A man shot his wife dead in the hallway of their Southport home and covered her body with a blanket before turning the gun on himself.
Retired gardener Leslie Wardleworth, 74, shot Catherine Wardleworth, 72, twice in the left arm and chest some time before her body was found by her horrified daughter on the afternoon of June 23 2021. He then went upstairs, got into bed and turned the 12 bore double-barrel shotgun on himself.
A two-year investigation into the incident came to an end today, June 15, in a joint inquest at Bootle Town Hall.
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The bodies of Catherine and Leslie were discovered by their daughter, Emma Wardleworth, after she visited their Dinorwic Road home to tell them their 51-year-old son, Colin, had tragically died of complications from bowel surgery.
Coroner's officer Simon Knuckey said: "She used her own keys to unlock the door, but it was difficult to open. Having pushed open the door she saw there was a body under a blanket in a state of decomposition. It appeared to be Catherine."
Ms Wardleworth went upstairs, where she found the body of her dad, Leslie, under a blue sleeping bag.
Merseyside police initially feared the couple had died as a result of a noxious substance in the house - but a more thorough search found blood stains on the wall close to Catherine, and a shotgun was found in the bed beside Leslie.
The court heard that Leslie was a registered gun owner, and had reapplied for his licence to be renewed on June 1 2021. Equipment for making shotgun cartridges was found in the house, and shotgun cartridges were found in the bin and in Leslie's trouser pocket.
His gun was identified as the murder weapon through a forensic examination. After shooting Catherine twice, Leslie fired a further two times in the bedroom. His first shot missed, and went into the wall behind him.
Mr Knuckey said: "Neighbours believed they last saw Leslie during the past week or so, but were unsure when exactly. They had recently observed him shouting and talking to himself in the front garden.
"On Father's Day (June 20 2021), distinctive bangs were heard; one in the afternoon at 4.30pm, the other around 7.30pm."
He added that Catherine had not been seen alive "for some time" before her body was found.
He said: "(Leslie) was known to be a big drinker, but (Catherine) did not drink. The couple were known to argue, but these were only verbal in nature."
A domestic homicide review, carried out following the double shooting, concluded: "No one could have foreseen that Catherine would be murdered by Leslie, nor that he would take his own life."
A police investigation also failed to establish any motive for the killing.
Coroner Julie Goulding, concluding Catherine Wardleworth was unlawfully killed by her husband, said: "There was no evidence of previous violence in the family home. Catherine had been fatally shot by her husband without justifiable cause before he turned the gun on himself, also causing fatal injuries."
She concluded that the killer, Leslie Wardleworth, died by suicide.
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