March 2008 Camilla police bodyguard Richard Fuller suicided?

[TonyGosling]

Copied from Mark Gobell thread on another thread

Beware the Ides of March ?

Camilla's Security Police Sergeant shoots himself !

[scienceplease 2]

His death on the same weekend as Manchester police chief Michael Todd and Neil Munro (who "fell off" a ferry).

http://www.911forum.org.uk/board/viewtopic.php?t=13910

[TonyGosling]

Camilla guard 'killed himself after wife left over his temper'
By DANIEL COCHLIN

Last updated at 01:14 16 March 2008
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-535269/Camilla-guard-killed-w ife-left-temper.html

Suicide threat: Richard Fuller sent a text to his wife before killing himself

The policeman in charge of security at the Duchess of Cornwall's country home killed himself after his wife walked out because she was "frightened to death" of his violent temper, it was claimed last night.


Father-of-three Sergeant Richard Fuller, a trusted confidant and friend of the Duchess, was found dead in his bed last Monday – a week after his wife, Jill, fled to her mother's house.

The 55-year-old armed-response officer is believed to have sent his wife a text message warning that he planned to kill himself unless she returned home. But Mrs Fuller did not receive it for several hours.

When it arrived, she immediately telephoned friends living near her husband's home in Calne, Wiltshire. But by the time they arrived he was dead from shotgun wounds to the head.

Mrs Fuller, 45, has since moved back from her mother's house, in the nearby village of Wootton Bassett, to the family home where she is staying with the couple's three children – Jennifer, 21, Daniel, 20, and Stephanie, 18.

Daniel has just returned from a five-month tour of duty in Iraq. His family held low-key celebrations for his 20th birthday on Thursday.

Mrs Fuller's mother, Mrs Joan Maddison, revealed that it was the third time her daughter had walked out on her husband because of his temper.

"She was frightened to death," she said. "There was no one else involved. It had just become too much. She is in no state to talk to anyone. The police are with her – they are guarding the house and they are guarding her."

Sgt Fuller was in charge of 24-hour protection at Camilla's six-bedroom country home, Ray Mill House, a 27-acre property which she bought for £850,000 after her divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles in 1996.

It is understood that Sgt Fuller attended anger-management classes in 2006 after he was accused of using "unnecessary force" during an arrest. Although he admitted the incident had taken place, he was cleared by magistrates.

Sgt Fuller was chief instructor in the firearms unit before he moved to protection duty.

In 1995 he received a Crown Court commendation for the arrest of a man armed with a shotgun who was threatening a colleague. And six years later he was awarded the long service and good conduct medal.

A keen pheasant-shooter and huntsman, he kept a collection of licensed guns at his home.

He was due to retire from the police next year – after 30 years – and was considering setting up a livery business.

Camilla and Prince Charles arrived back from their Caribbean cruise yesterday, and the Duchess is expected to attend Sgt Fuller's funeral this week.

A close friend said: "He got on really well with Camilla because they spoke the same language. He was a very straight bloke and she loved him."

He continued: "He was an all-round country person, a very keen shooter and huntsman. He rode with the local Vine And Craven hunt , as well as the Vale Of White Horse Hunt in West Oxfordshire.

"He had stables at his home and was planning to open his own livery business when he left the police force.

"Jill and Richard were often seen shooting together and were out together towards the end of last season and nothing seemed amiss."

An inquest into the death has been opened.

[TonyGosling]

Death by SMS
Nothing to see here of course


Camilla's bodyguard shot himself after his wife left him, inquest hears
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER UPDATED: 18:47, 30 June 2008
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1030579/Camillas-bodyguard-sh ot-wife-left-inquest-hears.html

The head of security for Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall shot himself after texting his wife that he ''could not live without her'' when she left him following a series of violent rows, an inquest has heard.

Police Sergeant Richard Fuller, 55, was married with four grown-up children and was a well-respected member of the force where he had a distinguished 29-year career.

But Sgt Fuller shot himself with his hunting rifle at home two weeks into a trial separation after wife Jill left him following a series of violent incidents.

richard fuller
Sgt Richard Fuller, the head of security for Prince Charles' wife Camilla, was found dead after shooting himself at his home

The inquest in Trowbridge, Wilts., heard he had suffered stress at work and felt he was 'losing control' of his professional and personal lives.

Sgt Fuller, a trained armed response officer with Wiltshire Police, was head of security at Ray Mill House, Camilla's six-bedroom country home in Wiltshire.

The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles were told of the death while they were on board the yacht Leander on a tour of the Caribbean.

He lived with wife Jill, 45, their children Daniel, 19, and Stephanie, 18, and her daughter Jennifer Reynolds, 21 in a four-bedroom home in Bremhill, Wilts.

She had moved out of the house two weeks earlier but returned during the day to cook and look after their horse, the inquest heard.

Mrs Fuller, a clerk in the firearms unit where her husband worked, received a text message at 5.20am, moments before his suicide.

