No charges for man who coroner found faked wife's suicide

Helen Bird's husband Mark was found by a coroner to have made her death look like a suicide. (Supplied)

Tasmania Police say there is insufficient evidence to prosecute a man who a coroner found was "involved" in the death of his wife.

Helen Bird died in 2010, and a coroner found in 2024 that her husband, Mark Bird, made the scene look like a suicide.

Tasmania Police has extended its condolences to Ms Bird's family.

Tasmania Police has confirmed it will not charge a man who a coroner found had been "involved" in his wife's death and made it look like a suicide.

WARNING: This story contains details of a woman's death that readers may find disturbing.

Helen Bird was found dead in 2010, aged 43, at a home she owned with her husband, Mark Bird, at Blackmans Bay, south of Hobart.

A note was found at the scene, and her death was investigated by police, who deemed it a suicide.

Mark Bird (in red hat) leaves Hobart Magistrates Court with one of his sons during the 2023 inquest into his late wife Helen Bird's death. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)

In 2017, Detective Senior Constable Nicolette Munro had been assigned to investigate a fire that destroyed a house in Geeveston, where Mr Bird was then residing.

The detective soon discovered Mr Bird had fraudulently lodged two previous insurance claims worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for fires at his former residences.

He was later sentenced to four years' jail, with a non-parole period of two years, for those offences.

As she began to investigate further, Senior Constable Munro heard from several witnesses who raised concerns about Mrs Bird's death in 2010.

Senior Constable Munro also determined that Mr Bird was having an affair at the time of his wife's death, which he did not disclose to police.

The investigation eventually led to a coronial inquest being held in Hobart in 2023.

In his findings, released in 2024, Coroner Robert Webster dismissed the initial police hypothesis that Mrs Bird had died by suicide.

Coroner Webster found Mr Bird was not only an untruthful witness, but "generally an untruthful person".

Outlining what he believed happened on the day, the coroner said Mrs Bird was incapacitated shortly before her death.

He said this was either because she was asleep due to illness or "because of the actions of Mr Bird", adding the latter was "more likely".

"While Mrs Bird was incapacitated, Mr Bird has then placed a rope around Mrs Bird's neck, and he has partially suspended her, resulting in death by asphyxiation," the coroner said.

The coroner said that the missed calls and texts to his wi