‘Nothing out of the ordinary happened’: Convicted fraudster defends himself in wife’s inquest

‘I loved your sister. It was a devastating shock.’ A man who has become a ‘person of interest’ in his wife’s death has made an impassioned speech to her family.

Hobart palliative care nurse Helen Bird, 43, died in her Blackmans Bay home in July 2010. Picture: Supplied

A Hobart man now considered a “person of interest” in his wife’s 2010 death has made an impassioned speech to her family – professing he loved her and did not know why she had died.

On Tuesday, an inquest into the death and apparent suicide of palliative care nurse Helen Bird finally drew to a close.

Coroner Robert Webster relayed the contents of a letter to Mrs Bird’s husband, Mark Gordon Bird, from one of her siblings after she had died.

The letter conveyed that Mrs Bird, who had just returned from a trip home to England, had been happy and looking forward to the future.

It asked Mr Bird what had happened upon her return to Australia that she was depressed enough to take her own life.

“I loved your sister. Nothing out of the ordinary happened on your sister’s return. It was a devastating shock to myself,” Mr Bird told his late wife’s three siblings, who were present at the inquest.

“I know it was difficult getting the message across to you because it went via Interpol. I know how aggressive you’ve been in asking questions. Unfortunately I still do not have an answer why your sister and my wife took her life.

“If it was my sister, I’d probably be the same, and be treating me the same as you’re treating me. I’m just sorry I can’t explain.”

Mr Bird, who previously told the inquest about his longstanding drug addictions since returning from military service in East Timor, admitted on Tuesday that he regularly engaged in “chroming”.

“It’s inhaling glue and spirits. Petroleum-based ones, thinners, paint thinners,” he said.

“It started in the late 70s, the first time, when the punk era took over. That was a fashionable thing, people used to sniff lighter fuel. It’s a cheap way of getting stoned.”

The Birds’ Geeveston home was destroyed by fire. Picture: Stewart Wardlaw

Mr Bird said he stopped chroming as a young person as it interfered with his playing sport, but had taken it up again in the past year-and-a-half since being released from prison.

Mr Bird spent two years in jail for setting fire to his two homes to make fraudulent insurance claims after his wife’s death.

“Yeah, since I’ve come out of prison. I’ve still got my curfews and I’m not allowed to drink or take drugs, if I feel like I want to drink, I have a couple of sniffs.”

He said he wasn’t chroming at the time of his wife’s death.

Under re-examination from his partner Sarah Battams, who is acting in lieu of legal representation, Mr Bird said he’d reduced his prescription drug use in the lead-up to his wife’s death, as they were “attempting to work things out”.

The inquest, which began in November last year, has heard from a range of witnesses, including a friend who said he believed Mr Bird killed his wife, claiming the latter had described her demise with words that gave him a “cold shiver”.

Detective Senior Constable Nicolette Munro said Mr Bird had become a person of interest in his wife’s death while she was investigating one of the house fires he’d deliberately lit.

Mr Bird has also been grilled over what he knew of his late wife’s life insurance policy, and what he stood to gain from her death.

Mr Webster will return his findings at a date to be determined.

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