A Melbourne doctor who said he cut his wife’s neck open with a kitchen knife to stop her choking has jostled with a television reporter and camera crew who confronted him about the incident.
A Current Affair’s fracas with sleep physician Dr Peter Spencer came weeks after an inquest heard his late wife Mayumi died in January 2015.
Ms Spencer was found dead at her apartment in Caravel Lane, Docklands with high levels of cocaine in her system.
Her husband told the inquest he believed there was a blockage in her throat and at around 4am unsuccessfully attempted to perform a cricothyroidotomy – an emergency procedure to open up the airway – with a knife and a pen.
Dr Spencer then phoned emergency services at 7.38am that morning – some three hours after she allegedly started choking.
“Her temperature was taken and noted to be 33.2C, which suggested that she had been deceased for a considerable amount of time,” Victorian Coroner Judge John Cain stated.
Judge Cain ultimately found Ms Spencer, 29, died from cocaine toxicity. However, he added that an indictable offence “may” have been committed and Dr Spencer has been referred to prosecutors for suspected negligent manslaughter.
According to coronial transcripts seen by Channel 9’sA Current Affair, Dr Spencer did not initially attend the inquest into her death.
When police eventually visited Dr Spencer at home to stress the importance of his attendance at the inquest, he reportedly walked out with a surfboard and said “I don’t give a shit”, A Current Affair reported the transcripts as saying.
He did eventually attend the inquest and reiterated his position that he attempted to save Ms Spencer.
The court was told Ms Spencer had disclosed to friends her husband had kicked her out of the house on occasions, punched, slapped and pushed her, and sent her abusive messages calling her a “piece of shit” and a “whore”.
Judge Cain said one alleged incident involved her being injected with cocaine “against her wishes”.
“On at least one occasion, Ms Spencer advised a friend that she was scared of Dr Spencer,” he said.
Judge Cain found in 2012, Ms Spencer moved out and told her husband she wanted a divorce.
She told friends and family she could not return home as she had no money and Dr Spencer had her passport.
The pair eventually reconciled and family violence proceedings in court were withdrawn.
Reporter Sam Cucchiara said on the program that he had tried unsuccessfully to arrange an interview with Dr Spencer.
The crew caught up with him at a Melbourne outdoor gym where Cucchiara asked Dr Spencer if he had killed his wife, why he waited a reported three hours to call an ambulance and if he had abused her.
Dr Spencer did not answer any questions, staying silent throughout the confrontation. He then began running wildly across the park with his dog. At one point he appeared to jostle both the camera operator and reporter.
“There’s no need to get aggressive,” said Cucchiara.
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No-one has been charged over Ms Spencer’s death and Judge Cain said he could not determine if she could have been saved had emergency services been called sooner.
However, he stated an indictable offence may still have been committed.
“The indictable offence I have formed the belief to the requisite standard is negligent manslaughter due to the delays in seeking urgent medical assistance and Dr Spencer’s duty of care to Mrs Spencer upon discovering her in a state requiring urgent medical assistance,” he said.
“Accordingly … I direct that the principal registrar notify the Director of Public Prosecutions that I believe an indictable offence may have been committed in connection with Mrs Spencer’s death.”