‘Open verdict’ in teen’s death
Suicide by young artist ‘probable’, finds coroner
A CORONER has returned an “open verdict” into the presumed death of a talented young Hobart artist, who disappeared more than six years ago.
Nazrawi “Naz” Samson Woldemichael, 19, was last seen at the Eastlands Shopping Centre on October 9, 2016 – with Coroner Simon Cooper finding he must have died by suicide, misadventure or homicide, with suicide being “probable”.
However, Mr Cooper did not rule out the possibility of homicide, with one man apparently telling his ex-girlfriend and three other people he’d killed a young man with an axe at a homeless campsite, at the Domain.
According to that story, the man said he’d buried the body and burned the evidence,
with another witness claiming the man had turned up “covered in blood”.
But the coroner said police found no evidence corroborating this story – only finding some buried clothes at the campsite that were “peculiarly
… laid out as if a person were wearing them”, and nothing linking to Mr Woldemichael.
Mr Cooper said there was no evidence the pair even met, but understood the man was said “to make up extreme stories and would lie to get attention”.
Mr Cooper also noted that
Woldemichael’s mother believed her son had fled to South Australia, taken on a new identity, then moved to Western Australia to live with a young African man with a history of committing credit card and identity fraud.
“I note that (Mr Woldemichael’s mother) has travelled around Australia making her own inquiries to try to locate her son, but sadly without any success,” Mr Cooper said.
“There is no evidence to support this belief.”
The coroner said Mr
Woldemichael was born in Ethiopia in 1996, with his family moving to Tasmania as refugees in 2006.
After studying at The Hutchins School, Mr Woldemichael studied art at TAFE and was known as a talented artist.
Mr Cooper said Mr Woldemichael started using drugs – mainly cannabis and LSD – in grade 12.
In 2014, Mr Woldemichael was hit by a car while affected by illicit drugs, spending several weeks in an induced coma and suffering a serious traumatic brain injury.
Mr Cooper said the accident affected his personality, causing him to become “paranoid, angry and delusional”, expressing suicidal ideation, and spending time as a psychiatric inpatient. A number of people claimed to have spotted Mr Woldemichael in Hobart or on the Tasman Bridge, but these sightings were unverified.
Mr Cooper said he was satisfied Mr Woldemichael, who hadn’t accessed his Centrelink or bank accounts or used a mobile phone, was deceased.
Mr Cooper said it was unlikely he died by misadventure or accident, as it was “almost certain” his body would have been found.