Oldbury 'murder-suicide': Husband suspected affair
- Published
Police were alerted to the deaths by a neighbour
A husband who killed his wife before taking his own life suspected she was having an affair, an inquest heard.
Rikki and Paul Lander were found dead at their West Midlands home with their three children inside.
Coroner Mr Zafar Siddique said a text message was the "trigger" for Mr Lander's "violent outburst", however, there was no evidence of an affair.
He ruled Mrs Lander was unlawfully killed and Mr Lander's death was suicide.
The couple, who married in February 2017, were found by police on 5 August, after a neighbour raised the alarm when they heard the children crying.
Post-mortem tests revealed Mrs Lander's cause of death was head injury and pressure to the neck.
Tipper truck driver Mr Lander, 30, died as a result of hanging.
Det Sgt Inderjit Basra told the inquest, sitting in Oldbury, that in a witness statement, Mr Lander's brother Blake said he had been at the couple's home, in Pel Crescent, Oldbury, the previous night.
He said Blake Lander told police Mrs Lander, 26, who was on maternity leave at the time of her death, received a text message which his brother later asked him to read.
Love letters
"He read one message saying 'can you meet me'. Rikki's reply was 'I will when he's asleep'," Det Sgt Basra told the court.
However, Det Sgt Basra said call data found no messages suggesting Mrs Lander was having an affair.
The detective said police found letters written by Mr Lander describing his love for his wife and saying he was depressed.
Black Country Coroner Mr Siddique said it was a "tragic set of circumstances".
"It seems the trigger was a text message. Rightly or wrongly Mr Lander thought his wife was having an affair,"
He added: "There was no evidence to substantiate she was having an affair."
- Published10 August 2017
