A Suffolk businessman who murdered his estranged wife with an axe before jumping to his death from a town centre car park was treated at a mental health unit the week before the tragedy, an inquest has heard.

The 37-year-old man fell to his death from Parkway multi-storey car park in Bury St Edmunds shortly after midday on November 13 last year.

An investigation into his death led police to discover the body of his estranged wife a few hours later at her home in a village near Sudbury. Neither party can be identified for legal reasons.

A hand axe found in the husband’s Land Rover Discovery had his wife’s blood on it and his DNA on the handle, an adjourned inquest heard in December last year.

A post-mortem examination revealed the victim’s injuries showed wounds to the head and neck, while her husband’s death was consistent with injuries sustained from falling from a height.

Yesterday, at a documentary inquest at IP-City Centre in Bath Street, Ipswich, assistant coroner Yvonne Blake concluded the woman was unlawfully killed and her husband committed suicide.

Giving evidence, detective inspector Eamonn Bridger, of Suffolk Constabulary, said the man was admitted to the Wedgewood Unit, run by the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury on November 5 after showing “signs of depression and displaying thoughts of suicide”.

It came after his problems with depression and anxiety had “increased in 2013 and 2014”, Det Insp Bridger said.

He said the man stayed at the unit overnight and left the following day and was prescribed medication, but “continued” to tell NSFT’s Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team that he still had “thoughts of suicide” but no intention of “harming anyone”.

Det insp Bridger said that, on November 11, the man told his sister that “the only way out of the situation was if he killed [his estranged wife]. He then immediately said that he couldn’t live with himself, so it was not an option”.

He told the court how the man was seen in his home village carrying out “normal activities” on the day of the killing.

He said evidence showed that the victim was hit on the back of the head in the kitchen of her rented property, rendering her unconscious. He said the man struck her with the axe “more than once”. He added there were no self-defence injuries and no alcohol in the victim’s system.

Giving evidence at the inquest, the man’s sister said she did not “blame” the NSFT “in terms of its staff” for the deaths.

She said: “I feel that I took him to that mental health team and I do believe they did what they could with the information they had.”

She also described her brother as “a kind, honest, hard-working man”.

She said: “He was a sensitive and kind person and so often did things for others. We hope he will be remembered for the man that he was (and) not for his actions on that day.”

Jane Sayer, director of nursing, quality and patient safety at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We were reassured yesterday to hear the family praise the care received by this individual from our staff and services, who maintained regular contact with him until his death.

“We have met with the family to offer our condolences and support, and our thoughts remain with both them and family friends at this distressing time.”