Judith Ann Venn had reached the “end of the road” when she gave her husband of more than 40 years an overdose by lacing his favourite soup with pills and killed him, a court has been told.
The now 69-year-old was caring for Lance Hilton Venn, whose bipolar disorder had worsened significantly over the previous 18 months.
But she also could not bear the prospect of their daughters enduring the difficulty of caring, monitoring and managing him, Venn’s barrister, Christopher Wilson, said on Friday during Venn’s pre-sentencing hearing.
Venn pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Brisbane supreme court over the death of her husband in their home at Alexandra Hills, south-east of Brisbane, in August 2020.
Venn felt trapped as part of a close Christadelphian Church community that did not look outside for help, Wilson said.
“Because of her shame and her desire not to besmirch her husband in that group she kept secret a lot of what was going on in his mental health and his deterioration.”
The month before her husband’s killing, Venn told a mental health service of her desperation but received very limited support, the court heard.
“For her it was the end of the line, for them it was the first presentation,” Wilson said.
A psychiatrist surmised Venn habitually understated her husband’s physical violence to her, perhaps because she was ashamed, thought she failed him or knew he couldn’t help it, the court heard.
“Out of sheer loyalty to him [she] did not mention it or did not make a big issue of it,” Wilson told the court.
She was also likely chronically sleep-deprived and getting more and more isolated and desperate.
Shortly before he was killed, Lance Venn, a former fisherman, had bought a boat, although they already had four in the yard, indicating his worsening condition.
On the morning of 14 August, he had been due to see a psychologist but ended up at the couple’s daughter’s house after walking during the night.
Venn cancelled the appointment and gave him an overdose by dissolving prescribed pills in his favourite vegetable soup.
“She had just reached the end of the road,” Wilson said during Friday’s pre-sentencing hearing.
She cut his wrist when he was unconscious after he ate the soup, before attempting to take her own life.
She admitted to police she had decided to end her husband’s life and her own due to frustration with his behaviour.
Venn, who wiped away tears during the sentencing submissions, pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter over her husband’s death.
She has been behind bars since the day she killed her husband.
Justice Frances Williams has reserved her decision until a date to be set.
#Queensland #woman #laced #husbands #soup #pills #pleads #guilty #manslaughter #Queensland
