Millionaire behind Majestic Wine and Poundstretcher found dead after ‘screaming match’ with wife
A multimillionaire whose private equity firm owns multiple high street brands including Majestic Wine and Poundstretcher, was found dead after a ‘screaming match’ with his wife, an inquest heard.
Joshua Pack, 51, was found by cleaners in a locked top-floor bedroom in his rented mansion in St John’s Wood, Westminster, only hours after the argument with wife Jacqueline. The couple had been moving to the UK from their home in the US to oversee the expansion of investment giant Fortress, a company valued at $50 billion (£37 billion).
In a written statement to the inquest, Mrs. Pack revealed she and her husband of 28 years were "rowing all night" before his death after "drinking on and off throughout the day".
She said: "We were high school sweethearts. Josh was a devout Catholic who worked so hard to support me and the children, the most important thing in his life. But there were tensions, as in any long-term marriage."
Mrs. Pack said the argument began on a walk home after her husband discovered through his PA that there had been issues with his tickets for an upcoming flight back to the US, which he had attempted to bring forward to travel alongside his wife. The row escalated shortly after they got back to the mansion, and saw Mr. Pack throw her "phone across the room" and begin "hitting himself with it," she said.
Events spiraled further when Josh "went to the cupboard and took out a knife" before presenting it to Mrs. Pack, telling her: "Stick it into me." The couple then exchanged threats to end their own lives, but she said this often happened during their arguments, adding: "I never meant it, and I certainly never thought that Josh meant it."
He was found dead by household staff around 3 pm the next day, the inquest heard. Prof. Wilcox at Inner West London Coroner’s Court gave a conclusion of death by misadventure.
Technology & Business Editor
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