Tycoon hid wife’s body ‘to hide from loss’

Hans Rausing, the TetraPak billionaire, watched his wife die surrounded by drug-taking paraphernalia before covering her body in deodorizing powder and sealing up her bedroom because he could not bear to be without her, an inquest heard Friday.

The body of Eva Rausing, 48, lay decomposing in the couple’s $111 million Chelsea home for two months.

Police found Eva Rausing beneath bin bags, bed sheets and clothes that had been taped together. She was holding a rolled-up piece of foil commonly used to smoke drugs. Drug-taking paraphernalia, including needles, lay scattered around her.

Toxicology reports showed she had cocaine, opiates and amphetamines in her body, and analysis of her hair confirmed she had taken heroin. Doctors were able to pinpoint the moment she died from her pacemaker, which was fitted in 2006 after she suffered heart damage as a result of cocaine abuse.

The cause of death was registered as due to cocaine toxicity with an underlying heart condition and Dr. Shirley Radcliffe, the coroner, recorded a verdict of death by dependant drug use.

Rausing, 49, was unable to attend the hearing at Westminster coroner’s court due to ill health but was represented by his bar- rister, Alexander Cameron QC, British PM David Cameron’s older brother.

He said that he was shaving in the bathroom when he heard his wife slide off the bed. “I went into the bedroom and saw her sitting on the floor,” he said. “She was leaning sideways and her head was resting on a pillow. I heard her exhale and then she did not move at all. I saw her alive for a few seconds.

“I went to her and grabbed her hands and tried to pull her up. I remember shouting, ‘Eva, Eva, Eva.’ I turned her toward me and I saw that her eyes had dimmed. She stopped breathing before I reached her. I knew she was dead, I was absolutely certain she was dead.

“I sat with her for a period of time then covered her up with a blanket and duvet. I could not look at her, I could not cope with her dying and do not feel able to cope with the reality of her death. With the benefit of hindsight I did not act rationally.”

He added that he had “no recollection” of what happened next because he suffered a breakdown.

Eva Rausing’s body was found July 9 after police stopped her husband on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.

Rausing admitted preventing the lawful and decent burial of his wife and in August was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a drug treatment program.