She contacted a police colleague of her husband's and the pair rushed back to the family home where her husband was lying dead on the bed - his hunting rifle pointing at his head.

Mrs Fuller, his second wife whom he married in 1988, told the inquest: 'I went to the cottage around 10.45 on Saturday morning and we had a nice day, riding together.

'I left him watching television about 9pm and felt that in the circumstances all was well.

'About 5.20 the next morning I got message from him. It said he couldn't live without me. He said not to come home and something about the police, which didn't make sense.

'That message was the only indication I had of what he was going to do.'

Enlarge Sgt Fuller started working for Camilla in 1996, leading her round-the-clock security team
Sgt Fuller started working for Camilla in 1996, leading her round-the-clock security team

Reading from Mrs Fuller's statement, coroner David Masters said: 'You left him for a period last year after incidents involving him behaving in an aggressive and violent manner towards you, and flying off the handle.

'He said to you during that time "I'm lying on the bed with a gun, you don't know what I'm going to do."

'You said you had a vision of him lying on the bed with a gun. Soon after that you had a reconciliation and he seemed to be coping better.'

Sgt Fuller's body was discovered by his colleague Paul Cambers who had accompanied Mrs Fuller to the house.

He said: 'He was barricaded in his room from the inside and I had to break the door down. He was lying on the bed, clearly dead. He couldn't continue his life without Jill.'

Police investigators revealed that Sgt Fuller had been due at work three hours later. His lunchbox was made ready in the fridge and a newly-ironed shirt was hanging up.

Sgt Fuller, Wiltshire Police's chief firearms instructor at its headquarters in Devizes, received a Crown Court Commendation in 1995 for the successful arrest of a man armed with a shotgun.

He started working for Camilla in 1996, when she bought the £850,000 property, set in 27 acres, after her divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles.

The home was the venue for the wedding reception of her daughter Laura Parker Bowles and husband Harry Lopes in June 2006.

The Duchess, despite rarely staying there, insisted on beefing up security to a round-the-clock team of armed officers, led by Sgt Fuller, costing the taxpayer £2.6million.

In 2001, he received a long service and good conduct medal.

The only blemish on his career was in February 2006 when he was cleared of unlawful violence during an arrest, by pinning a suspect's head to the floor with his boot.

Magistrates in Chippenham heard that Mr Fuller had problems controlling his temper and following a short separation in January 2007, had threatened suicide.

Coroner David Masters said the incident had ''preyed on his mind'' and he had sought psychiatric help and been prescribed anti-depressants.

Clinical psychologist Dr Max Kite said in a statement read to the inquest: 'He felt guilty about his marriage and the harm he was unintentionally doing to it, because of circumstances at work. He felt he had become very difficult to live with.'

Sgt Fuller's firearms permit was revoked in January 2007 and all guns removed from his home after he took time off work with depression - but the permit was reinstated in May.

Mark Johnson, Sgt Fuller's son from his first marriage, said he was concerned about the police allowing his father to keep guns, given his mental state.

He said: 'When Jill left last year I was aware he had threatened suicide. I was always concerned about the firearms in the house because of the problems with his temper.

'He was a firearms officer and if he was going to harm himself that's how he would have done it.

'Before he died he seemed distressed and unhappy and possibly depressed. He told me he was taking happy pills and thought everyone hated him.

'He liked to be in control. But he was doing a job he didn't enjoy. He was nearing retirement and didn't know where his life was going.

'He was losing control of his professional life and his relationship was breaking down.'

Calling for a police review of policies surrounding mental health, Mr Johnson added: 'Between the way he was in his professional life and the way he was at home there is clearly a void which needs to be addressed.'

Recording a verdict of suicide, coroner David Masters said: 'Richard Fuller was a professional policeman, but I have also heard about aspects of his character which were more easily demonstrated in his domestic life.

'It was clear he suffered stress in his activities at work, not in relation to the job he had to do but in relation to a complaint made against him, for which he was acquitted.

'But it preyed on his mind and this aggravated his domestic relationships.

'He separated from his wife, this time a final separation and this was a situation he could not get his head around.'

After the inquest, Superintendent Matt Pullen of Wiltshire police, said a review had been launched into occupational health practices in the police force.

He said: 'Richard Fuller was a highly competent officer and well-liked and respected s a firearms expert.

'Because of the critical nature of a firearms officer's duties, they are subject to constant, rigorous and regular checks, and there was no breach of any of these processes.

'After any tragedy there are lessons to be learned and this is no different. Medical experts agree it can be difficult to accurately predict anyone's action.

'No system is foolproof and no one will ever know what was going through Richard Fuller's mind before he took his own life.

'No policy can prevent someone from taking their own life if they are determined to do so.'

Mrs Fuller said in a statement after the hearing: 'The past few months have been a particularly difficult time for our family.

'The inquest verdict has now been reached, our grieving continues and I would specifically ask members of the media not to contact us at this difficult time, allowing us to fully re-adjust following Richard's death.