Pensioner sent letter saying ‘Ring 999’ before killing wife and hanging himself

An elderly man killed his wife and then himself after posting a handwritten letter setting out his tragic plans.

According to Wales Online, David Roland Arnold was found hanged in the cottage he shared with his wife of 51 years, Christina Mary Arnold, in February of this year.

Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police attended the residence in north Pembrokeshire after Stuart Hill, the area manager for Royal Mail’s sorting office in Swansea, read the letter from Mr Arnold.

Paul Bennett, the senior coroner for Pembrokeshire, was given the details of the incident in a report read out by coroner’s officer Lisa Jenkins, which also stated that the note was enclosed in an envelope marked ‘Ring 999’.

Inside Mr Hill found a letter from Mr Arnold indicating that he had killed his wife and intended to take steps to end his own life.

Officers arrived at 10.48pm on February 16 and went inside the cottage, which is down a short gravel track and cannot be seen from the road and which had been left unlocked.

There they found Mrs Arnold, 71, on her back on the sofa in the living room with a plastic bag secured around her head. Mr Arnold, 81, was found hanged in the same room.

The elderly couple were originally from the south of England having married on January 26, 1970, after a short relationship, Ms Jenkins said.

They went on to have four children in quick succession: Steven in 1971, Sarah in 1972, Debbie in 1973, and Matthew in 1974.

Despite the extensive family, which included six grandchildren, the couple kept themselves to themselves and had little contact with them.

There was no falling out or animosity between them but it simply wasn’t a close relationship, Ms Jenkins added.

The last contact with family had been a Christmas card sent to Mr Arnold’s brother.

Mr Arnold had a son from a previous relationship before he met Mrs Arnold but despite extensive searches police had been unable to locate him to inform him of his father’s death.

Mr Arnold, who served in the Army before being discharged on medical grounds in 1982, lost his own mother to cancer and his father to suicide, the inquest was told.

Mr and Mrs Arnold moved to Morvil Cottage, on the outskirts of Rosebush, in May 2013, which they rented from a local agency. The landlord said he had only met them a small number of times and they were “private people”.

He never saw them have any visitors.

Ms Jenkins reported that Mr Arnold suffered with anxiety and was highly sensitive to noise while Mrs Arnold suffered with depression.

When police gained entry to the modest two-bed cottage they found both bodies as well as two letters left by Mr Arnold.

One set out the couple’s personal affairs while the second set out that he’d killed his wife and intended to kill himself.

Mr Bennett accepted Ms Jenkins’ report that there was “clearly no evidence of another party being involved”.

A post-mortem examination, carried out by Dr Derek James at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, gave a “clear cause of death” the coroner said.

There was no sign of assault or struggle on either person and no sign of any “grip marks” left by Mrs Arnold, indicating there had been no fight.

Dr James concluded the cause of death for Mrs Arnold was “the envelopment of her head in a plastic bag which was held in place by an elastic ligature”. He concluded that Mr Arnold had died by hanging.

Accepting the pathologist’s findings, Mr Bennett said: “There can be few cases where the deaths of two individuals cause such particular concern. For a married couple to have both had their lives ended in circumstances described is a particularly tragic distressing situation.

“For whatever reason which we will never be entirely clear about Mr Arnold took steps that day to end his wife’s life. The manner in which that was undertaken is a distressing one.”

Mr Bennett concluded that Mrs Arnold died as a result of a criminal act and was unlawfully killed by her husband.

He added: “She died as a consequence of being suffocated by a plastic bag which had been placed around her head.”

Mr Arnold died by suicide from self-suspension, Mr Bennett continued, adding that he had left a clear indication of what he was going to do.

“I wish to extend my belated condolences to the family,” Mr Bennett said.

“There can be very few situations which are so stark and tragic.”

He also paid tribute to the police officers who dealt with the investigation, which he said must have been “distressing and disturbing”.