Police ‘oversight’ led to death filing delay

HOMICIDE police took years to hand over a manslaughter case to Tasmania’s coronial division for investigation, the Chief Coroner has revealed.

In her newly released record of investigation, Coroner Olivia McTaggart found Zachary Tyler Hyde died in May, 2016, from a brain injury caused by massive blood loss.

His best friend, Dee-Jay Feil, who unknowingly severed the 20-year-old’s femoral artery by stabbing his leg, was jailed in May 2017 after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Feil has already served his minimum jail term and was released on parole in February this year, after spending three years and nine months behind bars.

Ms McTaggart blamed

“oversight” as the reason police didn’t return the investigation file into Mr Hyde’s death until October 29 last year.

“There should have been better systems in place within both Tasmania Police and the coronial division in order to prevent such oversight,” she said.

“It is likely that high workloads of all involved contributed to the matter.

“However, I would urge all investigating officers involved in homicide cases that have been finalised in the Supreme Court, to make contact with the coroner’s associates upon finalisation to progress the matter to a timely conclusion in the coronial division.”

She said the coronial division had now implemented a system to track the progress of cases involving Supreme Court criminal proceedings.

Ms McTaggart said her findings were consistent with the determinations made during Feil’s criminal proceedings.

“I find that Mr Hyde died as a result of an act of violence by Mr Dee-Jay Feil, that was inflicted with the intention of harming Mr Hyde but not with the intention of causing his death,” she said.

“This act of violence involved stabbing him in the left leg with a knife, causing massive blood loss, cardiac arrest and subsequent brain death.”

According to Tasmanian legislation, any unexpected, unnatural or violent deaths must be reported, with police preparing an initial document for the coroner.

Typically, police return an investigation file to the coroner’s office once criminal proceedings are complete, with those documents forming the basis for the coronial record.