Hours before Judith Ann Venn killed her husband by lacing his vegetable soup with prescription medication she had a glimmer of hope his difficult behaviour could be managed.
Lance Hilton Venn’s bipolar spectrum disorder and manic depressive illness had worsened significantly over 18 months making him agitated and aggressive toward others.
Venn, his wife of 40 years and the 64-year-old’s carer, was not coping.
The now 69-year-old had suffered physical violence and emotional abuse, was chronically sleep deprived, increasingly isolated, and more and more desperate, a Brisbane court heard.
Judith Ann Venn (pictured) killed her husband by lacing his vegetable soup with prescription medication
On August 12, 2020 Mr Venn bought a boat from a neighbour for $20,000 causing financial stress.
The following day Venn dissolved 50 of her husband’s prescription pills in homemade vegetable soup, putting it in containers in the freezer.
She still had hope of some relief in her husband’s management on August 14 as he had a psychologist appointment that day.
But Venn cancelled it when her husband ended up at their daughter’s house in the early hours of the morning during one of his nocturnal outings.
‘I think if he hadn’t taken off … and he had gone to the psychologist, whom he had seen before, there was still this glimmer of hope that maybe that would’ve changed things,’ a psychiatrist report says.
Instead in response to their daughter’s message that Mr Venn had been outside her home from 4am, Venn replied: ‘OK, that ends it.’
On his return to their home at Alexandra Hills, south-east of Brisbane, Venn served him a portion of the soup.
She cut his wrist when he was unconscious but his cause of death was found to be due to the overdose.
Venn wrote a letter saying she did not want her family to live with the stress she experienced and that Mr Venn had put her over the edge.
Venn decided to end her husband’s life when he ended up at their daughter’s house in the early hours of the morning, Pictured is Venn’s family leaving the Supreme Court in Brisbane
She attempted to take her own life, later telling police she did not want anyone else, particularly their daughters, to have to care for Mr Venn.
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Psychiatrists found Venn was suffering from a major depressive disorder, excessive stress and distortions of thinking.
The court heard Venn minimised and concealed her husband’s physical aggression towards her, probably due to shame, loyalty to him and a wish to spare her children from more concern.
She also could not tolerate the prospect of their adult daughters having to endure the difficulty she had in trying to care for, monitor and manage her husband.
The worsening of Venn’s cognitive distortions characterised by all or nothing catastrophic thinking restricted her ability to problem solve or make rational decisions, Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Frances Williams said.
‘It was in these circumstances that you were led to believe the only solution to an intolerable and hopeless situation was for you and the deceased to die.’
Lance Hilton Venn’s bipolar spectrum disorder and manic depressive illness had worsened significantly over 18 months making him agitated and aggressive toward others
In sentencing, Justice Williams took into account that Venn posed no risk to the community and had suffered physical, verbal and emotional abuse.
‘The particular circumstances of the offending arose out of a tragic chain of events including the deceased’s mental illness which led to your own mental illness and that you have taken considerable steps towards rehabilitation,’ Justice Williams told Venn.
She said a statement from one of Venn’s daughters asked the court to consider the full context of the case when determining the appropriate sentence.
‘It further states that you committed your life to being a loving wife, caring for the deceased while raising three daughters and never putting your needs before others.
‘It recognises your generous and caring nature across every aspect of your life which illustrates a side to your character that is contrary to the events that transpired.’
Justice Williams sentenced Venn to eight years and six months behind bars, ordering she be immediately eligible to apply for parole.
Venn will have to make a successful application to the parole board to secure her release.
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Judith Ann Venn killed her husband by lacing his soup with prescription medication, the Brisbane Supreme Court (pictured_ was told
