Custody battle husband shot wife in row
A Birmingham woman was shot dead by her estranged American husband after an argument over custody of their two children, an inquest heard yesterday.
Nurse Janet Poleate, aged 47, who lived in Handsworth before moving to Chicago, was shot in front of her two sons by her husband Herbert, who then turned the gun on himself.
Jamaican-born Mrs Poleate's sister, Suzanna Henry, has been looking after the couple's two boys, Travon, nine, and Julios, 11, since the tragedy. She welcomed Birmingham deputy coroner Christopher Ball's verdict that Mrs Poleate's unlawful killing was from multiple gunshot wounds.
After the inquest she said: "I'm glad for the closure. We can focus on the two boys. They're both in school, doing fine."
Mrs Poleate, who was born in Jamaica, met Herbert, an Illinois Department of Corrections worker, while he was serving with the US military in England.
The shooting happened in the Chicago suburb of Lansing on December 5 last year. US police said the couple were meeting to let their children spend time with their father.
The boys had just climbed out of Janet's car when a row broke out and Herbert opened fire. Mrs Poleate was hit in the head, before her car went out of control and crashed into another parked vehicle.
Policeman Pete Grutzius said Poleate walked over to the crashed car with his sons, put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
