After suffocating his elderly wife suffering from dementia hallucinations, a retired barber committed suicide. An inquest was heard today.
Family members discovered Malcolm Brown (74) and Pauline Brown (73), dead at their South Yorkshire home in Monk Bretton on July 8, 2020.
The inquest at Sheffield’s Medico Legal Centre was also told by Detective Sergeant Stuart Hall that Mr Brown had weeks earlier told a relative there was ‘only one cure – murder and suicide’.

Malcolm Brown, 74, pictured, had been a longstanding and respected town centre barber for more than 50 years
Mrs Brown was found in the couple’s bedroom floor in an ‘almost posed position’ with a pillow underneath her head and a sheet covering her, while Mr Brown was in another bedroom with his arms crossed over his body.
Post-mortem examinations of the longstanding and respected town centre barber of more than 50 years showed evidence of brain damage and insulin in his blood, suggestive of an overdose.
The inquest was told the couple had a ‘long and happy’ marriage that deteriorated due to Mrs Brown’s declining mental health and her husband’s ‘aggressive’ cancerous tumour.
Statements to police from neighbours said that Mrs Brown declined mentally and had begun to see ‘two Malcolms’, two houses and children running through the couple’s house.
DS Hall added: ‘There’s no reports or insinuation there had been any domestic violence or domestic abuse whatsoever.
‘But what had become apparent over the last couple of years was Pauline’s declining mental condition.
“It was almost like the past had been combined with her present.”

The inquest at Sheffield’s Medico Legal Centre was told that Mr Brown had weeks earlier told a relative there was ‘only one cure – murder and suicide’
Mr Brown had also made reference to suicide ‘some years ago’ to the couple’s son Keith, attending the inquest by video from Australia.
‘His dad said to him if he couldn’t cope any more, he would go onto the moors and take an overdose of insulin,’ said DS Hall.
‘Looking at the state of mind Mr Brown would be in, we know that Pauline has been really quite unwell with dementia, she’s perhaps been difficult to live with.
“Yet, he has his own medical issues and he will be in great pain.”
The evidence Mrs Brown provided was consistent with three kinds of dementia. Dr Philip Lumb from the Home Office said that these types were present in her case, however, they had not been confirmed.
Although Dr Lumb declared her death undetermined after reviewing other evidence, David Urpeth, the coroner for David Lumb, recorded her cause-of-death as asphyxiation of the upper airways.
Petechiae, or small red marks around the eyes that indicate asphyxiation, were found.
DS Hall stated that Mrs Brown was found by her sister and brother in-law after they tried to contact them and arrived at the house to find two pints outside to drink.
Other than minor injuries, there was not much evidence that the two had fought or been assaulted.
It was clear that the family had to set the house alarm before they were allowed in, but there was no other sign.

The post-mortem examinations by Mr Brown revealed evidence of brain injury and insulin levels, which suggests an overdose.
DS Hall stated that “Whatever happened that night was between Mrs Brown and Mr Brown.”
On the balance of probabilities, Dr Lumb said that Mr Brown died from insulin toxicemia.
A Type I diabetic and daily injectable insulin user, it was noted his experience made it unlikely he’d use it incorrectly, although Mr Brown’s son said he had sometimes taken the wrong type of insulin and had to be kept awake and fed sugar or he ‘would die’.
Malcolm’s death was recorded by Mr Urpeth as suicide.
He said: ‘The appropriate conclusion to record in Mrs Brown’s case is unlawful killing.
‘I’m satisfied that on balance of probabilities, that having taken his wife’s life, he (Mr Brown) decided to take his own life.
‘The circumstances of Mr and Mrs Brown’s deaths are both sad and tragic.
‘I’ve heard evidence that they have had a long and happy marriage – their deaths therefore are not only a tragedy for them, but a tragedy for all those they leave behind.’
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