in January.

She said the staff they spoke to indicated they had not read his case history, nor appeared to know where some of his older case history was.

"I was shocked they would come into a meeting with family of a person one of their patients had killed and not have read the patient's case notes," she said.

"I thought this spoke volumes about how things are being done at Hillmorton and was incredibly concerning."

Karen said the staff reported they would be able to do their own independent inquiry that would take six to eight weeks. Four months on, the family have heard nothing further.

"I don't think the people of Christchurch are safe at the moment unless real change happens at Hillmorton."

Health New Zealand deputy chief executive Te Waipounamu Martin Keogh said the intention of the meeting with the family was to offer their condolences and to "hear and respond" to any questions they had, where they were able to.

"We are often limited in the information we can provide about our patients, for privacy reasons, which means a review of their case notes isn't necessary for these meetings. Any questions that we are unable to respond to at a meeting are taken away for consideration, with further information provided where we can."

Health NZ had an independent review currently underway, Keogh said. The review was expected to be completed in the coming months. The findings and recommendations would be shared with the family, Keogh said.

"We acknowledge that this has taken longer than the family, or we, would like and apologise for this. While we endeavour to keep within our estimated timeframe, sometimes complex cases need more time to allow a thorough and robust review to be conducted, particularly when it sits with an independent panel.

"To keep the family informed of the review timing, we provided an update through their police liaison. We continue to provide further updates, information, or answer any question they may have, through the police liaison as needed."

In a statement to RNZ, Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey expressed his condolences to Faye's family.

"While this is a matter currently before the courts it would be inappropriate for to comment on this particular case further.

"I have been advised by Health NZ that there is an independent review currently underway to look into what happened. I expect these findings and recommendations will be shared with the victim's family."

He said a separate investigation of Canterbury District Mental Health Services, launched after Waka Tunidau's murder in 2022, was currently being finalised. He expected to be updated on the findings.

Karen said she was "not interested in meaningless vague PR statements about condolences - I want answers and I want change".

'A life sentence'

Karen wants her mother remembered as a "loving, kind, generous soul" who had a strong Christian faith and was always thinking of others, including Cameron, who she liked being able to help by giving him work.

Her mother was a fit 83-year-old who had so much more to give, and for her life to end in such a cruel manner was "horrific," she said.

"Nothing can prepare you for having to deal with something like this. It's not a natural act and as humans we are not equipped to deal with it. There are no skills in place. You are struggling to comprehend what's happened and process it. It's a life sentence for our family and something that will haunt us forever."

Not having her mum around to confide in, or share their daily dinners together had been "incredibly difficult".

"If she had passed naturally it would have been hard but so much easier. It's the violent and unnatural aspect of her death that makes it incredibly difficult to process and accept."

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.