By Ric Stevens
-
Fletcher Dylan Wong displayed anxious and paranoid behaviour after taking what he believed was MDMA at Rhythm and Vines.
-
He was found dead two days later and the coroner has now ruled while it was self-inflicted, it was not suicide.
-
Coroner Andrew Schirnack said the death highlighted the dangers of drug use and noted Wong may have taken a different drug than he thought.
A 19-year-old university student may have been psychotic from drug use when he disappeared from a music festival and killed himself in 2020.
In a decision released today, a coroner has found that Fletcher Dylan Wong’s death was self-inflicted.
However, evidence given to the inquest “falls short” of a finding of suicide and the death was “a tragic illustration of the dangers of drug use”, according to Coroner Andrew Schirnack.
He also said that the Wellington man had consumed a different drug than he believed he had taken.
Wong was attending the Rhythm and Vines festival in Gisborne when he displayed anxious and paranoid behaviour in the early hours of December 29, 2020.
Despite his friends discouraging him, the Otago University student left the festival. A search by police and 70 Land Search and Rescue volunteers was launched and Wong’s body was found two days later about 3km from the festival venue.
A post-mortem found lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and the stimulant drug eutylone in his system.
Coroner Schirnack said Wong was a fit, healthy young man who was committed to his fitness and had just completed the first year of a sports science degree.
He was “introverted and quiet”, but determined and well-liked, and had no history of anxiety or self-harm.
“His friends understand that he did not drink much alcohol but was known to consume recreational drugs from time to time,” the coroner said.
MDMA drug of choice
“There is a consensus among his friends that his preferred recreational drug was MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine) but Mr Wong was known to consume LSD.”
Wong’s group arrived at the festival on December 28 and he was known to have taken LSD the previous evening and was lacking in sleep.
On December 28, Wong took two tablets of what he believed to be MDMA and by about 10pm his behaviour had become unusual.
“He appeared anxious and paranoid, believing (incorrectly) that people were talking about him. He became frightened that police would find drugs in his toilet bag and he asked to borrow sunglasses so that his eyes were not visible to others.”
Friends encouraged Wong to rest and gave him water and, in the early hours of December 29, one tried to take him to the Hato Hone St John tent.
He kept walking away from his friend, who tried to physically restrain him. Efforts to calm him were unsuccessful.
The friend sought help from the on-site security guards but they did not intervene.
Wong walked off and his friend “reluctantly concluded” there was nothing he could do to stop him, the coroner said.
Wong was last seen walking towards an exit about 2am. His body was found late in the afternoon of December 31.
Coroner Schirnack said he was satisfied Wong’s death was a consequence of his own actions, but found he may have lacked the capacity to form an intention to take his own life, which is the necessary standard of proof for a finding of suicide.
“In fact, it is quite possible that he was in a state of psychosis at the time he took the actions leading to his death,” the coroner said.
He said it was established that LSD could cause psychotic episodes, and the drug testing agency KnowYourStuffNZ reported high doses of eutylone could also cause psychosis and hallucinations.
“The circumstances of this death are a tragic illustration of the dangers of drug use,” Coroner Schirnack said.
Rhythm and Vines festival organisers told the coroner that they had a health and wellbeing space at the event, with staff and volunteers. St John and security guards were present and visible.
“Since Mr Wong’s death (the health agency) Hauora Tairawhiti has reached out to Rhythm and Vines to arrange coordination of and contribute to wellbeing initiatives at the festival.”
The organisers had welcomed the offer.
Coroner Schirnack said the evidence indicated Wong thought he was consuming MDMA when he was taking eutylone, carrying a risk of dangerous side effects.
Rhythm and Vines explained that at the time, drug testing at such events had only just become legal and there were insufficient testing devices in the country to make it feasible at the 2020 festival.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay.
