Tree surgeon bludgeoned wife and killed himself after large tax bill

Richard Parks, 63, stabbed and strangled spouse amid apparent financial anxieties

A tree surgeon bludgeoned his wife and killed himself in a murder-suicide weeks after receiving a large tax bill, an inquest heard.
Richard Parks, 63, stabbed and strangled his wife Suratchanee “Lat” Parks, 53, during the attack at their home in Tunbridge Wells earlier this year.
Mrs Parks was found dead with several injuries and a fractured skull inside the first-floor bathroom of the home on Feb 23. Officers found Mr Parks’s body in the hallway. There were bloodstains on the stairs and in every room of the house, the inquest heard.
Mr Parks owned several businesses, including a gardening and tree surgeon company, and his wife worked at a nail bar and Thai massage parlour.
The couple had bought a house in Thailand they planned to move to when they retired next year but weeks before their deaths Mr Parks had received a large tax bill from HMRC.
Mr Parks’s brother Robert told the inquest that the couple had got into financial trouble due to the large tax bill, but that the couple were hoping to move to Thailand once they had fixed their finances.
He said: “This is a terribly sad situation. Only those two will ever know exactly what happened.
“They loved each other very much and he was looking forward to going to Thailand. It’s just terribly sad for both families.”
Investigating officer Detective Constable Jessica Summers said prior to the tragedy, their marriage had been described as “happy and without problems”.
Family members said Mr Parks had become very stressed about the bill and that he was “struggling with his mental health”.
Mr Parks was said to have told others the move to Thailand would likely be delayed because of his financial problems, which had left his wife upset. The couple were also said to be concerned that they would have to move in with Mr Parks’s father because of their finances.
DC Summers said prior to the attack, Mr Parks had taken steps to set his affairs in order.
He had made changes to his will just two days before and had handed a folder of important documents and the combination to his safe to his sister.
Relatives visited the house on the day of the couple’s deaths following concerns about their welfare.
Police then attended and found blood stains on the kitchen floor, the dishwasher, the hallway and stairs, and on a sofa and carpet in the living room.
There was blood on a silver metal photo-frame which had been turned facedown and contained pictures of the couple.
A red folder found on the hall floor had a large sum of cash in £10 and £20 notes spilling out of it, as well as two coats at the foot of the stairs covered in a large pool of blood.
A blood spatter analyst concluded there had been a bloody assault in the kitchen area and at some time, somebody had moved around the house and had attempted to clean themselves up in the kitchen.
The pathologist said it was not possible to determine the order of the injuries sustained by Mrs Parks, other than the wounds to her neck had been delivered after her death or as she was dying.
At two separate inquests into their deaths in Maidstone, coroner Roger Hatch concluded that Mrs Parks was unlawfully killed and that Richard Parks had taken his own life.