He was unable to open the door, so forced it open and found his brother face down on the floor, and unresponsive.
Ambulance staff attended and confirmed Mark was dead.
The case featured in the Chief Coroner’s latest Recommendations Recap, which was released today and contains summaries of coronial recommendations and comments made between October 1 and December 31, 2025.
In her decision from October, Coroner Megan Armistead said there was no evidence to suggest Mark intended to take his life.
She found he died while engaged in an autoerotic act in private.
“Unfortunately, he was unable to control the system that he had constructed and succumbed to asphyxia,” she said.
Coroner Armistead has joined others in New Zealand to warn of the risk of death while engaging in autoerotic asphyxiation, which can occur quickly.
“As other coroners have done before in similar cases, in the interest of continued public awareness, I make a general comment that those who engage in autoerotic asphyxiation should be aware of the high risk of death when exploring the intentional restriction of oxygen.”
‘Normal, cheerful self’ days before death
The student worked part-time and lived with his family.
He managed diagnosed mental health conditions with medication and continued private psychiatric care, but had no reported history of suicide attempts or ideation, Coroner Armistead said.
In late 2021 his psychiatrist reported he was “flourishing”, his studies were going well and he had a busy but balanced life.
Just days before his death, his GP reported he seemed his “normal, cheerful self” and that his mental health had appeared stable compared to the preceding two years.
One night in 2022, Mark was home with his brother while their parents were on holiday.
Hato Hone St John Ambulance were called, and confirmed the man had died.
Photo / Hato Hone St John
About 6pm, the pair walked past each other and said “hello”.
James recalled Mark appeared normal and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
Mark went to his room and remained there for the rest of the night, the coroner said in her findings released to NZME.
James stayed in his room until about 5pm the following day.
When he emerged, he saw his brother’s bedroom door was closed but did not think that was unusual.
Concerns over no reply to text messages
Later that night, when James was speaking with their mother she mentioned she was concerned that Mark had not replied to her text messages.
About 11pm, James went to Mark’s room, knocked on the door and called out but there was no response.
He tried opening the door but couldn’t, so forced it open and found his brother face down on the floor next to his computer desk, naked except for a scarf around his neck.
James phoned emergency services and started CPR but recalled it was “difficult to hear the 111-call taker” because of the music playing from Mark’s computer.
As James tried to stop the music he noticed a bungee cord tied around his brother’s neck.
James recalled his brother “looked very pale” and his legs were a “dark purple colour”.
When he rolled his brother over, he noticed blood coming from his nose. He checked for a pulse but could not find one.
A police investigation found there was no criminal liability or suspicious circumstances.
Death was ‘sudden’
An autopsy identified that Mark’s lungs showed congestion and oedema, which usually accompanied acute asphyxia.
There were sex aids found near his body, the coroner’s findings said.
The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy said there were signs the death had been sudden.
Toxicology analysis showed that Mark had consumed a modest amount of alcohol, and prescription drugs in his system were detected at levels considered normal.
The pathologist concluded, which the coroner accepted, that Mark’s death was caused by a “recreational asphyxia mishap”.
*Names have been changed for privacy reasons, linked to the manner in which the death occurred and the man’s mental health.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
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