I read this in the Grauniad yesterday and thought of @DrMarkH though I think itâs quite far from them though same dept. I guess heâs seen it as he reads the G.
Read it too, itâs about 40 minutes from us. Lot of speculation in the local press about the motive as he was a retired criminal fraud investigator.
It certainly seems bizarre.
Mrs Searle is the mother of Hollyoaks actor Calum Kerr.
The Daily Mail in its usual scummy fashion has headlined the story a âgangsterâ murder before thereâs any evidence it is.
Thereâs a lot of evidence to suggest that it was a targeted attack. When do we have burglaries, violent burglaries??? This guyâs job was targetting and investigating high end money laundering for a number of years. He wonât have made many friends. The problem we have? These individuals donât take too kindly to being exposed. The couple have lived in France for ten years. Thatâs the odd bit. Why has it taken that long???
Vengeance is a dish best served cold.
But we donât know any of this for certain yet, apart from the fact that they are dead. And if the source is the Sun then not sure how reliable this is.
La presse britannique, notamment The Sun, Ă©voque la possibilitĂ© dâun « tueur Ă gages » qui aurait ciblĂ© lâancien policier en raison de son passĂ© professionnel dans la lutte contre le crime organisĂ©. Pour lâinstant, aucune hypothĂšse nâest privilĂ©giĂ©e.
Could be the result of a âlocalâ dispute. The article mentions they have/had hunting dogs that were also killed. Maybe someone did not like those dogs and it escalated. So much conspiracy about when it maybe something less sinister but still deadly. In some regions there is still some anti british feelings about buying up property etc.
If the speculation about a revenge killing by a criminal is true then maybe theyâve only just got out of jailâŠ? As others say, this is merely idle tittle tattle & we need to hear more facts.
Post-mortem examinations have now confirmed Mr Searle, 62, died from hanging and Mrs Searle, 56, suffered âmultiple blows to the head with a blunt and sharp-edged objectâ.
âThe investigation is ongoing, particularly to determine whether the tragedy resulted from a domestic crime followed by suicide or involved a third party.â
Iâm worriedly waiting to know what happened / is happening to their dog / dogs?
The person who found them expected them for a âdog walkâ that morning, so I would think the couple had dog/dogs. I would hope that they will be considered in the investigation because it may be a relevant indicator of what happened there.
I think their families are now in France so its upto them to sort out the dogs. Usually the commune has use of a dog kennel facility nearby to house stray/lost animals as I found out when I found a labrador running loose that followed me home some years back - eventually I took it to the mairie before they shut and it turned out to be a localâs dog who came and thanked me for not leaving it to run on the main road.
Yes indeed, it seems to me that itâd be interesting to know:
A) if the dogs were harmed
B) if his hands were tied
If A & B is No then it might indicate a domestic issue
A little more, though not much, info.
I read that piece last night and something didnât sit right with me about Brockmanâs motives for visiting the scene and writing the piece in the flowery style he did. It came across as look at me and how much I know.
He is a Toulouse based journalist, and this is quite a big story. I imagine he is one on many visiting journalists.
Reading another report, seems all was not rosy financially and the man had problems paying a large bill recently over several months. Maybe he just snapped and decided he had had enough. Whatever happened, it will eventually come to light whenthe authorities make it public.
That is the story around here as well. One of my neighbours says she knows someone who knows someone who knows someone etc 
and says that their house was hocked up to the hilt with numerous local debts on it - again etc
She is sure it is not murder, as she correctly says - why murder someone who owes you lots of money?