The Nigel Bom Stories: Nigel's Last Sighting and a Grisly Discovery
Episode 2 examines the events leading up to his last sighting & around the time of discovery of his body. Please note: this article contains content that might disturb some readers.
Nigel Bom (all photos courtesy of Krystal Martin)
“If she had of known it was his last visit and contact she would have kept that phone in her hand ready to answer it and would have made sure she got a proper goodbye.”
Krystal Martin, speaking of the last time her mother Debbie Bom saw son Nigel alive.
The taxi driver was the last person to see New Brighton local Nigel Bom alive, after dropping him off near his home on Palmers Road. What happened after this last sighting and what Nigel’s movements were remains a mystery. What is not a secret is that some six days after that sighting, Nigel was found dead in his flat in Fred Price Courts.
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Nigel lived alone in a flat in Fred Price Courts. The complex was run by the Otautahi Community Housing Trust and home to a few dozen people.
Around 2 months before Nigel was found dead, sister Krystal Martin says he told his mum Debbie he was being made to do things. Debbie asked him “what do you mean you’re being made to do things?” He showed her his arm.
About a month before, Nigel was at his mother’s home, when he asked her whether she would organise to have him moved to a different housing complex. He didn’t want to be living in Fred Price Courts anymore.
OCHT had also recently changed locks as Nigel had lost his key. He was given two new keys.
On the night of March 24th, a Wednesday, Nigel Bom had midweek dinner with his neighbours, a couple.
He often had dinner with his neighbours, whom we will call Rob and Lindsay, on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
After dinner with Rob and Lindsay, a call was made to First Direct for a taxi. The job was booked under the name ‘Lindsay’.
Nigel boarded the taxi from in front of the complex at 76 Palmers Road between 9:30 and 10pm.
The trip to his mother’s home would take about 5 minutes by car.
His sister Krystal Martin wrote that travelling to see his mother Debbie late at night or into the early hours was “a regular thing”.
Nigel Bom with mother Debbie
The taxi pulled up near the edge of the Red Zone at 331A New Brighton Road. The time was about 10:30pm.
The taxi’s indicator was beeping. The driver did a u-turn and parked outside the house.
Nigel’s visit was short. Wrote Krystal, “he was in a first direct taxi which was waiting for him”.
The visit was not a happy one, she recalls.
“He was upset with mum as she hadn[’]t answered his calls although she is good at leaving her phones in other rooms while she is busy with dinner, [etc].”
His sister Hayley asked for $20 that he owed her. This is “my last f’in $20” he told her in huff.
Nigel left Debbie’s home, wearing jeans and a thick black jacket. Video footage captured his departure in the taxi at 10:39pm.
They travelled along New Brighton. The taxi stopped for 1 minute between Waygreen Avenue and Wattle Drive outside an empty section in the Red Zone. It is not known why they stopped.
The trip home via New Brighton (Google Maps)
First Direct’s GPS records show the taxi stopped a few meters down the road from the housing complex in front of a garage at or near 112 Palmers Road.
112 Palmers Road (Google Maps)
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