Man who killed wife in Penzance in suicide pact jailed
Via Devon and Cornwall PoliceA terminally ill husband who killed his wife in a suicide pact but then failed to take his own life has been jailed.
Peter Rogers, 62, who has Parkinson's Disease, travelled the world with his wife Jennifer before stabbing her in a holiday let in Cornwall.
Rogers, of no fixed address, "thought he had done enough" to kill himself with a knife but was found, Truro Crown Court heard.
He admitted manslaughter and was jailed for two years and six months.
Jo Martin QC, prosecuting, said Rogers was found injured next to his wife after "their money had largely run out, as had his medication for Parkinson's".
The couple had decided to sell their home in South Africa and travel before killing themselves, prosecutors said.
They had visited America, Russia and Europe before heading to Cornwall.
The couple stayed in Tintagel and Sennen before moving to a cottage in Dock Lane, Penzance, on 11 March.
Police were called on 17 March and found 56-year-old Mrs Rogers covered in blood, having suffered multiple stab wounds, the court heard.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ignatius Hughes, defending, said Rogers's health was rapidly deteriorating and he didn't "have terribly long to live".
He said: "His only desire is to see his wife properly buried. Her body has not been released by the coroner."
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