Charges possible as inquest into kambo death suspended
A family man with a "heart of gold" is how Jarrad Antonovich's loved ones described him - relieved a coroner decided to refer his death at a health retreat to prosecutors.
Mr Antonovich died of a perforated oesophagus after consuming the plant-based psychedelic ayahuasca and frog-based poison kambo at the Dreaming Arts Festival at Arcoora retreat in northern NSW on October 16, 2021.
State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan suspended the inquest into his death on Friday after deciding there was enough evidence to lay charges and referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
After her decision Mr Antonovich's brother, Chris, told reporters outside Byron Bay court the family wished "these ceremonies stopped so no one else's life is taken".
"Nobody has said a bad thing about him (in this inquest)," he said.
"He had a heart of gold ... no one deserves what happened to him."
Details of the reasoning behind the suspension and referral cannot be reported for legal reasons.
The leader of the health retreat and the ceremony "shaman" had been due to give evidence to the inquest, which earlier heard several witnesses discuss the two men's involvement in events leading up to the 46-year-old's death.
Retreat organiser Soulore Solaris asked one ceremony participant to visit Mr Antonovich's flatmate and tell him not to reveal to police an ayahuasca ceremony had taken place, the coroner heard.
Use of kambo had been banned on October 1, 2021, two weeks before Mr Antonovich's passing.
The witness, Lurelle Alefounder, said Mr Solaris apologised the next day and told her he had been trying to protect those involved.
"I told him, 'no, I'm not doing that'," she said.
Despite being illegal at the time, Mr Solaris continued offering ceremonial services using kambo after Mr Antonovich's death, the coroner heard.
Mr Solaris is prohibited from "providing any health services, either in paid employment or voluntary, to any member of the public" until July 27, according to the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC).
Ceremony conductor Cameron Kite was due to recount his version of the events leading up to Mr Antonovich's death after witnesses recalled the so-called shaman assuring them the increasingly ill man was being looked after.
Mr Kite's former partner, Chelsea Hope, remembered hearing Mr Solaris tell certain people to visit Mr Antonovich's flatmate and tell him to not mention the ceremony he had participated in.
Found in the Amazon rainforest and scraped off the back of a giant tree frog, kambo appears clear and mucus-like.
The poison is applied on top of superficial burns first made on a recipient's skin, with Western ceremonies involving singing and incense burning in the background.
The coroner presided over a separate inquest in May 2023 into Natasha Lechner's 2019 death from sudden cardiac arrhythmia after taking kambo.
The self-proclaimed kambo "practitioner" had undergone training using the poison as an alternative medicine.
Kambo is classified as a substance of "such danger to health as to warrant prohibition on sale, supply and use" on the Therapeutic Goods Administration site.
A plant-based psychedelic normally consumed as a bitter-tasting "tea" with a strong odour, ayahuasca was banned in 2022.
Their use is based on the traditional knowledge of indigenous South American communities, with adherents believing the substances can detoxify the body.
But medical experts say there is no proof the substances do more than make people extremely ill.
Ms O'Sullivan thanked Mr Antonovich's family attending the inquest for their patience.
"It hasn't been easy for anyone," she said.
The inquest reconvened in Byron Bay on Wednesday after publicity surrounding it in 2023 led to people coming forward with more information.
