A 92-year-old man has been charged with the murder of his wife after she was found dead at their home in Exeter. Laurence Billam of Millbrook Lane faces a murder charge following the death of his 87-year-old wife Shirley Billam and is due to appear before Exeter Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
As reported by the BBC, officers from Devon and Cornwall Police were called to the address on 19 April following a welfare concern report. When they arrived at the property they found Shirley Billam dead. Police confirmed the two were husband and wife and said the family is being supported by specialist officers trained to assist in cases of this nature.
The case raises questions that are uncomfortable but necessary to consider. Laurence Billam is 92 years old. His wife was 87. They lived together on the same street where the incident occurred. The circumstances surrounding what happened inside that home on 19 April have not been detailed publicly and the investigation is at an early stage. A charge of murder has been brought and the legal process will now determine what happened and why.
Cases involving elderly defendants are relatively uncommon in the British criminal justice system and they present particular challenges for courts, support services and families alike. When the person charged is in their nineties and the victim was their long-term spouse the situation carries a weight that sets it apart from most murder cases. The family according to police, is being supported throughout what is by any measure an extraordinarily difficult set of circumstances.
Devon and Cornwall Police have not released further details about the events leading up to the welfare call or what officers found when they arrived at the property. The investigation remains active and Laurence Billam has not yet entered a formal plea. His appearance at Exeter Magistrates' Court on Tuesday will be the first step in a legal process that is likely to take considerable time to reach its conclusion.
Exeter is a relatively quiet city in the south west of England and cases of this nature are rare in the area. The street where the Billams lived is a residential address and neighbours and the wider community in Exeter are now aware that a murder investigation is under way at a home on their doorstep.
