France : British Couple found dead

[arista]

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/07/16/94978105-0-image-a-47_1738946584303.jpg






https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14373219/Brit-double-murder-France-UK-gangsters.html


They had a Nice home in France


[Andrew Searle is said to have moved
his family to France a decade ago
[B]after working as a financial investigator
in the 'fight against organised crime
and terrorism'.

On Friday, the couple's property
and surrounding land in the hamlet had
been turned into an extensive crime scene.

'Both died a violent death,'
regional prosecutor Nicolas Rigot-Muller said,
adding however he could not yet
provide further details.

'All leads are being examined',
he said, adding that
the investigation was
in its early stages.]

[An investigating source said:
'A criminal enquiry has been launched
and the fear is that the couple was murdered.]

[rusticgal]

Sounds grim….poor people.

[Ammi]

…very, very gruesome…and such contrasting reports of a ‘robbery that went wrong’ but also reporting a possible ‘hitman’ murder of them…Andrew Searle spent his working career fighting organised crime and terrorism…I think they only married a few years ago…very sad, very horrifying murder…

[UserSince2005]

Couldn’t have been me. I’m never in Europe :cool:

[arista]

…very, very gruesome…and such contrasting reports of a ‘robbery that went wrong’ but also reporting a possible ‘hitman’ murder of them…Andrew Searle spent his working career fighting organised crime and terrorism…I think they only married a few years ago…very sad, very horrifying murder…



He must have been aware
of the Evil Criminals tracking him................


He should had more Guns
at easy reach

[Ammi]

He must have been aware
of the Evil Criminals tracking him................


He should had more Guns
at easy reach

….hmmmmm, I don’t know…there seems something a little off about that being the theory in that he’d retired there 10 years ago so to have taken that long to ‘track’ him just doesn’t seem to fit and he doesn’t seem to have made himself difficult to ‘track’…its very odd …Dawn Searle/Dawn Kerr’s son is an actor/country singer apparently who was in Hollyoak’s back in the day…

[rusticgal]

He must have been aware
of the Evil Criminals tracking him................


He should had more Guns
at easy reach


Perhaps someone just got out of Prison :shrug:

[Cherie]

His ex work colleagues have now ruled out that he was targetted as he worked anonymously and as part of a bigger team

Police are considering murder suicide as the lady was found in her PJs beaten to death by the front door and he was found hanged.....would a burglarly gone wrong go to the lengths of hanging him? Their families dispute the murder/suicide angle

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/friends-of-british-couple-found-dead-in-south-of-france-reject-murder-suicide-theories/ar-AA1yESir?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[arista]

Evil Double Murder
for sure

[Niamh.]

His ex work colleagues have now ruled out that he was targetted as he worked anonymously and as part of a bigger team

Police are considering murder suicide as the lady was found in her PJs beaten to death by the front door and he was found hanged.....would a burglarly gone wrong go to the lengths of hanging him? Their families dispute the murder/suicide angle

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/friends-of-british-couple-found-dead-in-south-of-france-reject-murder-suicide-theories/ar-AA1yESir?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Awful. I seriously doubt someone would hang him, that sounds more like a murder suicide. Poor woman

[Ammi]

…it’s being reported that the investigation atm is focused on their mobile phones and Andrew Searle’s phone in particular as two sets of neighbours have said that he was seen in what seemed like an ‘in an agitated phone call days before he died and looked worried’…there’s something really off about their deaths, I can’t believe that it is connected to his previous work when he’d retired from that 10 years ago and he hadn’t been in any way ‘hiding’ had he, so why wait 10 years for any type of ‘revenge killing’ because of his work…

[Ammi]

…the families/children don’t believe that it’s a burglary gone wrong or a murder suicide…I believe that Dawn Searle/Kerr was found naked outside the home and her jewellery next to her…they hadn’t been married that long…


…it seems a strange thing that she had violent blows to the head but we haven’t been told of any violence to him other than he was found hanged with a gag in his mouth…and that could have been suicide…

[arista]

[been told of any violence to him]

Sure as he was Hanged

[Cherie]

If burglars had time to beat her to death and hang him why would they leave jewellery behind, makes no sense

[arista]

If burglars had time to beat her to death and hang him why would they leave jewellery behind, makes no sense


I assume it was Revenge Murders

[Benjamin]

My theory is he had money issues and killed her before taking his own life.

[Ammi]

My theory is he had money issues and killed her before taking his own life.

…obviously we’ll wait to to see what develops but those are my same thoughts atm as well…

[arista]

My theory is he had money issues and killed her before taking his own life.


Sure
could also be possible

[Cherie]

I assume it was Revenge Murders

That has been ruled out

[Niamh.]

My theory is he had money issues and killed her before taking his own life.

