Three weeks after absconding from a mental health facility in Auckland, Esarona Lologa set fire to Wellington’s Loafers Lodge hostel, killing five people. RNZ’s National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reveals police were searching for the “recidivist offender” before the blaze, but had no idea he was in Wellington until it was too late.
Police in Auckland were looking for Esarona Lologa in the weeks before he lit the fatal fire at Loafer’s Lodge, killing five people, unaware he was in Wellington.
Lologa absconded from a mental health facility on April 21, 2023, three weeks before the fires, and there was a warrant out for his arrest.
Jury returns verdict in Loafers Lodge murder trial – Watch on TVNZ+
The then 48-year-old who was once described by a judge as a “recidivist offender” as he was sentenced for attempting to murder a teenager, had alerts in police’s database flagging mental health and that he was known to carry a knife.
On May 4, 2023, he was denied emergency accommodation from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) in Wellington.
A day later, back in Auckland, a message was sent by a nurse to local Directors of Area Mental Health Services suggesting that should he come to the attention of police or mental health services, he would need “urgent assessment with a view to possible readmission”.
On May 8, after seeking help from various social services, Lologa ended up moving into Room 50 at Loafers Lodge.
Unaware he had travelled to the other end of the North Island, Auckland City police filed the missing person’s report on May 12, but a warrant for his arrest for breaching release conditions remained active. However, there were no further lines of inquiry to locate him.
It was not until after May 16 when Lologa set fire to the hostel, killing five people, that police knew Lologa was in Wellington. Two days later, he was in custody.
The killings prompted several reviews, including by police and Health New Zealand.
On Friday, Lologa was found guilty of murdering Michael Wahrlich, Melvin Parun, Peter O’Sullivan, Kenneth Barnard and Liam Hockings.
RNZ can now report what authorities did and did not know, with questions raised about information sharing between government agencies.
‘A recidivist offender’
The 50-year-old is on trial for arson and murder after five people died in the Wellington hostel blaze. (Source: 1News)
Lologa was jailed for six years in November 2010 after attempting to murder his partner’s teenage son with a machete.
A pre-sentence report revealed Lologa’s upbringing. The then 35-year-old was raised by extended family. Initially he lived in Wellington, but his adoptive family took him to Western Samoa when he was young.
Justice White said Lologa had a “fearful, unhappy childhood”.
Lologa eventually returned to New Zealand and attended Naenae College in Lower Hutt until he was 17. He then completed several courses at Adult Reading and Learning Assistance Federation (ARLA) in Wellington.
Lologa also had a history of schizophrenia, telling his probation officer he stopped taking medication “one or two weeks” before the offending and had not seen psychiatric services for “one month” beforehand.
A psychological report revealed Lologa had contact with general and forensic mental health services since 1999. He then began to hear voices, Justice White said.
“Because of them, you assaulted a friend. You were imprisoned for that assault, and in prison came to believe that people were poisoning your food.”
His last psychiatric admission before the attempted murder was in 2003.
Court documents obtained by RNZ reveal that when assessed in prison in 2011 Lologa presented as “vague, perplexed and distracted”. He also complained of hearing voices. Lologa improved when he started taking a different medication in September 2012.
However, in June 2013 he reported concerns about his food being interfered with and held “paranoid beliefs” about his partner’s infidelity.
Between April and May 2014 Lologa had his third inpatient admission after assaulting a cellmate and prison officer and destroying a television. He said he had heard voices, but denied they made him destroy property or assault staff.
“He said he was stressed and angry, hearing voices all the time (some derogatory) and hearing other people’s thoughts,” court documents say.
Lologa was placed in seclusion on three occasions during his admission following assaults and “sexually disinhibited behaviour” towards female staff.
A psychiatric review concluded the assaults were reactive, and not driven by psychosis. On May 16, 2014 he returned to prison.
Just over a year later Lologa was admitted again after he stopped taking his medication.
“He presented with paranoid persecutory ideation and delusional beliefs that his food was being contaminated by prison officers, that some officers were the devil, and that prisoners were spreading rumours about him.”
He remained an inpatient for a year in “sustained remission of psychosis”. He was discharged on July 20, 2016, by which time there was no evidence of any thought disorder, auditory hallucinations or delusional beliefs.
Between July 2016 and July 2022 Lologa was under community care, taking antipsychotic medication.
“He was relatively stable, but with persisting symptoms,” court documents say.
In July 2022 Lologa was admitted to hospital for a fifth time after he was found wandering around a railway station, muttering to himself. He said he had stopped taking medication four months prior.
“He was assessed as having a ‘seriously diminished capacity’ to provide any care for himself and presenting with catatonic elements.”
Lologa stabilised with antipsychotic medication, and was released in August. A month later, he was found running in front of traffic and sitting and lying on the road. He was admitted for a sixth time.
“He claimed to be the devil, was talking to himself incoherently, was unpredictably aggressive, there was incongruent laughter and his thought form was disorganised.
“The impression was of a psychotic relapse with grossly disordered thought form and behaviour.”
He was released on November 17, but two months later had his seventh inpatient admission after non-compliance with medication.
Lologa was also regularly drinking alcohol and consuming recreational drugs. He was discharged on February 11.
The escape
On March 22, 2023, less than two months before he set fire to Loafers Lodge, Lologa had his eighth hospital admission. This time it was in Auckland.
“The clinical impression was of a relapse in his psychotic disorder with paranoid persecutory delusions (relating to food contamination), and irritability, agitation and aggression towards staff.”
