Donald Morley: Wife killer, 94, dies weeks after being sentenced for suffocating lifelong partner Jean Morley to death

Published on: July 14, 2024

By Aisling Brennan For Nca Newswire

Published: 09:54 BST, 14 July 2024 | Updated: 10:00 BST, 14 July 2024

A 94-year-old killer has died months after being sentenced for the murder of his wife.

Donald Morley was jailed to nine years in April after pleading guilty to killing his wife Jean Morley.

The body of the 92-year-old woman was found in her bed by a care worker on a routine visit to their home in Fisher, ACT, in August 2023.

Mrs Morley had been suffering dementia before her husband smothered her with a pillow in their matrimonial bed.

Following his sentencing, Morley had been transferred to Clare Holland House medical facility as he was suffering terminal cancer.

ACT Police confirmed he died on Friday as a sentenced prisoner.

Justice David Mossop had sentenced Morley to nine years in jail with a non parole period of four-and-a-half years.

Donald Morley and his wife Jean Morley had been living in Canberra when he killed her.

‘(Morley) came to fear the future and believed that this was an acceptable option,’ Justice David Mossop said during his sentencing remarks in April.

‘Murder remains murder, notwithstanding the age or infirmity of the victim or the perpetrator.

‘Murder is the gravest denial of individual autonomy … all the more so when the victim is vulnerable.’

Jean Morley was murdered by her husband Donald Morley at their Fisher home in Canberra in 2023. Picture: Contributed

There are no suspicious circumstances in relation to Morley’s death.

Police will submit a report to the coroner.

The couple, who were married for 69 years, had high school sweethearts who had migrated to Australia from the UK when they were both 40.

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