Couple Found Dead in Camelford Home After Confession

Daniel Buxton, the couple's son, reported his father had become unusually quiet, paranoid, anxious, and defensive in the months preceding the incident.

Mr. Buxton reportedly believed an organized crime gang was targeting him, had accessed his house, and had bugged it.

Daniel Buxton claimed the gang's objective was to extort police secrets from his father due to his work with law enforcement.

He added, "Eventually it got to the point where mum seemed to be struggling and dad was getting quite anxious and really not wanting to tell us any information and would get defensive when pressed."

Daniel Buxton also stated, "It was anxiety trying to assuage any fears he might have. We installed CCTV cameras in the house because he was concerned there was an overarching delusion he had."

Georgina Clark of the Cornwall Partnership Mental Health Trust confirmed Mr. Buxton was referred by his GP on August 29 and assessed on September 2.

The assessing clinician noted Mr. Buxton presented with severe anxiety requiring initial treatment. The specific treatment offered to Anthony Buxton on September 2 was not detailed by the Cornwall Partnership Mental Health Trust.

Georgina Clark explained, "Because of Mr Buxton’s age and the possibility of an organic cause, as there had also been mention from the GP of short-term memory loss over the past couple of years, it was felt it should be discussed with the dementia and older people’s service first."

Senior coroner for Cornwall, Andrew Cox, highlighted the difficulty in finding a suitable service for Mr. Buxton, stating, "Mr Buxton was not a natural fit for any service because he is not typically presenting as a dementia patient, and he is too old to fit into the early intervention for psychosis? You are left with having to make a best fit where there isn’t an obvious pathway for him to follow? Is that fair?"

Georgina Clark responded, "To a degree. I think that service would be offered by the community mental health team."

The Cornwall Coroner’s Court heard that Mr. Buxton had alerted the ambulance service after attacking his wife.

PC Jacob Double recounted, "As we were travelling, further information came to light, which stated in the call to ambulance a female voice could be heard groaning and saying, 'help', and a male voice was heard saying, 'I’ve done it, no one can stop me, I’ve killed her."

Andrew Cox concluded, "What is abundantly clear from the papers is that no one, family members or mental health practitioners, seriously felt that Michelle was at risk of harm from her husband Anthony."

He further stated, "I have accepted as fact that on September 24 Anthony strangled his wife, and I’m also further going to accept the evidence from the police that having done that he’s then stabbed himself in the chest. If Anthony had survived, he would inevitably have been charged with a homicide offence."

Andrew Cox acknowledged, "I think what has become apparent subsequent to these events is that no one had the full picture."