…obviously we’ll wait to to see what develops but those are my same thoughts atm as well…

Yes, unfortunately statistically that's the most realistic option

[arista]

That has been ruled out


OK

[arista]

Today they give
us the Post Mortem
results.

ITV1HDnews

[arista]

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/11/11/95031169-14383973-The_couple_moved_to_the_south_of_France_from_Scotl and_around_a_d-a-12_1739272063292.jpg
[The couple moved to the south of France from Scotland
around a decade ago.
Pictured is the house where Mr and Mrs Searle
were discovered in Les Pesquies]

[arista]

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/11/11/95031171-14383973-Less_than_24_hours_before_he_was_found_dead_Mr_Sea rle_seemed_hap-a-11_1739272060448.jpg
[Less than 24 hours before he was found dead,
Mr Searle seemed happy and relaxed
as he bought a chocolate bar and two lottery tickets
before thanking the shopkeeper
and going to his car outside where his wife,
aged in her mid-50s, was waiting]

[arista]

[Money problems of Brit found dead with his wife
in their French home: Husband liquidated rental
firm in 2023, 'was seen crying over pension
issue and took months to pay a bill
of several thousand euros']


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14383973/Money-problems-Brit-dead-wife-French-home-liquidated-rental.html

[arista]

The Mums Son

Callum Kerr who played George Kiss in Channel 4 Hollyoaks.

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/11/14/95065117-14383973-Callum_Kerr_who_played_George_Kiss_in_Channel_4_Ho llyoaks-a-1_1739285706825.jpg

[Ammi]

[Money problems of Brit found dead with his wife
in their French home: Husband liquidated rental
firm in 2023, 'was seen crying over pension
issue and took months to pay a bill
of several thousand euros']


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14383973/Money-problems-Brit-dead-wife-French-home-liquidated-rental.html

…yeah, that’s what some articles were reporting over the last few days that there were ‘pension problems’ and that Andrew Searle was seen by neighbours to be in a few ‘agitated phone calls’ and arguing in English…it just seems odd that it would be a revenge murder relating to his job when he’d been retired and lived there for 10 years…I think what has been confusing is the original reports saying that he had been tortured…

[arista]

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/10/18/95065115-14381861-image-a-9_1739212116973.jpg

[Callum Kerr with his mum Dawn Searle]

[Ammi]

The Mums Son

Callum Kerr who played George Kiss in Channel 4 Hollyoaks.

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/11/14/95065117-14383973-Callum_Kerr_who_played_George_Kiss_in_Channel_4_Ho llyoaks-a-1_1739285706825.jpg

….they were only married for a few years, Callum Kerr walked his mum down the aisle, I believe…it’s all very tragic…

[arista]

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/11/16/95098799-0-image-m-3_1739292259976.jpg

[arista]

[French prosecutors have revealed how
a British couple died in violent circumstances days
after they were found dead at their
home in rural France.

Andrew and Dawn Searle, in their sixties, were found
by a neighbour at their property in Les Pesquies on Thursday.
The mayor told French television the deaths
were 'clearly a homicide'.

Pathologists working with judges in
Montpellier carried out post-mortem examinations yesterday,
confirming that Ms Searle had ‘severe wound
to the skull caused by several blows caused by
a sharp instrument’ that has not been found.]

[arista]

[Nicolas Rigot-Muller,
the Rodez public prosecutor, said jewellery
and cash was found scattered around
her partially clothed body outside the house.

‘For his part, the body of Andrew Searle was found hanged,
without any trace of defensive wounds,’ said Mr Rigot-Muller.

Investigators have remained tight-lipped about
a possible murder suspect,
with the regional prosecutor refusing
to say whether police are looking for anyone
in connection with the deaths.

CCTV footage is providing vital clues
to solving the mystery, with detectives confident
that any potential killer will have been
picked up at some point by one of the
scores of police, traffic and private cameras
in the area.

Mr Searle, originally from England,
was seen in surveillance footage in
a tobacconist in Villefranche-de-Rouergue just hours
before he died, buying lottery tickets and chocolate.

He had experienced financial problems and had
to liquidate his holiday letting business, it emerged.]


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14385497/police-cause-death-british-couple-french-home.html



https://news.sky.com/story/post-mortem-results-reveal-injuries-of-british-couple-found-dead-at-home-in-france-13307196

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3lq3lkkn5o

[joeysteele]

Awful.
Sounds really gruesome.

[Cherie]

[Nicolas Rigot-Muller,
the Rodez public prosecutor, said jewellery
and cash was found scattered around
her partially clothed body outside the house.

‘For his part, the body of Andrew Searle was found hanged,
without any trace of defensive wounds,’ said Mr Rigot-Muller.

Investigators have remained tight-lipped about
a possible murder suspect,
with the regional prosecutor refusing
to say whether police are looking for anyone
in connection with the deaths.

