It was a sunny day and she was with her lover Athos Gabriel and her two children, strolling through Ashridge woods.

Little did she know that just days later this peace would be shattered by two violent deaths.

Athos, 45, would be found hanged in a Hemel Hempstead house with his estranged wife Chrystella Gabriel, who was beaten, strangled and left lifeless under water in the bath.

An inquest last month ruled that between May 27 and 28 Mr Gabriel had committed suicide and his wife had been 'unlawfully killed' - no suspects were sought.

Speaking exclusively to The Gazette, Emma's account of events in the run up to that fateful day indicates what was going through Athos's mind.

The 37-year-old said that on Saturday May 24 her boyfriend of six months, a freelance television soundman, had taken her to see the filming of reality show 'Diet on the dancefloor'.

"Athos was just fine," she said. He was having a laugh - he was a happy person most of the time."

On the Sunday, Athos joined Emma and her two children - an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy - for a walk in Ashridge forest, and again he seemed fine.

But the next day his mood was different. Emma, who lived with Athos in Barnacres, said: "It was the Monday before it happened that things changed.

"He would normally get out of bed, have a shower and make tea and toast.
"But on that day it was raining and he was still in his dressing gown."

The mum said she had a rare row with Athos that morning before taking her children into town - she later returned to find his car gone, so called his mobile phone.

"I called him and he was on his way to his mum's," Emma said.
"And he was crying."

She continued: "I told him I was sorry and he kept saying he loved me.

As the day went on I got more and more worried." Emma said she spoke to her lover again on the phone in the afternoon and once more he cried on the line.

But later at her home he seemed in a better mood and the couple ended the day cuddled up on the sofa watching a DVD - during which Athos suggested going as a family to the cinema the next day.

In the morning however, he appeared 'a bit fidgety' and Emma again became nervous.

"All his paperwork was in order and he had got rid of some stuff," she said.

"He had also sent some numbers to my phone.

"I asked him 'are you going back to Chrystella?'.

"He said he was just a tidy person and it was all just in case anything happened to him."

In the afternoon the couple took Emma's children to the cinema at LeisureWorld in Jarman Park - the place the mum had first met Athos in November 2007.

At one point outside the complex he said to her: "This is where it all started."

Emma said: "Looking back, he took me there because that was the day it was going to end."

Athos appeared fine and after the film the four went home together.

Emma knew however, that her boyfriend was due to visit his ex-wife that evening and still felt something was wrong.

The inquest heard how Athos had been worried about his wife moving back to her native Cyprus and how this would affect his relationship with their eight-year-old daughter.

Emma said she even told Athos that evening: "Promise me I'm not going to have policemen knocking on the door."

Athos made an effort to reassure her and relieved, the mum joked and danced with her boyfriend to a song - 'Hotel California' - on the kitchen radio.

After the dance Emma's concern resurfaced however, when her lover took off a treasured chain that belonged to his father and gave it to her. "He said 'promise me you'll look after this'," she said.

It was then time for Athos to visit his former marital home - a trip he had planned to drop tools off at his shed.

He left telling Emma's son that he didn't know what time he would be back.

It was the last time the children and their mother would see him.

Emma said that a short while later, at about 7.30pm, she called Athos to see if he wanted any dinner.

There was no answer.

"His phone was off, and that's not Athos," said the mum.

At about 9pm, after several calls to Athos, Emma decided to go to Chrystella's house - a 10-minute walk.

When she arrived at the terraced two-storey home no one seemed to be in, so she sent a text message to Athos's teenage daughter asking her to contact her dad.

The 18 year old could not reach her father either however, so Emma, now panicked, banged hard on the door.

"I just hammered on the door," she said.

"I shouted through the letter box."

Thinking her boyfriend was back with his wife, Emma went home and threw his belongings from a first-floor bedroom window.

She then spent a near sleepless night alone.

The next morning, Wednesday, May 28, Emma sent a text message to a mutual friend of the Gabriels.

The friend said Chrystella had twice tried to contact her the previous evening.

Both concerned, they then decided to contact the police and the horrific scene was discovered.

Emma received a phone call from her father saying two CID officers wished to see her at home.

"I had to sit in the back of the police car," said the mum.

"That's when they told me they'd found two bodies - I felt like I'd been hit by a lorry."

Emma described how she was left reeling 'in a world of her own' after the tragedy.

She spoke of her disbelief at the deaths - about how she had always shared her feelings with Athos, and how he was a gentle man.

"We were so open about everything," she said.

"He was a lovely man, and he was my best friend. He didn't like to see upset.

"He never laid a finger on me - never laid a finger on my children. He was always very kind to my two children, and I loved him for that."

Emma said she was now trying to move on from the horrific experience - for her own sake and for her children.

"Why he did what he did we'll never know," she said.

"I just miss him very,
very much."