Man found guilty of murders of his wife and their daughter, 12

Peter Nash is due to be sentenced on May 17.

Louise Nash and her mother Jillu Nash whose bodies were discovered at a property in Great Waldingfield (Suffolk Police/PA) (PA Media)

A “self-pitying” husband has been found guilty of the murders of his wife and their daughter after his wife began a relationship with a work colleague.

Police found the bodies of Jillu Nash, 43, and 12-year-old Louise at their home in Great Waldingfield, Sudbury, Suffolk, while 47-year-old Peter Nash was found covered in blood and holding a knife.

Nash had stabbed himself in the chest multiple times and tried to gas himself to death, prosecutor David Josse KC told a trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

He said that the defendant murdered his wife and daughter either late on September 7 or early on September 8 last year.

On Friday, jurors found Nash guilty by unanimous verdicts of the two murders, Suffolk Police said.

The force said that his defence had “rested on his belief that he ‘lawfully killed’ his wife and daughter”.

“His attempts to justify this were through his interpretation of common law, property and marriage vows,” a Suffolk Police spokesman said.

The spokesman added that Nash “believed he ‘lawfully killed’ Louise as she was his ‘property’ and he did it to protect her because he did not trust anyone else to look after her, as she had complex care needs due to being non-verbal and diagnosed as autistic”.

The trial was told that Nash and his wife “had a difficult and unhappy marriage”.

The prosecutor said that after the deaths police found a series of videos on Mrs Nash’s phone, of the pair talking, adding: “We would suggest it appears that Jillu was trying to record this covertly.”

In one clip, Mrs Nash tells her husband “you’re a certified c***”, and he replies “you’re a validated cheater”.

Mr Josse said that TikTok videos, accessed by the defendant, showed the “embittered” and “self-pitying” mindset which he had.

After strangling his wife and stuffing a T-shirt in her mouth, Nash tried to fill the house with gas.

When this failed, he stabbed Louise and himself a number of times, before they were discovered by emergency services.

He has been remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on May 17.