FOUR years after the mysterious poisoning death of much loved Upper Hunter farmer and sporting legend Douglas Thrift, police searching a shed on his property picked up a small glass bottle lying face down on a shelf.
Wiping away the dust from the frayed and faded label, officers saw the words "strychnine alkaloid".
It was what police had been searching for since the shocking and highly unusual discovery that Mr Thrift, a well-known and respected 71-year-old, had died from strychnine toxicity.
An analysis of the contents of the bottle later revealed it contained the highly toxic pesticide and, to date, it is the only evidence as to the possible source of the strychnine that claimed Mr Thrift's life, a coronial inquest heard on Monday.
There were no fingerprints on the bottle, but Mr Thrift's DNA was found on the mouth and rim of the small glass container.
An initial autopsy determined his cause of death was heart disease and it wasn't until family members raised concerns with a coroner at Muswellbrook Local Court that toxicology and pathology testing was ordered.
Those tests, undertaken after Mr Thrift had been cremated, revealed surprising results; the 71-year-old had a blood alcohol reading of 0.27mg/L and a fatal dose of 3.8mg/L of strychnine, making Mr Thrift one of only eight people in more than 30,000 to have the restricted substance detected in his blood at post-mortem.
During his opening, counsel assisting Rob Ranken told Deputy State Coroner Magistrate Carmel Forbes there were a number of issues to be explored relating to how Mr Thrift was able to ingest the fatal dose of strychnine and the "prospect that Mr Thrift might have died as a homicide remains a possibility".
Mr Ranken said there were three possible circumstances, including that Mr Thrift ingested the poison deliberately with the intention of taking his own life, that he ingested it unintentionally somehow or that it was administered to him by another person.
He also said the inquest would explore how the small glass bottle containing strychnine came to be at the property, the circumstances of Mr Thrift's high blood-alcohol level despite witnesses describing seeing him consume only two drinks and what role, if any, that any other person played in him ingesting strychnine.
Mr Thrift had been given a "clean bill of health" in the days before his death and was said to be happy and healthy.
He was making plans for the future, but Mr Ranken said there was conflicting evidence about whether or not he planned to retire to a property he had bought at Nambucca Heads.
He planned to wake up about 7.30pm and had called a number of people about assisting him in bailing hay on his property.
But when his wife, Jane Thrift, went to wake him he was cold to the touch and looked blue.
Mr Thrift had died sometime between 1.46pm when he went to lay down and 7.15pm when his wife checked on him, the court heard.
The initial autopsy determined his cause of death was related to ongoing health issues and it wasn't until his sons raised concerns with an assistant coroner at Muswellbrook about "getting information second hand" that a coroner ordered the further blood tests.
Mrs Thrift "strongly opposed" the further testing, Mr Ranken said.
"Mrs Thrift advised that she agreed with the findings so far, that her husband had died from heart disease and diabetes," Mr Ranken said. "She strongly opposed the undertaking of further tests and submitted that the integrity of her late husband should be respected."
Mrs Thrift later consented to the further testing, but did not want anything invasive done to her husband, stating he would not have wanted an autopsy done and hated doctors while he was alive.
Detective sergeant Peter Davis gave evidence that he had found no evidence that Mrs Thrift was involved in her husband's death and a forensic account had reviewed the couple's bank records and found no irregularities or financial motive.
A bottle of whiskey, later found in Mr Thrift's golf bag, may have explained his level of intoxication, the court heard.
But testing of the contents revealed no traces of strychnine and the substance is said to be so bitter that it would be difficult to conceal in another substance and have someone ingest unknowingly.
The coronial inquest is scheduled to run for five days this week.
Lifeline: 13 11 14.
