Father kills self after row with fiancée days before wedding, tells her he 'may be hanging in the hall' in chilling last text
KENT, ENGLAND: The 38-year-old man killed himself after texting his fiancée "I may as well be hanging in the hall lol" after an argument over their wedding, an inquest heard on Monday.
The father-of three, identified as Quentin Lane, reportedly sent Victoria Pulfer a string of chilling text messages just hours before she found him dead.
One of the messages sent by Lane to Pulfer read "what rhymes with bed lol" while the last text said that he would "love her forever."
Lane and Pulfer had been drinking on May 8 at their home in Dartford, Kent, and were believed to be in "good spirits" before they began arguing about their wedding, and Pulfer headed to bed alone, according to Kent Online. The couple was set to get married on August 26.
The inquest heard that Lane, after their row, sent her a string of text messages, which Pulfer opened but did not remember reading because she was drunk. A few hours later, at 5:45 am, Pulfer and her daughter found Lane unresponsive at the base of the stairs.
Pulfer called emergency services, however, paramedics could not save hin.
Coroner Roger Hatch recorded a verdict of suicide, saying: "I'm left with no alternative option but to rule Mr Lane's death was due to suicide. May I express my sincere condolences."
Lane's devastated family also spoke at the hearing, as they told the inquest that Lane was "one of life's good guys." Lane's father, Jim Birtchnell, told the inquest held at Maidstone's Archbishop's Palace: "He doted over his children and he missed them so much. If he could have seen them more I don't think we would be here right now." Birtchnell said that he hadn't seen his children for nearly three years due to personal reasons.
While his sister, Sabrina, said: "He was just such a lovely man and a total joker - a bit of a jack the lad. He was stupid but in a good way. It was such a shock to us all. We're a small and tight knit family."
The coroner's report stated Lane's cause of death as suspension with the secondary cause as a high level of alcohol and anti-depressants in his blood.
Reports state that traces of cocaine were also found in his urine.