A woman stabbed her long-term boyfriend 90 times with a pair of scissors and a knife before taking her own life by slitting her throat with a razor blade, an inquest heard.
Mum-of-one Karen Climpson, 46, attacked Mark Chandler, 42, after she “completely lost her mind” in an “unexplained frenzy”.
The tragic pair, who had been together for 18 years, lay dead for several days until concerned relatives forced their way into their home to discover the pair’s blood-covered bodies in January this year.
An inquest into their deaths heard how a struggle started in the bathroom where mechanic Mark was stabbed before falling or being pushed down the stairs.
Karen, who was taking antidepressants at the time, went downstairs and continued brutally stabbing Mark with scissors before walking to the kitchen, leaving a trail of bloody footprints.
She then went back upstairs to the bathroom – where she took her own life using a razor blade, Stoke-on-Trent Coroners Court heard.
North Staffordshire Coroner Ian Smith concluded that Karen had killed Mark but added that the full truth behind the case would never be known.
He said: “We don’t have all the facts. I would wish to know from Mark and Karen why they ended up the way they did.
“Was it some sort of domestic argument that got totally out of hand? We could speculate forever on that.
“I am satisfied that Mark came by his death at the hands of Karen. I think the likelihood is that in this frenzy, Karen, temporarily, completely lost her mind.”
The inquest on Thursday heard how Karen’s horrified mother Barbara Hodgkinson and brother Paul Climpson had discovered the grisly scene.
They had gone to the pair’s detached home, in Cheadle, Staffs., on January 2 this year after they had not been seen for several days.
Paul forced his way inside and discovered Mark’s bloodied and naked body sprawled halfway down the stairs, with a pool of dried blood beneath him.
Mrs Hodgkinson told the inquest, in Hartshill, Staffs: “I wanted to go round to put my mind at rest.
“I had a horrible feeling something had happened.
“The curtains were drawn downstairs and the door was locked. I was really panicking. I knew something had happened.”
After the case Karen’s GP Dr Christine Craven said: “Having known Karen for 15 years, there was no way I could have predicted this at all.”
Verdicts: unlawful killing and suicide.
