Police investigating the sudden deaths of a married British couple at their home in the south of France have not ruled out that they were murdered for “financial motives”.
Andrew Searle and Dawn Kerr, who were both aged in their 60s, were found dead in the hamlet of Les Pesquies in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Aveyron, in the early afternoon of February 6.
French prosecutors said in a statement published on Tuesday that police inquiries were ongoing to determine whether the couple died as a result of a murder-suicide, or if a third party was involved.
The prosecutor in charge of the case, Nicolas Rigot-Muller, told the PA news agency: “Investigators are not prioritising any lead between the theory of a domestic crime followed by a suicide, or that of a double homicide carried out by a third party, linked either to a financial motive or the deceased’s past.”
According to his LinkedIn page, Mr Searle was a retired fraud investigator specialising in financial crime prevention who worked at companies including Standard Life and Barclays Bank.
A neighbour of the British couple found Mrs Kerr lying dead in front of her house, “partly undressed”, and called the emergency services at 12.27, prosecutors said.
Post mortems have been carried out (Katie Collins/PA)
As they entered, emergency services found the body of Mr Searle hanged inside the house.
The prosecutors statement continued: “The two deceased persons, a man and a woman, were the owners of the house in which their bodies were discovered.
“They were British expatriates, retired, and had been living in Aveyron for five years.
“The first victim, Ms Kerr, has a significant head injury.
“A box containing jewellery was found near to her, but no item or weapon which could have caused the injuries were located.
“Mr Searle, who was found hanged… did not show any visible defensive injuries.”
The prosecutors said that post-mortem examinations carried out in Montpellier on Monday found that Ms Kerr had died after having received “several blows to the head using a blunt or sharp object”. No signs of sexual assault were found.
Mr Searle died as a result of hanging, the statement added.
The statement said other tests, including toxicology, are currently ongoing.