Wife may return to poisoner

Peter Faigan tried to poison his wife and their boarder, Keith Chisnall, inset, by feeding a hose through a wall and gassing them. The June 6 incident happened at the Faigan residence on Corbett Rd in Bell Block.

‘Along with planning rules, it [the RMA] is largely the reason why home ownership has become and continues to get harder,’’

A woman has told of her plans to reunite with her husband – the man who tried to gas her and their boarder through a peephole.

‘‘I am not afraid of him and I never have been,’’ Elizabeth Faigan, 45, said of Peter Faigan in a statement read at his sentencing in the High Court at New Plymouth yesterday. ‘‘I think there is a good chance that Peter and I will get back together.’’

The court heard she has spent months thinking over the June 6 incident, when Faigan fed a hose into the bedroom in Bell Block, near New Plymouth, where she and Keith Chisnall were sleeping.

Attached to the hose was a 9kg LPG bottle which Faigan, 59, turned on before walking away, leaving its contents to spill into the tiny downstairs room of the Corbett Rd building, fronted by Checkers Fast Food.

Several hours later, Elizabeth woke to the stench of LPG and to a hissing sound. She alerted Chisnall and the pair escaped.

Faigan, who lived in the building’s upstairs flat, was seen watching from his window as emergency services arrived.

He admitted two charges of attempted poisoning, for which Justice Peter Churchman sentenced him to 11 months’ home detention at yesterday’s hearing.

Prior to the gassing, Elizabeth said Faigan had never tried to harm her in their 11-year marriage.

At the time, his mental health was rapidly deteriorating and he was suffering physical, psychological and cognitive issues following two strokes.

In 2018, Faigan employed Chisnall to help clean up the property to get it ready to sell, and in return Chisnall was provided accommodation in the lower level.

But the situation became acrimonious and Faigan asked Chisnall to leave. Chisnall refused and tensions grew, often resulting in police being called to the address. In September, Chisnall was sentenced to 12 months’ supervision for a vicious assault on Faigan.

Chisnall has previously told Stuff about a two-year agreement he had with Faigan to lease the room in return for his labour. He said Faigan had promised him a hot rod car upon completion of the contract and Chisnall was determined to see it through.

In early 2019, Faigan and Elizabeth separated and she moved downstairs and into the same bedroom as Chisnall. ‘‘That then became problematic for Mr Faigan, who developed an increasing sense of desperation and distress about his inability to have Mr Chisnall leave,’’ defence lawyer Susan Hughes, QC said.

Faigan had tried all legal routes to get Chisnall out, including an eviction order and a trespass notice. Faigan’s intentions weren’t to harm anyone but rather were a desperate attempt to make Chisnall leave, she submitted.

‘‘He hoped that if Mr Chisnall left that his relationship with his wife might be restored.’’

Chisnall has emphatically denied he and Elizabeth had an intimate relationship and maintains he was helping her as she had no other place to live.

‘‘It worries me with the ease that you walked away after turning on the LPG bottle,’’ Chisnall said of Faigan’s actions.

‘‘I believe you tried to kill me, your wife, your dog and your bird ... I don’t want anything to do with you. I wish I never met you.’’