Coroner Rules Husband Strangled Wife Before Killing Himself

Overview

• The coroner concluded that Anthony Buxton strangled his wife Michelle and then died by suicide, returning a verdict of unlawful killing for Michelle and suicide for Anthony.
• Emergency services responded after a 999 call in which a male caller confessed to killing his wife and a female voice was heard asking for help, and officers forced entry to the Camelford home on September 24.
• Post‑mortem examinations found Michelle died from prolonged forceful compression of the neck and Anthony died from a self‑inflicted stab wound to the chest, and police said there was no evidence of third‑party involvement.
• Doctors told the inquest Mr Buxton had months of worsening anxiety, paranoia and some short‑term memory loss and his GP referred him to mental‑health services at the end of August before an assessment in early September.
• The coroner said no one had the full picture beforehand and the hearing underlined how clinicians struggled to place an older patient with anxiety and paranoid beliefs into a clear service pathway, a gap that may prompt closer review of local care routes.