CORONER’S CASE BOOK
‘How the dead help the living’
Visiting your newborn twin grandchildren after their lengthy hospital stay would mark an emotional moment for anyone. But there was extra significance for retired coroner Wallace Bain when he arrived at his son Lyndon’s home in 2019.
“I walked in and there on the floor were my little twin grandsons, beautifully tucked up in Pepi-Pods,” the 71-yearsays. “It was overwhelming.”
What Lyndon didn’t know was the significant role Wallace played in making the bassinetstyle pods more accessible
– and subsequently reducing infant deaths. Disturbed that around 55 babies were dying annually as a result of cosleeping with parents, Wallace advocated to get Pepi-Pods and wahakura (flax-woven versions) funded.
“They’ve brought the death rate down to 30 and it’s expected to fall to five,” he
tells. “That means 50 children who are walking around who wouldn’t be otherwise.”
For Wallace, it’s a “contribution to society” that has been his greatest gift serving as a coroner, and seeing his own family reap the benefits was a powerful moment.
Wallace’s strong sense of justice and helping others was instilled at an early age, largely thanks to his trailblazing mother Mollie. “She was one of the first 10 women detectives in New Zealand,” he says. “Discipline and rules were part of our upbringing.”
Following in the footsteps of his pharmacist father Athol, Wallace headed to Wellington to study pharmacy, where he met wife Juliet.
“We’d all left home to study pharmacy, so we were all people who cared for others,” says Juliet, 67. “We made a wonderful group of friends and lots of them married each other. We still see them.”
“We have a group called the 69ers,” adds Wallace. “It’s the year we all met. We had our 50th reunion 18 months ago.”
Wallace and Juliet wed in 1974, before Wallace re-evaluated his career. Working nights managing a pharmacy, he began attending the Arthur Allan Thomas retrial by day, which steered him into law.
He eventually became a part-time coroner in the King Country. While his pharmacy and law backgrounds enhanced his work, suddenly dealing with death every day was a challenging adjustment.
“You have to divorce yourself from the emotional and heartfelt side, some of which is very tragic,” he explains.
Among the sad inquests he led were the highly publicised deaths of toddlers Nia Glassie and Moko Rangitoheriri. Wallace notes a coroner doesn’t just investigate deaths. Part of the role is to make key recommendations to help prevent similar losses in the future. Wallace reveals there were days he would duck behind the bench, hiding his tears.
Other cases would haunt him at night. “Sometimes you wake up, tossing around. But you’ve got to get on with it because not getting on with it is hurtful to the families,”he shares.
Wallace couldn’t have done the job without Juliet, who ensured he came home from trying days to domestic bliss.
“I was conscious there were difficult things going on, so I made his home life bearable – made nice meals, kept the home fires burning,” says Juliet. “Wallace also went fishing to clear his head.”
Meanwhile, the couple raised their son Lyndon, now 43, and daughter Catherine, 40.
“It was really busy with working and school activities. I don’t know how we did it looking back, but that’s what you do when you’re young!” says Juliet.
By the time Wallace became full-time Regional Coroner in Rotorua in 2007, Lyndon and Catherine had left home, but family still weighed on his mind at times. He recalls one night when a report came through about a young boy who had drowned in a pond. “He was the same age and had the same name as my grandson, so
I found that very hard.”
It’s his five grandchildren, ranging from six months to six years, who have helped keep Wallace busy since his 2020 retirement. He and Juliet relish attending the kids’ rugby games or taking them to movies. “We saw Tom and Jerry and Peter Rabbit 2. I’m right up with it all,” Wallace laughs.
While Juliet busies herself gardening at the couple’s Lake Tarawera home, Wallace goes trout fishing with Outdoors with Geoff host Geoff Thomas at the lake, which he describes as “the most beautiful rainbow trout fishery in the world”.
Writing his new book, A Coroner Speaks for the Dead to Protect the Living, has also helped Wallace transition into retirement. “Suddenly, you’re nobody and have nothing to do. The book occupied me while I got through that difficult time.”
The book covers Wallace’s career and role in various inquests. He hopes it gives
Kiwis a greater understanding of what coroners do and the power they hold to enforce life-saving changes.
The proof is in Wallace’s own work – he has helped enact changes regarding child abuse, got fatal one-lane bridges expanded and reduced the alcohol content of RTDs following a teenage fatality. He’s also tackled cyberbullying, youth suicide and hunting deaths.
“Coroners make a big difference to society,” he reflects. “I’m very proud.”
‘I was conscious there were difficult things going on, so I made his home life bearable’