They were a couple who outwardly had it all: he was a chartered accountant with consultancy firm Tangelwood 2016, she had reached the higher echelons of the teaching profession, becoming Headmistress of the prestigious £42,000 per annum Epsom College, serving the children of the London stockbroker belt. Their life seemed complete with daughter, Lettie, 7, who attended the Junior part of the establishment.
Yet in the early hours of Sunday February 5 shots were heard in the vicinity of the family's accommodation, ironically situated next door to the school's indoor rifle range. Mrs. Pattison had telephoned her sister, Deborah Kirk, on the Saturday night, relating that husband and wife had had an argument. She had struck her husband on a previous occasion, which George Pattison had reported to police, but later withdrew the complaint. First responders upon breaking into the grace and favour accommodation discovered a gruesome scene: all three lay dead.
It is difficult to speculate at this early stage as to what led to the tragedy. The stress of holding down high-powered jobs, competition between the two, the pressure of being amenable at all times, the female having a more emotional side as her Modern Languages and musicality would tend to suggest, the father being more practical, reassured with figures, and what kind of a life would Lettie lead with both parents gone, as some deranged delusional disorder took hold. Tragedy is no respecter of socio-economic class. She had crossed the threshold by striking him first: he would execute the ultimate act of reprisal.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-64544884
