New Zealand farmer dies after drinking ‘poisoned’ Port

A reward is being offered in an ongoing police investigation after a man died from drinking Port anonymously left in his letterbox. 

In November 2021, two bottles of Port were left in the letterbox of a remote farm home belonging to 67-year-old New Zealander Dave Davan.

Davan, who lived in Northland, south of Kaitāia, drank the first bottle of Port, and collapsed after opening the second bottle a week or so later.

He was shortly taken to Whangārei Hospital and then transferred to the intensive care department at Auckland Hospital, where he suffered kidney failure and died on 9 December, 2021.

Speaking to police before his death, Davan said he had noticed that the seal on the second bottle of Port had been broken, and that there had been “a slight difference in taste”, but had thought nothing of it at the time. He asked the police to carry out testing on the contents of the second bottle, which remained at his home.

That testing revealed traces of deadly herbicide paraquat in the Port, indicating that Davan had been poisoned.

NZ$50,000 reward

Three years later, Davan’s family has not given up hope of catching the person responsible for his death. His son is offering a NZ$50,000 (£22, 854) reward for information over the death of his father.

“I just want someone held accountable for what they did to my father,” he said.

Davan’s family believes that the perpetrator of the crime is someone known to them, as the poisoner was aware that Port was Dave Davan’s favourite drink.

National radio broadcaster RNZ reminded listeners this week that the cash reward, compiled by the victim’s friends and family, is still available, though no one has yet tried to claim it.

“David survived for a couple of weeks, but he was conscious for a couple of days after the poisoning and in hospital. He took steps to make sure the bottle and remnants were kept and given to the police,” family friend Brett Evans told the New Zealand Herald.

“Dave knew that he’d been poisoned. He made a point of saying, ‘If I don’t make it, this is what’s happened’.”

Calling it “an underhanded, well-thought-out, sneaky, low-life, serious crime”, Evans said the intent was clearly to kill.

“It’s hard to believe that someone would do this but they’re just walking around out there living the life of Riley, thinking that they’ve got away with it,” he told the Herald.

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