Soul healers under scrutiny

Spiritual coaching by two ‘‘master soul healers’’ may have contributed to the death of a Levin woman, a coroner’s inquest has heard.

Anna Marita Godfrey, 55, died in a suspected suicide at her house on July 25 or 26 last year. A hearing was held by Coroner Tim Scott in Levin on Wednesday.

‘‘I strongly believe they have contributed to her death by filling her head with rubbish and not offering her the proper help that she needed and deserved,’’ her daughter Marita Godfrey said.

She supplied the inquest with alarming text messages from both ‘‘healers’’ to her mother about relying on self-healing.

‘‘Meds and MDS don’t heal ... if it was up to me I would drop them altogether,’’ Ed Strachar, one of the self-styled healers, who is based in the Philippines, told Godfrey.

‘‘Don’t be a slave to the med system, which wants you on drugs for life ... take charge of your health.’’

He told Godfrey she had demons ‘‘in her head misdirecting her’’ and advised taking extreme measures.

‘‘Are you open to that?" Godfrey replied to him that she had ‘‘thought of it myself lately’’.

Shortly after, Godfrey did not agree to buy more sessions and Strachar called her ‘‘flaky’’ and said she had the ‘‘wrong attitude’’, before selling her four ‘‘tune-ups’’ for $1500 and a ‘‘free kick in the arse’’.

Asked by the coroner about the tone of these texts, the other ‘‘healer’’, a Kiwi woman with name suppression, said ‘‘yes, he’s harsh, but he’s also friendly. That’s one of Ed’s styles, it’s to ... get you focused.’’

Godfrey’s husband Christopher Godfrey said she had been depressed since before 2012.

The husband and daughter handed the texts to the police. They also found evidence of more than $23,543 paid to Strachar.

The New Zealand-based ‘‘healer’’ told the coroner she believed her work was helping her friend, not harming her.

Marita Godfrey said her mother had paid the Kiwi woman for readings from ‘‘the other side’’ and spiritual advice for years, but the sessions changed recently.

‘‘I know that this is only part of the reason my mum made the choice that she did, but I believe that her involvement with [the Kiwi woman] and Ed strongly influenced her to take her own life.’’

The Kiwi woman told the court she was concerned about her friend’s wellbeing, how she was handling relocating to Levin and her husband’s trips away.

She was coaching her through lessons from Strachar and recommended choosing natural remedies.

In the days before she died, Godfrey had said she was thinking of death and ending it, but the woman replied with messages to ‘‘clear herself’’ and think of Thomas the Tank Engine.

She said she knew Godfrey was unwell but did not refer her to professional help or advise anyone because Godfrey was receiving support from people including Strachar, a life coach recommended by Strachar, Godfrey’s husband and friends, and a GP Godfrey’s husband had taken her to.

The registrar told the coroner Strachar was unable to be contacted. The coroner is expected to release findings in about a month.