A Suffolk man whose wife was having an affair with a work colleague murdered her and their 12-year-old daughter and then tried to kill himself, it has been alleged.

Peter Nash confronted his 44-year-old wife Jillu after finding a picture of her with another man in September last year and allegedly strangled her before stabbing their daughter Louise, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Police went to the couple’s home on Heath Estate, Great Waldingfield on September 8 after Mrs Nash failed to turn up for work and Louise, who was described as being non-verbal, didn’t go to school, said David Josse KC, prosecuting.

Police officers forced their way into the family home but were deterred by the smell of gas and alerted the fire service.

East Anglian Daily Times: The trial is expected to last up to six weeks.The trial is expected to last up to six weeks.

Firemen found Mrs Nash’s dead body on the floor in the living room under a quilt and Louise’s body was found under a sheet in a bedroom.

“She was clearly dead,” said Mr Josse.

Nash was lying on the bed next to his daughter holding a knife and stabbing himself.

He was disarmed after being tasered by police officers and spent a month in hospital recovering from his wounds.

“He was quite badly hurt,” said Mr Josse.

The court heard that police found a number of TikTok videos about broken down relationships. 

Nash had also left a letter to his mother telling her not to feel sad or angry and signed it from “Peter and Louise”.

The court heard that Nash and his wife, who were married in 2009, had a “difficult and unhappy” marriage.

The stresses and strains of the marriage had been compounded by Nash being made redundant in 2020 and he had been largely responsible for the care of Louise, who was described as having very limited language skills.

By early 2022 Mrs Nash was having an affair with work colleague Mr Leamey and she was planning to leave her husband, said Mr Josse.

She had surreptitiously recorded conversations between her and her husband which showed the “rancorous” state of their marriage which Mr Josse said appeared to have “irretrievably” broken down.

A month before the alleged murders Nash had informed a letting agent that his wife would be moving out of the family home.

A recording of a conversation with his wife on August 27 revealed that he knew she was cheating on him and in it he accused her of “causing chaos to get attention”.

Nash told his wife he knew the affair had been going on for four months but she had corrected him and told him it was eight months, said Mr Josse.

Nash, of Heath Estate, Great Waldingfield has denied murdering his wife and daughter between September 7 and 9 last year.

The court heard that following his arrest Nash allegedly confessed to the killings to a psychiatrist.

He said he had been angry after finding a picture of his wife with another man and had strangled her after confronting her about it.

He said he had then killed his daughter and had then tried to kill himself.

A Home Office post-mortem examination found that Jillu Nash’s cause of death was pressure on the neck while Louise had died from a stab wound to the abdomen.

The trial, which is expected to last up to six weeks, will be heard by High Court judge, The Hon. Mr Justice Edward Henry Murray.

At an earlier hearing Nash dispensed with his legal team and said he wanted to represent himself during the trial.

The trial continues.