An ex-soldier and his Army veteran wife killed themselves in a suicide pact a day after throwing a final party for their unsuspecting friends, an inquest has heard.
Peter McGuinness, 54, and wife Deborah, a former PA to three heads of the military, were found dead in a Land Rover at a remote beauty spot after planning it for weeks.
The devoted couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning and a suicide note found in the vehicle said ‘neither of us can be without the other’.
Mr McGuinness had suffered from depression, possibly caused by PTSD after several tours of Iraq, and had talked about taking his own life before.
But his wife, who had been given the all clear from cancer just five months before her death, had no history of mental illness.
The couple, known by friends as Mac and Debs, each served in the Armed Forces in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers for more than 20 years.
Mrs McGuinnesss was later personal assistant to three consecutive heads of the Army: Generals Sir David Richards, Sir Richard Dannatt and Sir Peter Wall.
Also found dead in the hired Land Rover was the pet…
