Deborah Zurick was killed in Exmoor, in the southwestern county of Somerset, on February 22, 2020, when she returned to the marital home to collect her belongings and two dogs.

Lizzie Murphy, a friend of the couple who had accompanied Deborah Zurick to the cottage on the day she was killed, gave a 130-page account to police of the period leading up to the shooting, according to The Guardian.

Senior coroner Tony Williams read excerpts from her report at Taunton Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, stating that Deborah Zurick had left her husband at the end of 2019 and had started a relationship with a man in Ireland.

On February 5, 2020, John Zurick was stopped for drink-driving. The police confiscated nine of his guns, as well as firearms belonging to his wife, and revoked his weapons license, per The Guardian.

Later that month, Deborah Zurick flew from Ireland to England to collect her possessions from her former home. She asked her friend Murphy to accompany her, for fear “John might be angry.”

The inquest heard that the estranged couple went for a walk with the dogs while Murphy remained in the cottage.

“The next thing Lizzie knew, John flung open the door with a shotgun over his arm,” the coroner said. “John said: ‘I have shot Debbie.’ He was very agitated.”

Telling Murphy that his estranged wife had “broken his heart,” Zurick then locked Murphy in an outbuilding, the inquest heard.

John Zurick was quoted as saying: “Please tell everyone I am sorry. If I cannot have her, no one can.” He then turned the gun on himself.

Murphy recounted that, after she heard a muffled bang, she was able to escape and call for help.

On the same day, another family friend, Heidrun Humphries, had sent John Zurick a message saying she hoped the meeting with Deborah had gone well.

The inquest heard that he replied, “Didn’t go too well, so sorry,” The Guardian reported.

The coroner stated that John Zurick had ended his wife’s life in a “most calculated way,” concluding that she was unlawfully killed when she was “shot twice in the back.” The coroner also ruled that John Zurick died by suicide.

Deborah and John Zurick, who were renowned breeders and trainers of gundogs, were actively involved in the Working Clumber Spaniel Society, of which Princess Anne is a patron. He reportedly trained a dog called Sparkle for the princess.

In February 2020, a spokesperson for Princess Anne told Hello! magazine: “The Princess Royal is saddened to hear of the death of Mrs Debbie Zurick. She will be sorely missed as secretary of the Working Clumber Spaniel Society.”

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours every day.