Doctor referred to prosecutors over wife’s death has medical registration suspended
By Bianca Hall
A Melbourne doctor who cut his wife’s throat with a kitchen knife and then waited more than three hours to call an ambulance has been suspended by the federal health regulatory agency.
Respiratory and sleep physician Peter Matthew Spencer, who practises as a “life coach”, was referred to prosecutors by State Coroner John Cain last month over concerns he may have committed the indictable offence of negligent manslaughter by failing to call for urgent assistance upon discovering his wife in a state requiring urgent medical help.
Despite a previous investigation not leading to any criminal charges, Cain said he was unable to rule out the possibility Spencer’s wife, Mayumi Spencer, was the victim of homicide.
Mayumi Spencer, 29, died in her Docklands apartment.
Japanese-born Mrs Spencer was 29 when she was found dead in her Docklands apartment in 2015.
According to the coroner’s findings, Spencer told investigators his wife had a fit about 4am and began vomiting. He said he tried to resuscitate her before, believing she had blockage in her throat, attempting to perform a procedure called a cricothyroidotomy on her.
He called paramedics at 7.30am. They told the coroner they arrived to find Spencer attempting “pretty gentle” CPR, and they believed Mrs Spencer had been dead for “a considerable amount of time”.
An autopsy found Mrs Spencer’s cause of death to be cocaine toxicity. The report noted she was found with needle marks on the inner side of both elbows, and with bruising to her left forehead and nasal bridge, consistent with recent blunt force trauma.
Investigators found no evidence of chronic injection drug use, or evidence of a clinical seizure disorder. Spencer was examined after his wife’s death and also found to have needle track marks on the inside of both inner elbows.
He has not been charged with any crime.
A police spokeswoman urged anyone with information about Mrs Spencer’s death to contact police or CrimeStoppers.
“The homicide squad investigation into the 2015 death of Mayumi Spencer in Docklands remains open,” she said. “The 29-year-old’s death is being treated as suspicious and police continue to urge anyone with information to come forward.”
Before his medical registration was suspended late on Tuesday, according to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s website, Spencer had conditions placed on his registration, including that he could only practise medicine under the supervision of a supervisor approved by the Medical Board of Australia.
AHPRA would not release the other conditions due to “privacy obligations”.
Peter Spencer is a registered sleep physician.
During the inquest, Cain reviewed evidence from friends and family of the Spencers, service records from specialist family violence unit GenWest, and the consulate-general of Japan that detailed alleged violence perpetrated by Spencer upon his wife.
“Mrs Spencer stated to friends that Dr Spencer had kicked her out of their house on several occasions late at night, punched her in the jaw, slapped her, pushed her over and hit her, sent her abusive messages calling her a ‘piece of shit’ and a ‘whore’, and on one occasion, had allegedly injected her with cocaine against her wishes,” Cain said.
A spokesperson for the consulate-general of Japan in Melbourne said, “we hope that justice will be brought on the matter”, but declined to comment further to respect Mrs Spencer’s family in Japan.
A spokesman for AHPRA said: “We are aware that the coroner has asked that the Director of Public Prosecutions be notified regarding the findings in relation to Mrs Spencer’s death and we will liaise with them in relation to any charges that follow.”
Spencer was contacted for comment.