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Judith Ann Venn had reached the end of the road when she overdosed her husband of over 40 years by lacing his favourite soup with pills before cutting his wrist, a court has been told.
The now 69-year-old was not coping as carer of 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.
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Venn pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Brisbane Supreme Court over the death of her husband in their home at Alexandra Hills, southeast 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.
"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.
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She was also likely chronically sleep-deprived and getting more and more isolated and desperate.
Shortly before he was killed Venn, a former fisherman, used money they could not afford to buy a boat, although they already had four in the yard, indicating how bad his condition was.
On the morning of August 14, Venn was hopeful of some relief in managing her husband as he was due to see a psychologist that day.
But Venn ended up at their daughter's house at the end of one his nocturnal walks.
Venn cancelled the appointment and overdosed him by dissolving prescribed pills in his favourite vegetable soup.
"She had just reached the end of the road," Wilson said.
She cut his wrist when he was unconscious before eating the laced soup in an attempt to take her own life.
Venn admitted to police she had decided to end her husband's life and her own due to frustration with his behaviour.
She was a stoic woman with an extraordinary ability to cope who reached the end of her tether because she was doing it all on her own, Wilson said.
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 and was in the trusted position of working in the prison's reception counter.
Justice Frances Williams has reserved her decision until a date to be set.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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