Author killed wife in frenzied knife attack before going on to stab himself 47 times

Published on Monday 14 July 2008 00:33

THEIR deaths were portrayed as a Romeo and Juliet-style suicide pact.

But Harry Horse, the acclaimed children's author and illustrator, killed his terminally ill wife in a frenzied knife attack that left her with more than 30 wounds, it has emerged.

The 46-year-old, whose real name was Richard Horne, then killed the couple's pets before stabbing himself 47 times and bleeding to death.

When their bodies were found in their remote bungalow in the Shetland Islands in January 2007, reports suggested they had died in each other's arms after overdosing on painkillers.

However, new reports have revealed that when the couple were found the house was a scene of carnage. The doctor who attended said the sight was the most disturbing he had witnessed.

Mr Horne is said to have taken a cocktail of drugs and, according to the last people to see them alive, he was in a demented state on the eve of the deaths, proclaiming: "It's a wonderful night for a killing."

He stabbed his wife, Mandy, with such ferocity that the blade broke off in her body and he collected a second knife to continue the attack.

Her arms were covered in injuries sustained as she tried to fend him off. Leaving her to bleed to death, Mr Horne killed their dog and cat before turning the knife on himself.

The death certificates record that both died of "exsanguination", more commonly known as "bleeding to death".

The brutal circumstances of the deaths were not made public because police and prosecutors decided that a fatal accident inquiry was not in the public interest.

Under Scottish law, such inquiries are mandatory only if a death has occurred at work or in police custody.

The truth about their deaths has emerged after Mrs Horne's family decided to go public to stop rumours circulating in the tight-knit Shetland community.

The couple's families initially agreed for them to be buried together.

It is understood they are now discussing whether the bodies should be exhumed and buried in separate plots.

Mr Horne was best known for his children's book The Last Polar Bears, which was turned into a television cartoon starring Sir Nigel Hawthorne. He published his first children's book, The Opopogo – My Journey With The Loch Ness Monster, in 1982. The Last Polar Bears, published in 1996, won critical acclaim and Mr Horne also contributed political cartoons to national newspapers.

He met his wife in Shetland while touring with his rock band Swamptrash. In 2004 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which Mr Horne found difficult to cope with, telling friends his life had become "a living hell".

The couple's last visitors were two brothers from New Zealand who found him in an agitated state.

The next day they returned to find Mr Horne and his wife's bodies on their bed and the room spattered with blood.

The bungalow at Papil was cordoned off by police and forensic examiners were flown in from Aberdeen.

Last night a friend from the island, who did not wish to be named said: "Rumours had been circulating that their deaths were not as they had first been reported.

"Then we found out that knives had been involved.

"To be honest, I was half shocked because it was so brutal, but he had become very unhinged.

"There had been a lot of rumours of drug-taking so maybe that contributed to his erratic behaviour."

She added: "When stories of what actually happened started to come out everyone here was deeply shocked."