“Does this look like a murderer”: The photo that shows the end of a 60-year love story
It’s the end of a 60-year-old love story that involves a couple making a pact to end their lives together.
Mavis and her husband Dennis Eccleston made a pact after Dennis was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer and asked for help ending his own life.
Neither one wanted to live in this world without the other and Mavis wrote a 14-page note before both husband and wife drank a cocktail of prescription drugs.
Shortly after ingesting the drugs, the couple were rushed to hospital after being found unconscious by their daughter and granddaughter.
Dennis had a ‘do not resuscitate’ order on his record and died soon after arriving at the hospital.
He passed away holding hands with his wife in adjoining hospital beds.
Does this look like a murderer? Our mom got charged with murder for trying to commit suicide with our cancer riddled dad, so he would be out of pain. This was the end of a 60 year love story, NOT MURDER!!! @dignityindying @BBCNews @ITV @davidgold @MeacherMolly @kevinwwfc666 pic.twitter.com/oZb3FwmXqY
— Joy Munns (@JoyMunns) 4 November 2019
Mavis, however, was saved.
The following day, she was arrested and held in a cell for 30 hours. According to Mavis’ family, Mavis left the hospital in tears after a nurse callously told her:
“We have got to wait for the police because you have murdered your husband and you are going to prison for a long, long time.”
Mavis and Dennis’ daughter Joy told BBC Breakfast about the horrific ordeal.
“I was holding onto her and I didn’t want them to take her,” she said.
“You could see that [the police] didn’t want to take her but they had to because it was their job.”
In April 2019, Mavis was told she was to be charged with the murder of her husband.
“When you hear that someone’s been murdered, you think of something horrific,” Joy explained.
“This was my mum and dad we’re talking about.”
However, after a three-week trial in September, Mavis was found not guilty by a jury.
Mavis spoke to the media after her trial, saying that she was “annoyed” when she woke up in hospital.
“I wanted to be with my husband. You wouldn’t let an animal suffer the way Dennis was suffering,” she said.
“I don’t regret what I did and wouldn’t change what happened. I live with a very contented family and I am happy for them – but I would still rather be with Dennis.”