Killer husband dies 4 years after life sentence

Peter Dansie at court.
Peter Dansie has died four years after being jailed for his wife's murder. -AAP Image

An Adelaide man who murdered his wife by pushing her wheelchair into a pond has died in custody.

Peter Rex Dansie, 74, died on Monday from natural causes, the South Australia Department for Correctional Services said. 

"All deaths in custody are subject to a coronial investigation," a spokesperson said.

Dansie was jailed in 2020 for murdering his 67-year-old wife, Helen, who drowned after her wheelchair fell into a pond in the Adelaide parklands on Easter Sunday, 2017.

The Advertiser reported that Dansie died in hospital after being transferred from his prison cell. 

Justice David Lovell had imposed a life sentence with a 25-year non-parole period, finding that Dansie's motives were financial, and his desire to pursue a sexual relationship with a woman in China.

Justice Lovell said the crime was "an evil and despicable act of domestic violence". 

"Helen, your loving and devoted wife for over 40 years, had simply become a burden to you," he said.

"This was a chilling, planned murder of a person whose mistake was to trust you."

He lost two appeals against his conviction.

Mrs Dansie's body and her wheelchair were recovered from a pond in Veale Gardens.

Dansie claimed she had suffered an accident and he had jumped in to save her.