While there Lologa reported hearing sounds of ocean waves and “smelling ‘evil’ on the ward”. Sexually inappropriate behaviour towards female staff was also observed.
Lologa’s state improved while at the facility, and although he had residual psychotic symptoms he had a series of unescorted leaves from the inpatient unit and discharge plans were “well advanced”.
However, on April 21 he absconded while on unescorted leave.
Police were notified and told he was missing. Lologa called the ward on April 27 and said he left because staff were “spitting and shitting in my food”.
A bed was held open for Lologa until May 5, when a message was sent by a nurse to local Directors of Area Mental Health Services in the Auckland metropolitan area suggesting that should he come to the attention of police or mental health services he would need “urgent assessment with a view to possible readmission”.
Police were looking for Lologa in Auckland after he was reported missing. There were no media releases issued, or public appeals for information about his whereabouts.
On May 4, Lologa arrived in Wellington and went to MSD asking for emergency accommodation.
At Lologa’s trial in the High Court at Wellington, MSD case manager Mary Lualua said he first told her he lived in Wellington. However, when she pointed out his file contained an Auckland address, he admitted he had left that property because his accommodation was not suitable and he felt unsafe.
“[He said] his food would go missing in the fridge, some of his belongings would go missing.”
Because he had not sought other accommodation in Auckland, and arrived in Wellington with no plans for a place to stay, he did not qualify for emergency housing, Lualua said.
She advised him of other places he could go for help. Lologa returned later that day to ask Lualua again. She again told him his options.
Over the next few days Lologa met on multiple occasions with two other MSD case managers – Pavan Alagiri on May 5, and Herani King on May 8 – as well as Millie Lambess from Te Wāhi Āwhina, a community support space in the central city.
They attempted to refer him to other social services and help him get accommodation, and he stayed at a backpackers before checking into Loafers Lodge on May 8.
Lualua and Alagiri did not know the MSD file said Lologa had paranoid schizophrenia, but King did.
“I asked him, ‘are you taking any meds?’ And he goes ‘no’, and I told him to go get that sorted… and he said he would,” King said during the trial.
After being at Loafers Lodge for a week, Lologa wanted to live somewhere else, Crown lawyer Stephanie Bishop told the jury at the beginning of the trial.
“To achieve that, the Crown says that [the defendant] decided to light the fires at the building.”
‘All available avenues were considered’
Auckland City relieving district manager criminal investigations Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said in a statement to RNZ no one could have predicted the “tragic series of events” that unfolded in the early hours of May 16, 2023.
He confirmed a missing person’s report was lodged with Auckland City Police on April 21, 2023.
“Police considered all available avenues with the information provided to staff during this period.
“The missing person’s report was filed on May 12, 2023 after further contact from Health NZ.”
Police were aware that Lologa had a warrant for his arrest for breaching release conditions.
The warrant remained active at the time but there were “no further lines of inquiry to locate him”, Baldwin said.
“Auckland City police were in the process of exploring further options to locate the man when Wellington District colleagues advised he had been arrested.
“Police consider all available avenues were considered at the time with the information available to us. With regards to warrant to arrest, police must prioritise this workload in conjunction with all other priorities.”
RNZ asked police why there were no public appeals for information on Lologa’s whereabouts. Baldwin said in general, missing people were entitled to privacy.
“There can be a number of factors that go into decisions around publicity of a missing person, and those wanted to arrest, and decisions are made case-by-case.
“I note in this instance there is no note on file from a next of kin authorising police to publicise the man as a missing person.”
Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney told RNZ police had done a full review with a draft report completed. It was not police practice to release such a report while a matter was before the courts.
He said Lologa presented “no particular risk” to himself or the public at the time he was reported missing.
“He was one of many hundreds we have missing each day. If there’s a noted risk to a missing person then we will sometimes take additional steps.”
RNZ asked MSD if they knew Lologa had gone missing from a mental health facility, and if so why did they not tell police Lologa was in Wellington.
Wellington regional commissioner Gagau Annandale-Stone said MSD was not aware that Lologa was missing from a mental health agency.
“We were aware that the person had a mental health condition.
“We do not place people in private rental accommodation such as boarding houses or hostels. People make their own decision about whether accommodation is suitable.”
Health New Zealand national director of mental health and addiction service enhancement Phil Grady told RNZ a serious incident review was undertaken following the incident.
“The review team found the assessment made prior to the patient’s leave was appropriate for their clinical presentation at that time. Being granted leave is a normal part of a patient’s treatment pathway and is always carefully considered by a patient’s clinical team.
“The review found no issues that directly related to the Absent Without Leave event, and that appropriate processes were followed, including contacting police and alerting the crisis team that a patient was absent from the inpatient unit.”
Chief Victims Advisor Ruth Money told RNZ her concern was that the system was “not joined up and continues to operate in silos”.
“These silos create risk for the community and are where victims are created.”
Money said the ability to share information and assess risk through the Integrated Safety Response model that brought together several agencies – including police, Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Justice – in family violence matters was “critical” and an example of how the system “could have responded in a much more appropriately and safer way here”.
“When a person who poses risk absconds there should be an immediate escalation and communication process to ensure the safety of both the patient/offender and the wider community.
“Police are significantly assisted by both the public and partner agencies when locating missing people but clearly without this communication the wider network can’t assist. Public safety should always be prioritised over privacy as part of risk assessments to ensure crime prevention.”
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