On a farm in the town of Mataura, on New Zealand's South Island, a man's body was spotted lying on the ground by a gate.
Robert William Hewitt, who was unresponsive, barely had a mark on him. His brother, Brian Hewitt, put a blanket over his older brother's body, while his wife Lynette called emergency services to their Gore property on the night of March 19, 2017.
An investigation into the death of the 66-year-old, included a broken stick from a willow tree found near the body.
Willow trees were located at the back of the block, and it was there where police found Hewitt's Hunting and Fishing cap with his broken glasses.
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A detective found another piece of broken stick near the discarded cap, and when compared to the longer stick found near the body – they matched perfectly.
But it was an onlooker which gave a vital clue, a large bull started acting out near the detective, who used his iPhone to capture the animal's behaviour, which included ''bellowing out his nose, being aggressive and breaking the ground with his feet'', according to the coroner's report.
While Hewitt's body showed few external marks, a post-mortem revealed the cause of his death was multiple traumatic injuries – consistent with being inflicted by a bull. Injuries included fractured ribs, a fractured upper sternum and fractured vertebrae.
Hewitt, who lived alone in Mataura had a reputation as a hard worker, including jobs in farming, oil rigs, mustering wild animals and most recently, a freezing works.
Coroner Bruce Hesketh noted that just over two weeks before his death, Hewitt had been admitted to the Mental Health Inpatient Unit at Southland Hospital.
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Hewitt had no previous history with mental health services, but responded well to medication and was later granted unescorted leave, with no issues recorded.
Hewitt described his leave as "wonderful" and was positive about his further leave, including fishing with a mate.
On the afternoon of Sunday, March 19, Hewitt, who was on leave for three days, called his younger brother David to ask if wanted to go floundering.
David Hewitt had another commitment but told him he had recently been at their brother Brian's address, shooting rabbits with a new shotgun.
Robert Hewitt, who liked to eat rabbit, wanted to know the location of those rabbits, which were at the bottom paddock by some trees.
David Hewitt told the Coroner that one of the cattle beasts on his brother's property was a large, two-year-old bull that he believed had not been properly castrated.
He referred to this bull by the nickname "Snotty", due to its bad temperament.
That bull snorted and advanced on him and his brother, Brian, while rabbit shooting the previous day. He gave evidence that the bull's temperament was worse than previously, describing it as being "up in our face."
The bull came up to the fence line near the pair, and as Brian Hewitt talked to the bull to distract it, David walked along the fence and entered the paddock further away.
From the safety of the trees he was able to shoot at rabbits
Brian Hewitt told the Coroner that when he buys bull calves each year, he castrated them with rubber rings. That ring goes over the bull's scrotum ensuring the testicles are down. But sometimes a testicle was forced up into an animal's body.
That animal would later dominate the herd, becoming ''snorty'' around humans, pawing at the ground.
He believed this had happened with the 900kg bull he knew as 'Big Boy' – the same bull his brother David referred to as "Snotty."
He was aware of its irritable behaviour, but was confident in moving him because the animal was familiar with his appearance and voice.
Coroner Hesketh was satisfied the death of Robert Hewitt was accidental, including him getting too close to the bull known as "Big Boy" which advanced on him.
Hewitt picked up a stick and tried to scare the bull away. However, he was mauled by the bull, suffering extensive internal injuries.
After the mauling, Hewitt made his way to the safety of the fallen willow trees and then back through the paddocks near the farm homestead. He collapsed and died at the base of the gate leading into the house garden.
Hewitt's phone was found in his truck, parked in the driveway.
Coroner Hesketh was satisfied nothing could have been done to prevent his death. Hewitt had worked with animals throughout his life and knew the dangers of stock.
On this occasion the experienced stockman made an unfortunate error in not positioning himself closer to the fallen willow trees which would have provided a safe exit zone when the cattle advanced.
His death was a timely reminder to anyone working with cattle that they should be appropriately trained and experienced for the task, and should plan an escape route in advance.
Furthermore, they should not try to move a dangerous bull on foot, or alone.
This article originally appeared on Stuff and is republished here with permission.
