Husband Accused of Masterminding Wife’s Murder in ‘Fake Burglary’ Plot Gone Wrong
Police in France are investigating the tragic deaths of a British couple found in their French home earlier this month, and they believe the husband might have killed his wife before staging the scene to look like a botched break-in. Andrew and Dawn Searle, who had moved to the charming town of Les Pesquies near Toulouse a decade ago, were discovered dead in their home after a friend went to check on them when they hadn’t been seen for a few days.
On February 6, the friend found the “violent” scene that raised alarm. Dawn’s body was discovered outside their home with a head injury, and her jewellery was scattered around. Andrew, a former financial investigator, was found dead inside the house. Initially, it appeared as though Dawn had been killed during an attempted robbery, with signs of a struggle and the house appearing ransacked. However, police now suggest that this might have been a staged scene, reported the Daily Star.
An investigator pointed out that the couple’s house was very close to others, and if there had been a violent struggle, neighbours would have surely heard it. “The Searle house is extremely close to other houses, and the noise of screams would have carried. In fact, nobody heard anything,” the investigator told The Sunday Post. This led to the theory that Dawn may have been killed inside the house, with the doors and windows shut on a cold winter’s night, before her body was dumped in the garden.
Post-mortem results showed that Andrew had no defensive wounds, and forensic evidence revealed no signs of anyone else being involved or in the home. This has fuelled the theory that Andrew may have staged the burglary gone wrong, which aligns with the “murder-suicide” theory police had suggested earlier.
Prosecutor Nicolas Rigot-Muller is leading the investigation and believes that a “marital crime followed by a suicide” is the most likely explanation. He pointed out that if an outsider had attacked the couple, the neighbours would have likely heard them scream. It seems that Andrew might have planned to make it look like a robbery before deciding to end his own life.
Despite public appeals, no arrests have been made, and no new information has come forward. Local resident Bénédicte, who knew the couple, described them as “absolutely adorable” and expressed her shock: “We are very shocked, of course we are.” A local acquaintance of Dawn also said that she seemed happy and upbeat just days before their deaths, despite battling the flu. “Her mood was very good, [and she was] smiley,” said the woman.
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