Stumble It!
When eccentric, colorful children's book author/artist Harry Horse and his ailing wife Mandy were found dead in each other's arms, it was reported (and believed) that they'd died together after an overdose of pills in a romantic suicide pact.
But the truth is a little more grim than that; in a horrific ending to a fairy tale romance, a British journalist reports that the musician, writer and artist stabbed his wheelchair-bound wife 30 times before slashing himself to death.
The bodies of the couple were found in their home on the Shetland island of Burra (Scotland), and the two were buried in January 2007. The deaths were reported to be a suicide pact between a loving, desperate man and his dying lover.
But yesterday her mother admitted that for the last 16 months, she's been hiding the terrible truth.
Mandy's mother Grace Williamson says, "We have only been able to cope because they are both now beyond pain. Quite simply, he went mad."
Peter Gillman, the journalist and author whose investigation uncovered the truth, tells the Daily Mail, "My wife, Leni, and I began by investigating what we believed was a poignant love story. We soon realized there was more to it. The records indicated they died from blood loss and not from drugs."
The families of both Mandy and Harry (shown above) believe that Harry simply couldn't endure watching his wife Mandy's suffering, and tried to end her life with an overdose of painkillers -- but when the pills didn't work, he lost control and stabbed her to death. Mandy's arms were covered with instinctive defensive wounds.
Harry killed their beloved pets, a cat and dog, then turned the knife on himself, stabbing himself 47 times before bleeding to death.
The couple met while Harry was on tour as a member of the band Swamptrash, and although Harry had a reputation for being unpredictable and sometimes volatile, friends agreed that he was completely devoted to his calm, pretty wife.
The Daily Mail reports that friends of the couple said Mandy's "stillness" was a soothing counterbalance to Harry's restless energy.
But when she was diagnosed in 2004 with MS, Harry moved her to Shetland, on the island of West Burra, Scotland, and became increasingly despondent as her condition deteriorated.
After an argument at their bungalow with a social worker who attempted to deny Mandy disability benefits, Harry punched a hole in the wall.
"He was desperately worried about money," his mother, Jo Horne, told the Times in a recent interview.
Shown above: Mandy, (l.), Harry (m.) on a happy day out
In retrospect, some of Harry’s friends believe he was distancing himself from them in readiness for what he was planning to do.
Says a friend who last spoke to him in September 2006, "He seemed to be quite detached. [But] he said everything was fine." But then Harry apparently paraphrased poet William Blake, "Hell is here on Earth."
Other friends found him more unpredictable than ever. Said one, musician JJ Jamieson, "You never knew when you called what kind of reception you'd get -- whether he’d say 'Hi' or put the phone down."
On the night before the deaths, the couple had two visitors at their home; Harry was reportedly in an agitated state as he wandered the house, blurting out, "It's a wonderful night for a killing."
The guests left, but returned the next morning to find Harry and Mandy's bodies lying close together on Mandy's bed.
Mandy's mum spoke with the Daily Mail yesterday, right after the story broke, saying, "We cling to the fact that they were in love and had 18 years together before their lives were ended by this moment of madness."
Shown above (center): Harry Horse handwritten text, Wish You Were Here; Harry Horse Lucky Lug sketch
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