Children still love their father despite him killing their mother while depressed
The four children of a man who killed his wife say they still love and support their dad and know he wouldn’t have committed such a violent murder if he wasn’t suffering depression.
Justice Anne Hinton sentenced Michael Douthett to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years after he previously pleaded guilty to the murder of his former wife, Patricia (Trish) Douthett, 50, on November 26 last year as well as a charge of dangerous driving.
As his sentence was handed down before a packed gallery, Michael Douthett, 57, was motionless in the dock.
Michael Douthett shot and killed his wife in the family home they shared during their 25 years together. It was also the home where Trish grew up as a child.
Despite Michael Douthett’s children and own family being supportive of him, the court heard from Trish Douthett’s two sisters who were not.
Youngest sister Barbara Wallis’ victim impact statement said she always feared Michael Douthett would kill her sister one day.
She said she hoped Michael Douthett would now be controlled in the same way as she said he controlled his wife.
During sentencing at the High Court in Rotorua, Justice Hinton read letters of support from the Douthett children.
In it, youngest son Mark Douthett said he knew his dad and knew he wouldn’t be capable of doing what he did if he wasn’t suffering from depression.
“I will never get over what he has
Therewillneverbe an excuse for what I have done and what I have taken from you all. Michael Douthett, convicted killer
done. I loved my mum but I also love my dad and I have lost both of them,” Mark Douthett’s letter said.
Justice Hinton also read a letter of support from Nicole Douthett, Michael Douthett’s daughter, who described her concern for her father’s deteriorating mental health.
Judge Hinton said from reading medical evidence it was clear Michael Douthett had been suffering from a severe depressive disorder.
She said he had been hearing voices in his head and on the day of the murder he heard voices saying, “Hurry up, get it done”.
She said Michael Douthett had undergone several examinations by medical experts and she concluded that although his mental health was causative, it was in no way an excuse.
Trish Douthett had left her husband a few months before she died but she had to return daily to their family home to run the farm.
According to a summary of facts, Michael Douthett loaded a rifle and hid it in the bed of the master bedroom.
Trish Douthett returned to the house after milking and went to the office. Michael Douthett grabbed the rifle from the bed and went to the office, shooting her in the head, reloading and shooting her again.
Michael Douthett then rang the police and told the call taker: “I have murdered my wife, I shot her.”
Wallis said she threatened to go to police about the gun Michael Douthett kept at the house.
On the day of her sister’s death, she got a text from her elderly father telling her to get to the farm as soon as possible.
“I was meant to be picking Trish up from town, I knew something terrible had happened.
“I should not have been on the road. So scared, screaming, panicking and then telling myself off for being a drama queen — dangerous to myself and others.
She took one look at her father and knew her worst fears were true. “Dad was devastated — broken. “Since you so cowardly killed her,
I’ve been left making decisions I never dreamed I would have to make. I’ve stepped up . . . with running what is now your farm. The farm that was purchased by my parents in 1964.”
Trish Douthett’s other younger sister, Rosie Wallis, also read a victim impact statement to the court.
She said Michael Douthett created a distance at family gatherings like Christmas and as a result their children were closer to his family.
“I knew for several years she wanted to leave him. When she finally did, I was happy, really, really happy because I thought that she would have 30 or more years of happiness and freedom. If there was ever anyone who could be on their own, it was her.”
Douthett’s lawyer, Max Simpkins, told the judge the children still supported their father and hoped to have a relationship with him when he was released.
Simpkins said Michael Douthett had been suffering from depression for a long time and had told his sister, who had made him a doctor’s appointment for the day after the murder.
In a letter to his children and Trish’s friends and family, Simpkins said, Michael Douthett said he would never forgive himself and understood he had caused trauma and heartache to his family.
The letter said although he was suffering from depression, he was not using that as an excuse. “There will never be an excuse for what I have done and what I have taken from you all.”
Amanda Gordon was the Crown prosecutor.
I loved my mum but I also love my dad and I have lost both of them. Mark Douthett, murdered woman’s son