Dad speaks out: Son I forgive you
Six years after his son, Ross, went on a stabbing rampage, killing his mother and two strangers before it’s suspected he killed himself, Keith Bremner is still suffering from the injuries inflicted on that horrific day. In his first interview, he tells TO
When Keith Bremner was in a rehab centre in Auckland, recovering from horrific knife wounds that caused a stroke and almost took his life, he wrote a letter to his dead son, Ross.
Ross, 34, who had schizophrenia, had stabbed Keith about the neck and face and killed his wife, Clare, (Ross’ mother) at their Otorohanga home in October, 2016.
He then drove to the remote community of Kinohaku, on the Kawhia Harbour, where he killed elderly couple Maurice O’Donnell, 72, and his wife Moana Tuwhangai, 82, in their bach. They were strangers to him.
It is then suspected that he killed himself.
Keith wants to keep the details of his letter private, but the gist is that he still loves his son.
‘‘I wrote a letter to forgive Ross for what he did,’’ says Keith, laid back in his electric wheelchair on the balcony of his home.
It’s just metres from where he was found after the attack, unconscious on his front doorstep, blood gushing from his neck wounds.
‘‘I’ve still got (the letter). It was (written) while I was in the ABI rehabilitation centre in Auckland.’’
The scarring on Bremner’s neck, face and forehead is a constant reminder of the violence inflicted upon him. ‘‘I lost a lot of blood,’’ he says, matter-of-factly. ‘‘They flew me by helicopter to Waikato Hospital.’’
As the then 64-year-old lay on the doorstep, he suffered an ischemic stroke, where the blood supply to the brain is interrupted. It caused paralysis down his left side.
A blood vessel in his left leg recently burst, and the limb has swollen to twice the size of the other one. Prior to that, he’d been able to walk a short distance. Now he’s stuck in the wheelchair.
Bremner can’t remember anything about the attack, on the evening of Tuesday, October 4, or the hours leading up to it. ‘‘It’s a blank,’’ he says.
The last thing he remembers is watching TV the night before. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in hospital weeks later.
‘‘I wondered how the hell I’d got there. My mother told me (what happened),’’ he says.
He relied on his naturally positive outlook and sense of humour to get him through the weeks, months and years of slow, painful recovery.
‘‘I’ve gone through everything from positive visualisation to praying to the good Lord, if he’s out there.’’
Mention of his notorious sense of humour sparks something in Bremner’s eyes, and he launches into a bawdy – some would say inappropriate – joke, and another about a three-legged chicken.
When he remembers Ross, he thinks of going camping and hunting near the family farm south of Te Kuiti; catching koura, freshwater crayfish, using a piece of meat on a stick.
‘‘A Mā ori fella taught me how to catch them. Ross started tapping me on the shoulder and said ‘dad look, they’re coming’. Sure enough they’re all marching up the creek, climbing up the branch to get the piece of meat.’’
He says Ross, who’d worked in a gas station, with a shearing gang, and packing swedes in the South Island in his 20s, was fine until someone in Otorohanga gave him a cannabis joint laced with P, or methamphetamine.
Ross’ behaviour changed after that: he became less empathetic, Bremner says. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.
He had brief inpatient stays in the Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre at Waikato Hospital from October, 2003 to January, 2007. He had no further admissions until April, 2013 when he spent six weeks in hospital.
In the three years leading up to the attack he was living in the community, under the care of his GP, with the support of DHB services.
Bremner is critical of the care his son received, saying there was a lack of ongoing support for Ross and a lack of advice for the family.
‘‘All they had was a free phone number.’’
During the 2013 hospital admission, Ross was treated by the disgraced American psychiatrist Dr Paul Fox, who it was later revealed had sexually abused a teenage patient in the US, a crime for which
he was imprisoned after his return to the US from New Zealand.
Fox had previously treated Adam Lanza, who shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.
‘‘His treatment of Ross was very poor – just his whole attitude, very negative vibes,’’ Bremner says. ‘‘Ross didn’t like him, he thought he was a bit of a smart arse.’’
He says at one point, Fox insisted that Ross change his medication.
‘‘Ross was asking to come home, and Fox said to Clare and I, ‘he needs to try this new medication, or we won’t allow him to go home’. So they put him on this new stuff – I don’t know what. I don’t think it did him much good.
‘‘If I’d met Dr Fox somewhere else . . . I would have thumped him. For just being the person he is.’’
(The Waikato DHB says a senior psychiatrist reviewed all patient files relating to Fox and did not identify any issues with his clinical practice.)
