ON the morning of the 28th of April 2016, in Troon, Ian Gordon killed his wife Patricia. The couple had been married for 43 years. Ian was self-employed painter and decorator. He stopped working to look after Patricia in 2015. She suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Her health was seriously deteriorating, and continued to deteriorate into 2016. Experiencing pain, lethargy, and breathlessness, the 63-year-old believed she was suffering from lung cancer. So it proved. But she also suffered from acute anxiety, particularly associated with hospitals and medical treatment. This had an obvious impact on her capacity to engage with her physicians. The diazepam and tramadol were providing only very temporary relief from the chest and back pain caused by the extensively necrotic malignant tumour in her lungs. In the early hours of the morning, Patricia attempted to end her life by taking an overdose of the pain-relief medication she had been prescribed. The evidence sugg