Open verdict into deaths of tragic pair

AN INQUEST into the killing of a woman and the suicide of her husband has heard his brother arrived at their home to find a note inside the front door reading: "Upstairs and out the back."

- GORDON DEEGAN

At the Co Clare Coroner's Court yesterday in Kilrush, a jury returned an open verdict into the death of Claire Collins, 50, who was smothered to death with a pillow, and a verdict of suicide into the death of her husband, Joe, 54, on November 9, 2023.