Judith Ann Venn laced her husband's soup with prescription medication causing him to overdose believing it was the only solution to an intolerable situation.
The 69-year-old, who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of husband Lance Hilton Venn, was sentenced to jail today but is immediately able to apply for parole after nearly three years behind bars.
Venn was not coping as carer of her husband whose bipolar disorder and manic depressive illness had worsened significantly over the previous 18 months and made him become agitated and aggressive toward others.
On the morning of August 14, 2020, Venn was hopeful of some relief in managing her husband of about 40 years as he was due to see a psychologist that day.
But 64-year-old Lance Venn ended up at their daughter's house in the early hours of the morning during one of his nocturnal outings.
Venn cancelled the appointment and when he returned to their home at Alexandra Hills, southeast of Brisbane, overdosed him with a portion of vegetable soup she had made the previous day in which she dissolved 50 prescribed pills.
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 Lance Venn had pushed her over the edge.
She attempted to take her own life, later telling police she did not want anyone else, particularly their daughters, to have to care for Lance Venn.
Psychiatrists found Venn was suffering from a major depressive disorder, excessive stress and distortions of thinking.
This contributed to last resort thinking and desperation around the time of the offence.
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.
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."
Justice Williams sentenced Venn to eight years and six months behind bars, ordering she be immediately eligible to apply for parole.
The sentence 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.
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