Roger Panes (1933 – 4 March 1974) was a British member of the Exclusive branch of the

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes ...

. In 1974 he killed his wife and three children with an axe before hanging himself.`We were strange, we were shunned, but there's little I would change' , Independent on Sunday, The , Find Articles at BNET.com
/ref>

Life

Panes was a cattle dealer in Andover, Hampshire. In November 1973 he was "shut up," or shunned, by the other members of his church, for wrongfully shunning another member. This is a form of 'discipline' promulgated by James Taylor Jnr. and James Symington, leaders of the sect. His family were required to shun him and he was not allowed to sleep with his wife or eat with the family. In February 1974, Panes was taken to hospital having taken an overdose of tablets, due to the stress of his situation. He recovered, but, on 4 March 1974, he killed his wife Pamela, 39, his two sons Graham, 7, and Adrian, 4, and his daughter Angela, 6, as they slept in their beds. An axe was found covered in blood. He then hanged himself from the stair bannisters with an electrical cable. A note was also found in the house: An inquest was held and a jury decided that Panes had killed his family while the "balance of his mind was disturbed."

References

External links

Description of events
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panes, Roger 1933 births 1974 deaths British mass murderers British Plymouth Brethren English murderers of children Familicides Mass murder in 1974 Suicides by hanging in England Murder–suicides in the United Kingdom Shunning People from Andover, Hampshire

Life

See also

References

External links