Bremner says Ross worsened in the weeks leading up to the attack. He was stressed out after being told by someone from Work and Income NZ that his benefit would be cut if he didn’t find a job, Bremner says.
‘‘He did threaten me now and again, but I sort of blew it (off). Some of the behaviour Ross was exhibiting was extreme. I think he went across to the neighbour and asked if he wanted a fight.’’
He believes Ross was taking his medication, but is unsure of the details. It’s previously been reported that moves were under way to change his medication prior to his death.
Ross stayed in a downstairs room at the family home. ‘‘He used to keep to himself quite a bit. When he didn’t feel well during the day, he used to go and have a rest.’’
Clare, who ‘‘had a lot of knowledge’’ from early intervention work with children with developmental delays, was so concerned by Ross’ behaviour that she reached out to mental health services a couple of weeks before she died, Bremner confirms.
It’s understood a serious event review undertaken at the time found no serious failings in relation to Ross’ care or access to care.
But Paul Depledge, a Hamilton lawyer representing Keith Bremner, says that in general, he is concerned about the quality of the health board’s care of Ross Bremner, and the interaction between his GP, his psychiatrist and the family in the months leading up to the killings.
‘‘The medical professionals involved may have left the decision too much in the parents’ hands, rather than taking positive and decisive steps when faced with the position, which was that Ross was becoming more anxious and troubled,’’ he says.
Depledge says they will await the outcome of a coroner’s inquest before deciding whether to take further action.
The Coroners Act requires coroners to perform their duties ‘‘without delay’’, he says, but it has been six years since the event.
The Ministry of Justice said in a statement an inquest is expected to take place some time in 2023.
The Covid pandemic and staff turnover had caused delays, the statement says.
Asked about its care of Ross Bremner, the Waikato DHB said in a statement it doesn’t share private patient information, but the claims relating to his care are ‘‘not accurate’’.
Ross Bremner’s wider family has asked that the serious event review undertaken in 2017 not be made public, the DHB says.
‘‘This was a tragic event and our sympathy and condolences remain with all those affected.’’
Keith Bremner believes the mental health system is broken, and doctors are too quick to dismiss alternative treatments.
‘‘A lot of the Mā ori people I deal with have far better ideas for looking after people with mental health (problems).’’
He says the Henry Bennett Centre was like a prison, and Ross hated it.
‘‘We felt that there wasn’t any dedicated person or dedicated system to help people like Ross. I’d love to build a hospital somewhere for these guys who have trouble with schizophrenia and stuff like that, maybe somewhere near the sea.’’
Bremner says he was visited a couple of years ago by Jo Kukutai, the daughter of victims O’Donnell and Tuwhangai, and her partner.
‘‘She was very good. They’ve forgiven Ross. They’d like to see more done (to improve the health system) too.’’
What did he say to her? ‘‘There’s not much you can say.
Just ‘sorry for what happened’.’’
One of the last things Bremner remembers prior to the attack was going to his mother Kura Jocelyn’s birthday at a function centre near Cambridge, along with Clare. Ross came too, and they had a good time.
His mother died a couple of years ago, aged 93, having accepted what happened.
Bremner was finally able to come home a couple of years ago after a fit-out of his home to make it wheelchair-friendly, including an internal lift. He has round-the-clock carers, funded by ACC, and also has a physiotherapist. At least once a week he tries to get out and about in his wheelchair, chatting to people he meets along the way.
Recently his daughter, Kylie, visited from Australia for a month with his two grandchildren. He’s still got a Holden Tarana – ‘‘a Bathurst one’’ – which he bought 20 years ago and took to the drag races at Meremere.
He gets his mates to take him for drives on weekends.
‘‘It goes very fast – it will do 170 miles an hour if you want to.’’
A keen pistol shooter, he’s been back to the range a couple of times. Otherwise, he spends time at his computer, sending messages to family, or reading a collection of works by Robbie Burns.
He’s learned to appreciate the simple things in life.
‘‘There’s nothing I can do about this,’’ he says, looking down at his body.
‘‘I enjoy every day. I enjoy the birds, the trees, the heat, the wind.’’
His mantelpiece is full of pictures of his deceased loved ones, including Ross.
‘‘I think about what could have been, if he’d been treated right.’’
‘‘We felt that there wasn’t any dedicated person or dedicated system to help people like Ross. I’d love to build a hospital somewhere for these guys who have trouble with schizophrenia . . . maybe somewhere near the sea.’’
Keith Bremner