Man shot dead wife and dog before turning gun on himself, inquest hears

A married couple were found dead in their Cardiff home by their daughter after a murder-suicide, an inquest has heard.

Stephen Jefferies, 74, shot his wife Christine, 72, and their dog, May, at the family home in Trowbridge on October 5 last year.

The couple were found by their daughter Martine Stecker, who visited the house in Morfa Crescent to check on her parents following a call from a concerned neighbour.

Inside, she discovered the bodies of her parents in the bedroom.

An inquest at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court concluded Mr Jefferies had killed his wife and dog, before turning the gun on himself.

Depression

The inquest heard Mr Jefferies had a history of depression and the couple were in £35,000 of debt at the time of the incident.

“I never had an inkling they had money issues at all,” Ms Stecker said.

“I think (my father) had the world on his shoulders but never showed anything.

“I don’t think my mother was involved in any of this, I think her life was taken away from her.”

The couple were married in 1970 and had two children, Martine and her brother Gethin.

Ms Stecker said they had a good childhood but she was aware her father had struggled with his mental health in recent years.

She said: “He lost his sister, something happened in his workplace where he was being bullied.

“I had no concerns that he really had depression.

“What I did find strange is when he kept going on about the wills, wanting to change it, I thought that was strange at the time,” she added.

“I dismissed it because I just didn’t understand why he wanted to change it all of a sudden after all these years.”

Chronic pain

The court heard Mrs Jefferies had suffered with chronic pain and took medication to treat this.

However, she maintained an active social life and met her daughter every Saturday.

“We’d go to the garden centre, we’d go for coffee or we’d go shopping, just a mother and daughter thing,” Ms Stecker said.

When Ms Stecker arrived at the house on October 5, she found the curtains drawn and the key in the door.

“I really didn’t have that much concern at all… I don’t think it really hit me straight away,” she said.

Ms Stecker discovered the body of the family dog before finding her mother lying in bed.

She said: “I don’t even know if I saw my dad… I just knew my mother wasn’t with us any more.

“I was quite calm, there was no hysteria, no scream.”

The court heard Mr Jefferies owned several guns as he used to go clay pigeon and pheasant shooting.

The couple were found to owe some £35,000 after their deaths, though it is not clear how they acquired the debt.

Gunshot wounds

Area coroner Patricia Morgan concluded the couple both died from gunshot wounds to the head.

She ruled Mrs Jefferies’ death was an unlawful killing while Mr Jefferies’ cause of death was suicide.

She said: “It is likely that Mrs Jefferies was shot by her husband before he went on to shoot the family dog and then himself.

“Her husband had some historical depression and was likely suffering with a deterioration in his mental health.”

“They had some financial debts but it is not known to what extent this had caused them stress or worry,” she added.