Husband attempts to gas his wife and his arch enemy – but she reveals she wants him back

When Peter Faigan’s wife moved downstairs to live with his arch rival, he drilled a hole in their wall, stuffed a hose inside and pumped liquefied petroleum gas into their tiny room in a jealous rage. 

Elizabeth Faigan and Keith Chisnall narrowly escaped with their lives when they woke to the toxic fumes engulfing the room at New Plymouth on New Zealand’s North Island in the early hours of June 6. 

The bizarre case took an even stranger turn when Faigan was sentenced on Monday, with his wife revealing she wanted to get back together with the man who tried to poison her.  

Elizabeth (pictured) moved downstairs to be with Keith Chisnall after separating from her husband in early 2019

Faigan was charged with two counts of attempted poisoning and was sentenced to 22 months in prison at the High Court of New Plymouth on Monday.

Justice Peter Churchman downgraded the sentence to 11 months of home detention, to the delight of Elizabeth, Stuff reported.

‘I am not afraid of him and I never have been. I think there is a good chance that Peter and I will get back together,’ she said of her husband.

Before the attempted gassing, Elizabeth said her 11-year marriage with her husband had deteriorated. 

Faigan’s health was ailing and in 2018 the couple hired Chisnall to clean their two-storey property in preparation to sell. 

The 45-year-old woman and Keith Chisnall (pictured) quickly escaped out of the room before calling emergency services

The couple had been married for 11 years before Faigin (pictured with wife Elizabeth) hired Chisnall to help clean up the property and provided him free accommodation for his services

In return, Chisnall was provided accommodation in the lower level of their home. But it wasn’t long before Mr Faigan asked Chisnall to leave.

‘Peter became jealous of Keith. When he was around, he wanted Keith gone,’ his wife said.

The married couple soon separated and Elizabeth moved to the downstairs accommodation with Chisnall.   

‘That then became problematic for Mr Faigan, who developed an increasing sense of desperation and distress about his inability to have Mr Chisnall leave,’ defence lawyer Susan Hughes QC told the court. 

The court heard Faigan suffered 12 months of ‘baiting and provocation’ at the hands of Chisnall, made worse by deteriorating mental health and cognitive issues following two strokes.

Chisnall (pictured) was also sentenced to 12 months supervision in September after he assaulted Faigan

In September 2018, Chisnall was sentenced to 12 months supervision after he was found guilty of assaulting Faigan. 

Defence lawyer Susan Hughes QC told the court Faigan was a ‘vulnerable man driven to the end of his tether’ when he made the decision to poison the couple.

Elizabeth and Chisnall woke in the early hours of the morning on June 6 this year after almost an entire 9kg LPG gas bottle spilled into the room.

The pair escaped before calling emergency services.

Faigan, 59, watched on from his bedroom window as emergency crews arrived and attended to the couple.    

Chisnall strongly denied having a relationship with Elizabeth and insisted she slept on the couch in the downstairs flat as she had nowhere else to live.

‘I believe you tried to kill me, your wife, your dog and your bird,’ Chisnall told Faigan in court, 7News reported.

‘I don’t want anything to do with you. I wish I never met you.’ 

Chisnall claims to now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. 

‘I think there is a good chance that Peter and I will get back together,’ Elizabeth said of her husband (pictured together)