A multimillionaire businessman was found dead at his London property following a row with his wife, an inquest heard.
Joshua Pack, the private equity chief behind Majestic Wines and Poundstretcher, was found dead with a ligature around his neck in a locked bedroom at a property in St John’s Wood in September, the Mail reported.
The 51-year-old, whose investment company is valued at £37 billion, died after having a row with his “childhood sweetheart” and wife of 28 years, Jacqueline Pack.
In a statement read to Inner West London Coroner’s Court, Mrs Pack said that her husband had been stressed about work and jet-lagged at the time as he managed the American fund’s expansion into Europe.
She said the pair had spent the day before his death “drinking on and off” before having a row.
Mr Pack was set to fly to Dallas but moved the trip forward to fly with wife. However, there were problems with the booking prompting “a heated argument”, said Mrs Pack.
She said: “We went home, I went to the bathroom to calm down. I took off my make-up.
“I came out to see Josh lying on the bed. One of his eyes was much darker than the other. He did not look like himself.
“We quarrelled again. We started screaming at each other. Josh threw my phone across the room and started hitting himself with it.
“He went to the cupboard and took out a knife. ‘Stick it into me,’ he said.
“We both said that we would kill ourselves. We’d said it before. I never meant it, and I certainly never thought that Josh meant it,” she told the court.
The following morning, Mrs Pack texted her husband but received no response. Her phone calls also went unanswered, but she received confirmation from his assistant that he had checked in for his flight to Dallas.
She left for the airport, but later found out he had automatically been checked in by the airline.
Housekeepers at the property were asked to check the locked bedroom, which they entered via a crawl space in an adjacent bathroom.
They found Mr Pack dead.
In statements taken by police, cleaners said they had heard the couple “rowing all night” and “screaming and swearing at each other”.
Detectives confirmed that there was “no evidence of third-party involvement” and no evidence that Mr Pack had been planning his own death.
Upon finding out, Mrs Pack said she “collapsed.”
“Josh was my best friend and I don’t believe he would have wanted to end his life,” she said.
“Josh was a devout Catholic who worked so hard to support me and the children, the most important thing in his life.”
“But there were tensions, as in any long-term marriage.”
In the leadup to his death, Mrs Pack said the couple had both been “stressed” as nothing in their newly rented home seemed to be working.
Her statement added that Mr Pack could be “impulsive” and had previously “dramatically” thrown himself off the balcony of a Swiss hotel following a row.
The senior coroner Professor Fiona Wilcox delivered a ruling of death by misadventure.
She said she was satisfied that the “incredibly talented” businessman had ended his own life, but found insufficient evidence of intent to rule the death a suicide.
“I take into account the past history of impulsive behaviour, the fact that Joshua was jet-lagged, had got exceptionally upset after an argument, was under stress from the enormous deal at work, and had been drinking,' she said.
Mr Pack was described as a loving father to his four children.
He was born in Hawaii before moving to Texas and meeting his wife at school.
Pictures on his Instagram account show the family at concerts, Royal Ascot, in Italy, and skiing in Aspen.
