Trial of David Hunter continues as psychiatrist takes the stand

David Hunter told his psychiatrist he knew killing his wife was “horrible and wrong” but he would do it again so he wouldn’t see her suffer, Paphos criminal court heard on Monday.

As the murder trial for 75-year-old Hunter continues, Dr Paraskevi Veniamin, psychiatrist at Athalassa hospital, took the stand as a prosecution witness.

She told court she had examined Hunter where he described to her how he killed his wife, Janice Hunter who was 74 at the time.

He said he killed his wife as he could not bear to see her suffering from leukemia, according to Veniamin.

David Hunter however could not recall if he told his brother he had killed Janice or if he planned to commit suicide, when he called him after the incident, court heard.

A statement from a neighbour of the couple also specified in the five years they have been living next door to each other, she had not come to believe there was any domestic violence instances.

In December 2021, Hunter suffocated his wife to death and then attempted to kill himself. A call with his family in the UK however led to authorities in Cyprus being alerted. Officers arrived at the scene and Hunter had his stomach pumped.

He never denied killing his wife but stressed it was a mutual agreement so as to put an end to her deteriorating state due to her terminally ill cancer diagnosis.

Attempts by his defence to throw out his witness testimony were denied. His lawyers had argued he had not been in a fit mental state to give a statement to police, nor did he have a lawyer present.

An expert witness previously told the court it was evident Hunter was dissociating, raising questions on the reliability of Hunter’s testimony and the memory of the responses given.