A headteacher and her seven-year-old daughter gunned down by her husband died of shotgun wounds to the chest, abdomen and head, an inquest has heard.
George Pattison, a chartered accountant, is believed to have murdered his wife Emma and their daughter, Lettie, with a shotgun before turning the weapon on himself.
All three were found at Mrs Pattison’s home on the grounds of £42,000-a-year Epsom College boarding school in Surrey.
Mrs, 45, died of shock, haemorrhage and shotgun wounds to the chest and abdomen, while Lettie died of a shotgun wound to the head, an inquest at Surrey Coroner’s Court has heard.
Mrs Pattison had made a frantic call to her sister Deborah Kirk and her husband, which prompted relatives to jump into a car and drive out to her in Surrey.
Lettie, seven, and her mother Emma Pattison, 45, were both found dead on February 5 at the home on the grounds of the exclusive Epsom College boarding school, in Surrey, where Mrs Pattison was the head teacher
Emma and Lettie are believed to have been murdered by husband and father George Pattison before he took his own life on February 5. The family is pictured together
But tragically they arrived too late and discovered her body as well as that of her husband George, 39, and little Lettie.
Mr Pattison ‘died of a shotgun wound to the head’, a coroner said during a hearing on Tuesday.
Opening the inquest into his death, coroner Simon Wickens said: ‘I would like to offer my deepest sympathies to George’s wider family at this difficult time.’
Mr Pattison’s post-mortem examination was done by Dr Ashley Fegan-Earle at East Surrey Hospital three days after the shooting, coroner’s officer Kelly Truss told Surrey Coroner’s Court.
Following their deaths, Mrs Pattison and Lettie’s loved ones said: ‘To see the esteem in which Emma is held by all who knew her is an enormous comfort.
‘She was everything one could hope for in a daughter, sister, mother, wife, friend, teacher and so much more.
‘We are an extremely close family and family was at the centre of Emma and Lettie’s universe.
‘The Epsom College community had become part of that universe for them both.
‘Seven-year-old Lettie was Emma’s pride and joy – an adorable, vibrant little girl with a compelling curiosity, a heart-melting smile and an intellect beyond her years.
Emma and Lettie Pattison are pictured in an undated photo. In a tribute last month, their loved ones said : ‘We are an extremely close family and family was at the centre of Emma and Lettie’s universe’
Epsom College headteacher Emma Pattison pictured with her husband George at a school function
A police vehicle outside Epsom College in Surrey following the three deaths on February 5
‘The two of them were inseparable and we take comfort in that they will remain so. ‘
‘Emma had a warm, welcoming smile and sparkling, blue eyes, full of optimism. Over the last 11 days we’ve noticed the sky has been bright blue, with at times a warm glow of pink.’
The family’s statement also thanked well-wishers for their messages of support.
It said: ‘We, the family of Emma and Lettie, would like to express our deepest, heartfelt thanks for the overwhelming support we have received over the past 11 days.
‘Thank you to the immeasurable number of people and institutions who have written messages, sent flowers, paid tributes, held vigils or otherwise taken time to remember Emma and Lettie.
‘We would like to thank Surrey Police for their sensitive and thorough handling of the on-going investigation into this horrendous tragedy and to the Epsom College Community, Croydon High and Danes Hill schools for their invaluable support.
The heartbroken family revealed they take comfort in knowing the Emma and Lettie (pictured together) will remain inseparable in death as they were in life
The family described Lettie (pictured) as ‘Emma’s pride and joy: an adorable, vibrant little girl with a compelling curiosity, a heart-melting smile and an intellect beyond her years’
‘Thank you also to the media who have, largely, respected our privacy at this difficult time: we ask that they continue to do so.’
The statement comes after Mr Pattison’s family spoke for the first time since the tragedy to voice their horror.
His uncle Frederick Cameron, 83, told The Mail on Sunday that the tragedy had come as a ‘huge shock’ to the Jamaica-born killer’s family.
He said: ‘He didn’t strike me as anyone who would do anything of that nature.
‘He must have been in a state of madness… It doesn’t make any sense to me.’
Mr Cameron, who lives in Kingston, Jamaica, said he had attended the couple’s wedding on the island in 2011. But his memories of the happy occasion were shattered when he received a call from his daughter Suzette – Mr Pattison’s cousin – informing him of the killings.
He said: ‘From what Suzette said it seems like there were problems [in the marriage]… But that doesn’t mean you shoot people.’
The shocking crime has left friends and family members wondering whether Emma’s new job at the £42,000-a-year school had caused a rift with her husband.
She had previously hinted that the move may have placed a strain on their marriage due to the need to relocate.
Surrey Police previously confirmed it had recovered Mr Pattison’s gun and was treating the case as a murder investigation with ‘no third-party involvement’
It is understood that Pattison moved into the grace-and-favour home at the school only three weeks before the murder-suicide. Pictured: Epsom College
Emma and her daughter were found dead at their home in the grounds of Epsom College in Surrey after Mrs Pattison, 45, made a distressed call to her sister
In an online chat with a friend last year, she wrote: ‘I have a new job and will have to live on campus as it’s a boarding school! We are trying to sort the house out now… bit of a nightmare.’
The couple had to sell their £1 million family home in Caterham, Surrey, and lived apart as they waited for the sale to complete.
It is understood Mr Pattison moved into the grace-and-favour home at the school only three weeks before the murder-suicide.
A neighbour suggested George was ‘jealous’ of his wife’s success after he had failed to launch a wine import business.
George described himself online as ‘a career accountant desperate to do something better’. But his wine venture failed to take off.
The couple reportedly hosted a dinner party hours before Emma made a distressed call to her sister.
After the triple shooting, Surrey Police referred itself to watchdogs because officers had been in touch with Pattison days earlier.
He had been a licensed shotgun holder and officers had called him to check on the storage of his gun but did not visit.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct later decided no investigation was required.
Mr Wickens fixed a date for a pre-inquest review hearing in Mr Pattison’s death on June 27.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.