A doctor who bludgeoned his wife to death on a mountainside using rocks stopped to take a final picture with her minutes before the sickening act.
Robin Michael, 63, posed for the photo with his wife Kerry, 44, while climbing Mt Roland, in northwest Tasmania, on holiday in February 2015.
The findings of a coronial inquest, released on Thursday, found he then launched a ‘brutal, vicious and sustained’ attack on his wife which shattered the base of her skull, News.com.au reported.
He then came down from the mountain and posted a confession to Facebook, saying he couldn’t understand his own actions as anything other than ‘pure evil’.
Robin Michael (left) bludgeoned his wife Kerry (right) to death on a Tasmanian mountainside minutes after he posed for a selfie with her, a coronial inquest has found
The findings of the inquest, released on Thursday, found Michael (pictured with his wife) launched a ‘brutal, vicious and sustained’ attack on his wife which shattered the base of her skull
Michael then came down from the mountain and posted a confession to Facebook, saying he couldn’t understand his own actions as anything other than ‘pure evil’
‘I have committed an act which should attract no pity, no sympathy, not even any understanding. I can’t understand it,’ he wrote hours after murdering his wife.
The former general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital also accused his wife of having an affair with one of his closest friends – a claim dismissed by coroner Simon Cooper in his findings.
He said that there was ‘absolutely no evidence’ of an affair – which Tasmanian police investigated – and that he was satisfied that Michael’s claims had no foundation.
Michael said in his Facebook post that he flew into a fit of range while descending the mountain, claiming Mrs Michael admitted to the affair.
‘The English language cannot describe my anger and rage. I cannot contemplate it … In the heat of the anger with Kerry’s admission I had no control or influence over myself,’ he wrote.
Michael accused his wife (pictured) of having an affair with one of his closest friends – a claim dismissed by coroner Simon Cooper in his findings
The couple were on a walking track at Mt Roland (pictured), west of Launceston, when Michael struck Kerry in the head up to eight times with a rock
Michael was found dead in his jail cell at Risdon Prison in Hobart after taking his own life in June 2015
He added that his actions were ‘insanity at its greatest’ and that he can’t take back his actions, but hoped his wife ‘is OK’.
Mr Cooper found Michael to be a jealous and controlling person who had a tendency to be violent towards his partners.
He wrote in his findings that he was satisfied Mrs Michael died as a result of being struck between three and eight times with a rock by her husband.
Michael was found dead in his Hobart jail cell after taking his own life in June 2015.
He had pleaded not guilty to murder, despite telling police what had occurred on the day of the attack, the publication reported.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.