TV host Erin Jayne Plummer’s tragic death was said to be suicide. But behind the scenes, police probed a very different theory – as shock new details of a love split with her husband and the bitter family rift over her will emerge after his sudden death
EXCLUSIVE
Detectives were investigating whether TV presenter Erin Jayne Plummer’s husband was involved in her death after being warned her marriage was on the rocks, Daily Mail Australia can reveal.
Studio 10 star and mother of three Erin, 42, was tragically found dead at the foot of the Manly Cliffs on Sydney’s Northern Beaches after taking her own life in May 2022.
On Sunday, the body of husband Alan Plummer, 49, was found at the foot of a cliff at nearby Freshwater Beach after he failed to meet a friend for a planned swim.
This double tragedy has left the couple’s three daughters, aged 18, 15 and 11, orphaned.
Erin’s death was said to be a heartbreaking suicide, but Daily Mail Australia can now reveal that detectives have been investigating whether her husband played a role in the death.
During the NSW State Coroner’s inquest into the tragedy, police were told she had confided to friends that she was a victim of domestic violence and coercive control.
A close source told Daily Mail Australia that Plummer planned to divorce her husband, but her requests for him to leave their Freshwater home were ignored.
“She went to therapy to leave him,” the source said.
“People saw her that morning [on the day she died]. She was going to a therapy session that day.”
Erin Jayne Plummer and her husband were all laughs on social media, but sources say she confided to loved ones behind closed doors that she was being emotionally abused
Mr Plummer was found dead on Freshwater Beach on Sunday morning (photo).
The source, familiar with the investigation, said Daily Mail Australia detectives ruled her death was not suspicious early in the investigation.
But her loved ones hoped the investigation would delve into the other factors – including marital problems – that caused the decline in her mental health and led to her death.
Daily Mail Australia understands the coroner’s case involving Erin concluded earlier this year.
The coroner’s office said Wednesday it could not comment on the outcome due to “the complexity of the case and the report of Alan Plummer’s death.”
A source familiar with the family’s situation said she had told friends that her husband was controlling and that she was being mentally abused.
They said Mr Plummer had serious mental health problems and had made previous attempts to take his own life. Some cases resulted in him spending time in psychiatric wards.
He also struggled with long-term medical problems, including problems with his heart.
The source said Mr Plummer had distanced himself from his wife’s friends and loved ones after her death.
Court records obtained by Daily Mail Australia also show Plummer took his wife’s family to the High Court in February last year after nominating them as her beneficiaries of her will.
The outcome of the lawsuit, which concluded in January this year, remains confidential.
The Plummers are depicted on their wedding day
The two tragedies left the couple’s three children parentless
Erin was a beloved Studio 10 presenter whose talents extended far beyond the TV screen
The alarm was raised over Mr Plummer’s death at the hands of his friend when he failed to show up for a scheduled swimming meet at 6.30am on Sunday morning.
An hour later he was found dead by a lifeguard.
The tragedy comes just two months after Mr Plummer sold the family’s Freshwater home, which he bought with his wife 22 years ago, ahead of a planned auction.
The house was sold for an undisclosed sum after his eldest daughter revealed her plans to spend a gap year abroad after completing her HSC.
Mr Plummer planned to move to Queensland with his 11-year-old to be closer to his middle child, who is studying there on a sports scholarship.
His wife was first thrust into the spotlight at a young age when she was scouted at Manly Beach in Sydney and cast in a tourism campaign that aired on NBC in America.
But it was her role as a TV presenter and host of advertorials that made her best known.
During her career, she appeared on Studio 10, TVSN, Mornings with Kerri-Anne and The Morning Show, earning the nickname “The Danoz Girl” as she tried everything from massage chairs and exercise programs to slimming jeans and steam mops.
She also did numerous voice-overs for TV and worked for six years as a presenter for Aerobics Oz Style.
The educational aerobics TV series, which aired from 1982 to 2005, had a global audience of 40 million people in more than 80 countries at its peak.
In addition to her TV career, Erin was an accomplished synchronized swimmer who represented Australia at three world championships and won eleven national titles.
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