Married Couple Sent Letter Confirming Suicide Pact Because Wife Didn’t Want to Live Without Sick Husband

Elderly U.K. Couple Die Together After Husband’s Cancer Battle, Inquest Hears

An inquest has heard that an elderly British couple died by suicide after one of them faced worsening health problems.

David Jeffcock, 80, and his wife, Susan Jeffcock, 74, were found dead at the bottom of East Cliff in Whitby, England, on July 30, according to reports from the BBC, the Independent and Sky News.

During a hearing in Northallerton, it emerged that the couple had written to their solicitor stating that they planned to end their lives.

David’s nephew, Kevin Shepherd, told the court that his uncle had been diagnosed with bone cancer and likely wanted to die because of the pain he was enduring, the BBC reported.

“I was shocked to hear of their passing and in such circumstances,” Shepherd said in a statement read at the hearing. “I can only conclude he was in so much pain he didn’t want to keep deteriorating.”

The hearing also revealed that David had attended the emergency room three times earlier in the year with headaches and breathing difficulties.

Shepherd noted that although Susan was younger, “Susan chose to join David.”

“That to me shows their devotion,” he added.

Both David and Susan were pronounced dead at the scene, and their cause of death was recorded as multiple traumatic injuries, according to the BBC.

A statement from Detective Inspector Jenkinson of North Yorkshire Police said that David was believed to have jumped first and that Susan “may have hesitated before following,” Sky News reported.

Shepherd described David as a “lovely man who lived a good life.”

He said David had grown up in Sheffield and later moved to Australia as a “10-pound pom” before eventually returning to the U.K.

Shepherd added that Susan was the love of David’s life, and that the pair “lived well together” and enjoyed traveling around the world, according to the Independent.

The couple chose not to have children. David worked as a taxi driver, while Susan was employed as a secretary at Stanley Tools.