Confident conman fooled many people
Stuff, New
Zealand
Thursday, 1 February 2007
Confident conman fooled many people
The Dominion Post
Fraudster Turori Chapman successfully impersonated a female nurse and a
policewoman – and even pretended to be a famous All Black's daughter. Britton
Broun investigates his exploits.
Working as a bogus nurse and infiltrating four Christchurch hospitals, Turori
Chapman was so convincing he even fooled doctors, holding plausible
conversations about patients' medical conditions.
The female nurse's unusual dress sense had raised eyebrows – but
"she" had the
correct photographic identification and seemed to know "her" stuff,
chatting
with patients and even writing notes on some of their medical files.
Practice had made the conman perfect – Chapman had previously impersonated a
doctor.
Christchurch-based Detective Senior Constable Bruce Lomax says Chapman is the
most confident conman he has seen in 17 years of police work.
"His confidence is incredible. I'm not sure why he does it but he was very
good,
very convincing," Lomax says.
Chapman is a 26-year-old transvestite who since 2002 had impersonated a nurse,
a
doctor, a woman rugby player, a Koru club attendant and a policewoman.
He went on fraud sprees lasting months at a time, flying all over the country
on
stolen money and driving stolen cars.
In his latest offending, which landed Chapman in the Wanganui District Court
for
sentencing yesterday, he impersonated a nurse at four Christchurch hospitals
between July and October last year.
Chapman stole cars from Christchurch and Whakatane hospitals, cashed more than
$2000 in cheques belonging to a women's rugby club and racked up more than
$1000
on a credit card taken from the staff room at Wellington's Tawa College.
His previous crime spree, for which he was jailed for four years, was in 2002.
It lasted three months, beginning with a car stolen from Wellington Hospital,
and included impersonating a doctor in Hamilton, a Koru Club attendant at
Auckland Airport, and hanging out as a sidelined female gridiron player at
College Rifles in Auckland.
For a finale Chapman stole a policewoman's uniform, handcuffs, pepper spray and
a squad car – and cruised Auckland streets attending jobs as "Sergeant Ana
Williams".
Chapman's latest spree last July started with a tour between Rotorua and
Hamilton, cashing cheques worth more than $2000 belonging to the Onepu Ladies
Rugby Football Committee and taking a Toyota Corolla from Whakatane Hospital.
By October he arrived in Auckland and left the Corolla parked at Auckland
Airport before flying to Christchurch.
He fooled hospital staff there to make him an official identification badge on
October 6.
Posing as "Tess Chapman" he then spent four days travelling between
Christchurch, Christchurch Women's, Hillmorton and Princess Margaret hospitals.
Though he did not try to administer care or use medical equipment he visited
four patients in the various hospitals and wrote in the notes of three at
Christchurch Hospital.
Staff described Chapman as "very pleasant" and believed he understood
the
hospital system.
He also had some understanding of medicine – enough to ask patients about their
medical conditions and hold "plausible" conversations with doctors.
Lia Poumaka was visiting her mother in Christchurch Hospital when she met
Chapman.
"My first impression was that he couldn't be a nurse. He was dressed in an
old
blue polo neck and black pants, while all the other nurses wore green uniforms.
But he had the identification and the way 'she' spoke really convinced
us," she
said.
Chapman may have looked like a woman but it was his fantastic back story that
completed the picture.
In one conversation with Poumaka and her brother, Chapman claimed to be the
daughter of former All Black wing Bryan Williams – and that he was pregnant.
"He said he was due to have a baby soon but you couldn't tell because of
his
size.
"He was getting tired because of the pregnancy and was finishing up at the
hospital in four weeks.
"You just couldn't tell he was a man," Poumaka said.
In Christchurch, Chapman had answered a newspaper advertisement for a boarder
and lived for almost a week with a woman and her two-year-old daughter.
She said Chapman fooled everyone.
He spoke to her about how he had just moved from Wellington after a break-up
with boyfriend "Joe".
Chapman said the relationship break-up and several miscarriages had caused him
to eat heavily and put on weight.
On October 10, Chapman's security pass was cancelled when the Canterbury
District Health Board began receiving invoices for his accommodation.
The day before, he borrowed and returned a Hyundai Getz belonging to the board
and that afternoon disappeared in a Hyundai Tuscon.
Chapman surfaced in Wellington about October 16 under the alias Ana Chapman.
Claiming to be in town to provide medical help at the National Hockey
Championships, he charged two motel stays to the Canterbury DHB.
With a credit card swiped from a wallet in Tawa College's staffroom, Chapman
spent $1000 in two days before flying to Auckland.
The Toyota Corolla Chapman had previously stolen and left parked at Auckland
Airport was still there and he used the vehicle to drive to Wanganui.
Police publicly issued the photograph from the nursing identification badge to
find him.
A Press investigation that week linked the mystery "nurse" to the
case of the
cross-dressing con artist posing as a policewoman from four years before.
A search of Press files produced the name Turori Chapman, which was published
in
the newspaper on October 23.
Chapman surrendered to police in Wanganui that day.
In an interview, Chapman told Wanganui Constable Mike Degan the trouble had
started when family problems "got on top of him".
He committed the fraud to supplement his income.
In August 2006, Chapman, who was only a month out of jail for his 2002 crime
spree, was staying with a grandmother in Whakatane when she was admitted to
hospital.
Since the family member was secretary of the Onepu Ladies Rugby Football
Committee, Chapman ended up with the chequebook and on a visit to the hospital
took a DHB car.
In April 2002, Chapman had just been freed from prison for multiple burglary
and
fraud convictions when he took a car from Wellington Hospital.
He stole another car from a Taupo hospital and, claiming to be a doctor, left a
Hamilton motel without paying, then impersonated a Koru Club valet at Auckland
airport and drove off in a $38,000 Commodore.
Early in June of that year he climbed through an open window into the women's
toilets at Onehunga police station and stole a female constable's uniform,
boots
and equipment.
On June 5, he walked into a recruitment meeting at Mangere police station,
talked with officers and then took the keys to a police car.
Answering the police radio as "roving" Sergeant Ana Williams, Chapman
escorted a
drunk from Sky City casino and took custody of a shoplifter before handing them
over to an unsuspecting police officer.
Auckland clinical and forensic psychologist Mei Williams says Chapman was
struggling with gender issues, and as neither a man or a woman, finding it
difficult to function in normal society.
© Fairfax New Zealand Limited 2007.