Heartbroken wife found husband dead so 'laid next to him and died'

Raymond and Paula Shepherd

A devoted wife who found the body of her husband in their home was so heartbroken she may have “given up” her will to live, lay down and died next to him, an inquest heard.

The bodies of retired bank manager Raymond Shepherd, 76, and his wife Paula Shepherd, 70, were found lying next to each other on their bedroom floor almost three weeks after anyone last saw them.

When police were called to the house after an estate agent raised the alarm, they found the body of Mr Shepherd, partially covered with a duvet.

Mrs Shepherd was lying next to him on the floor in her night dress.

Pathologist Dr Basil Purdue said housewife Mrs Shepherd’s world had “collapsed” after seeing her husband's body, adding: “She couldn’t see a future without him.”