Coroners Court hears of Leanne Patterson’s murder
A MAN who suspected his wife was having an affair with her masseuse murdered her, then turned the gun on himself. A note was the only explanation.
IT’S like something out of a horror movie.
A strained relationship, an alleged affair, cryptic notes and, eventually, a murder-suicide.
Leanne and Neil Patterson married in 1981 and had a son in 1988 and daughter in 1990.
It sounds like any ordinary family but Mr and Ms Patterson were both involved in a number of car crashes and sustained serious injuries as a result.
Both lived with chronic pain and were not able to move easily.
They also had depression and sleeping problems and could not work.
Their injuries forced them to move from their home in Eltham, Victoria, to Indented Head and they were burdened financially while making claims about their accidents to the Transport Accident Commission.
The Coroners Court of Victoria heard Ms Patterson’s sister describe her as outgoing and happy during her younger years.
But her personality began to change when she met her husband.
Mr Patterson did not speak to his own family and would avoid going to his wife’s family functions.
On the night of January 6, 2013, things changed even more.
The couple’s daughter was at her home an hour and a half from her parent’s house when she missed three phone calls from Ms Patterson’s phone.
She realised it was in fact her father calling when she listened to voicemails he left.
Mr Patterson turned up at her door unexpectedly, her parents were not due until the next morning when they were going to pick up their daughter’s dogs.
The court heard he acted suspiciously, and handed his daughter five envelopes full of money.
She put the envelopes in a safe and then Mr Patterson emptied his pockets and gave her his spare change.
He also gave her blank, empty registered post envelopes and a wallet he owned.
He told his daughter there was a change of plans and she could bring the dogs to him the following morning.
When Mr Patterson departed from his daughter’s house, he left medication prescribed to both him and his wife and gifts his daughter had given her mother.
The court heard the daughter was suspicious and attempted to contact Ms Patterson.
After a number of failed attempts, she called her brother who was travelling through Cambodia.
He told her to call the police if she was really worried.
She dialled the number for the Port Arlington police station on January 7 about 6.30am, but was diverted to the Geelong police station.
The officer who answered told the daughter to phone Port Arlington police again when their shift started at 8am.
The Geelong officer however questioned the daughter about her concerns for her mother and the court heard the officer asked why she did not call earlier.
The daughter told the court she felt “belittled” and “rejected” and was deterred from calling Port Arlington police.
She continued to phone her mother but after many failed attempts, she called her cousin instead.
Ms Patterson’s brother then contacted police and organised a welfare check.
Police visited Mr and Ms Patterson’s home just before 2pm on January 8.
Officers scaled the locked front gates and got into the house through an unlocked door.
The court heard this was when they found Ms Patterson’s body on a reclining chair in the living room.
She used this as her bed due to the injuries she sustained in the car collisions.
Ms Patterson had a single gunshot wound to her left temple.
Police then found Mr Patterson slumped on a lounge next to his wife with two gunshot wounds to his head and a rifle between his legs.
The court heard police were then drawn to the kitchen bench, where documents and letters were scattered.
Among the papers were EFTPOS cards, a driver’s licence, club membership and gun licence.
A card from a Chinese massage business also sat on the counter and Mr Patterson had pencilled a note on it.
It said he believed his wife had been having an affair with the masseuse and she had allegedly told her husband about it.
The masseuse later denied this to the Coroner’s Court.
Mr Patterson also wrote to his children in the note, apologising and saying he couldn’t take it anymore.
“The TAC drove us both nuts. I think you’ll get the message BLACK HAWK DOWN. Love always mum and dad xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx your mum was in too much pain please forgive me,” the note read.
The Coroner’s Court found Mr Patterson had consumed alcohol before killing his wife and their daughter described her father as a “violent alcoholic”.
She said she had seen him abuse her mother and Ms Patterson once told her daughter her husband held a knife to her throat because she would not tell him where she was going.
The daughter said she had also been beaten and had plates broken over her head.
The police were never notified because the mother and daughter were afraid of revenge.
Mr and Ms Patterson’s son said his father was controlling and would often degrade and isolate Ms Patterson but said it rarely became physically violent.
The court also heard Mr Patterson had been suffering from depression for a number of years.
Mr Patterson went to several appointments with a consultant psychiatrist who said he found it hard to develop a rapport with Mr Patterson.
The psychiatrist noted Mr Patterson presented as quite a controlling man who readily became defensive and suspicious when questioned.
The psychiatrist believed he was guarded as a result of the ongoing TAC claims.
When Mr Patterson died, he had already been paid out more than $83,000 for a transport incident he suffered in 2002.
He had also been paid out more than $180,000 for a second incident in 2006.
The court heard Mr Patterson was in the process of negotiating a lump-sum impairment benefit from the TAC in relation to the injuries he suffered in both his crashes.
His legal representatives also commenced a damages action due to the injuries he sustained in the first crash.
Ms Patterson had been paid out about $711 for an accident in 2001 and more than $21,000 for a collision in 2010 in compensation towards medical costs, medication and psychological treatment.
State Coroner Judge Ian Gray reported Mr Patterson’s alleged motivations for killing his wife were suspicions she was having an affair, his frustrations dealing with the TAC and his wife’s ongoing struggle with chronic pain.
Judge Gray did not believe the couple had any discussions about a suicide pact or mercy killing prior to the murder.
A report from the coroner said it was uncertain whether Ms Patterson would have told health care professionals about her experience with family violence but Judge Gray said it was important to reiterate to GPs the role they play in identifying domestic violence.