An inquest has heard how a 71-year-old man strangled his wife to death, called 999 to confess, and then took his own life. Anthony Buxton had been experiencing a decline in his mental health in the months before the incident.
999 call and discovery
On the evening of September 24 last year, Mr Buxton attacked his wife Michelle, 69, at their home in Camelford, north Cornwall. Cornwall Coroner's Court was told he then called the ambulance service. Police forced entry into the property and found both with fatal injuries. They were declared dead shortly afterwards by paramedics.
Pc Jacob Double, one of the first officers at the scene, said he and a colleague were responding to a 999 call from a man stating "he had killed his wife". In a written statement, Pc Double said: "As we were travelling further information came to light, which stated in the call to ambulance a female voice could be heard groaning and saying, 'help', and a male voice was heard saying, 'I've done it, no one can stop me, I've killed her'."
Post-mortem findings
Post-mortem examinations found Mrs Buxton died from compression of the neck, while Mr Buxton died from a stab wound to his chest.
The couple's son, Daniel, told the inquest his father had become unusually quiet in the months before his death and was becoming paranoid. Daniel said: "Eventually it got to the point where mum seemed to be struggling and dad was getting quite anxious and really not wanting to tell us any information and would get defensive when pressed. It was anxiety trying to assuage any fears he might have. We installed CCTV cameras in the house because he was concerned there was an overarching delusion he had.
"He had this idea or beliefs that an organised crime gang was targeting him and had access to the house and had bugged the house with microphones and cameras, and his family were in danger. The overarching goal of this crime gang was to exhort Mum and Dad for police secrets from me because I work for the police."
Mental health referrals
Georgina Clark, from the Cornwall Partnership Mental Health Trust, said Mr Buxton had been referred to them by his GP on August 29 and an assessment was carried out on September 2. She said: "Because of Mr Buxton's age and the possibility of an organic cause, as there had also been mention from the GP of short-term memory loss over the past couple of years, it was felt it should be discussed with the dementia and older people's service first.
"The assessing clinician took that to the duty worker and had that discussion and what they said was that he noted to be presenting with severe anxiety and that would need to be treated first as someone who is very anxious that can affect their ability to retain memory."
Andrew Cox, senior coroner for Cornwall, asked Ms Clark: "Mr Buxton was not a natural fit for any service because he is not typically presenting as a dementia patient, and he is too old to fit into the early intervention for psychosis? You are left with having to make a best fit where there isn't an obvious pathway for him to follow? Is that fair?" She replied: "To a degree. I think that service would be offered by the community mental health team."
Conclusion and family impact
The inquest heard Mr Buxton was referred to the community mental health team who felt talking therapies would be appropriate to deal with his anxiety. Detective Constable Tom Graham, who investigated both deaths, said there was no evidence of third party involvement.
Mr Cox returned a conclusion of unlawful killing for Mrs Buxton and said her husband had taken his own life. He said: "I think what has become apparent subsequent to these events is that no one had the full picture. What is abundantly clear from the papers is that no one, family members or mental health practitioners, seriously felt that Michelle was at risk of harm from her husband Anthony.
"I have accepted as fact that on September 24 Anthony strangled his wife, and I'm also further going to accept the evidence from the police that having done that he's then stabbed himself in the chest. If Anthony had survived, he would inevitably have been charged with a homicide offence."
Addressing the family, the coroner added: "This is a dreadful set of circumstances, completely unexpected, and you have my deepest sympathies for what has occurred."