CCTV footage is providing vital clues
to solving the mystery, with detectives confident
that any potential killer will have been
picked up at some point by one of the
scores of police, traffic and private cameras
in the area.

Mr Searle, originally from England,
was seen in surveillance footage in
a tobacconist in Villefranche-de-Rouergue just hours
before he died, buying lottery tickets and chocolate.

He had experienced financial problems and had
to liquidate his holiday letting business, it emerged.]


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14385497/police-cause-death-british-couple-french-home.html



https://news.sky.com/story/post-mortem-results-reveal-injuries-of-british-couple-found-dead-at-home-in-france-13307196

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3lq3lkkn5o

would you buy lottery tickets and chocolates if you were about to commit suicide, it doesn't add up at all, this case is full of twists

[Niamh.]

would you buy lottery tickets and chocolates if you were about to commit suicide, it doesn't add up at all, this case is full of twists

Unless at that particular time he wasn't planing to do it. They could have had an argument later on and he snapped our something else could have happened that made him snap. Not saying that's definitely what happened but just because he bought chocolate and a lottery ticket earlier in the day doesn't mean he couldn't be responsible

[rusticgal]

Unless at that particular time he wasn't planing to do it. They could have had an argument later on and he snapped our something else could have happened that made him snap. Not saying that's definitely what happened but just because he bought chocolate and a lottery ticket earlier in the day doesn't mean he couldn't be responsible


Yes....all it takes is a trigger. Its weird that the wife was found battered in the front garden with jewellery and money around her....its almost like it was thrown at her in a fit of rage maybe.

[Niamh.]

Yes....all it takes is a trigger. Its weird that the wife was found battered in the front garden with jewellery and money around her....its almost like it was thrown at her in a fit of rage maybe.

Yeah, maybe she found out the extent of the financial difficulties and told him she was leaving him. Maybe he was planning it but wanted a bar of chocolate first and one last try to win some money. Again not saying that he definitely did it but it's more common for something like this to happen than a random attack

[arista]

Yeah, maybe she found out the extent of the financial difficulties and told him she was leaving him. Maybe he was planning it but wanted a bar of chocolate first and one last try to win some money. Again not saying that he definitely did it but it's more common for something like this to happen than a random attack



Yes could well be
that sad way,

[Cherie]

Unless at that particular time he wasn't planing to do it. They could have had an argument later on and he snapped our something else could have happened that made him snap. Not saying that's definitely what happened but just because he bought chocolate and a lottery ticket earlier in the day doesn't mean he couldn't be responsible

I am leaning to him doing it though there was no weapon found, maybe she was running from him with her jewellery and some money ...I just dont know...you never know what goes on behind closed door they were the perfect couple apparently

[*mazedsalv**]

would you buy lottery tickets and chocolates if you were about to commit suicide, it doesn't add up at all, this case is full of twists

Who knows? Someone in my year committed suicide in 2018, they found that he booked a holiday to Malaysia the morning of.

[Niamh.]

Who knows? Someone in my year committed suicide in 2018, they found that he booked a holiday to Malaysia the morning of.

Yeah exactly

[Niamh.]

I am leaning to him doing it though there was no weapon found, maybe she was running from him with her jewellery and some money ...I just dont know...you never know what goes on behind closed door they were the perfect couple apparently

He could have killed her in the heat of an argument, panicked and maybe attempted to stage it to look like a robbery gone wrong but later decided it was pointless and ended his own life too

[arista]

Yes the Wife would have been better to sneak
away from him.

Without him knowing.

[arista]

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/11/11/95031171-14383973-Less_than_24_hours_before_he_was_found_dead_Mr_Sea rle_seemed_hap-a-11_1739272060448.jpg
[Less than 24 hours before he was found dead,
Mr Searle seemed happy and relaxed
as he bought a chocolate bar and two lottery tickets
before thanking the shopkeeper
and going to his car outside where his wife,
aged in her mid-50s, was waiting]



The Face of the Crazy
Man a few days before
the murder of his wife
and then his own hanging

[Ammi]

…several neighbours/villagers have apparently said that Andrew Searle bought the lottery ticket and a bar of chocolate that he like every week or on a regular basis so it could have just been a routine of ‘normality’ that he wanted to keep…the mind is a strange thing in its workings, especially a troubled mind and I know with grief, for instance…we can think of the strangest/most routine/and things of no consequence in grief when our minds are struggling to find a ‘normality’ to hold onto…

[Ammi]

…my thoughts are still that it was a planned killing and suicide…

[Niamh.]

…several neighbours/villagers have apparently said that Andrew Searle bought the lottery ticket and a bar of chocolate that he like every week or on a regular basis so it could have just been a routine of ‘normality’ that he wanted to keep…the mind is a strange thing in its workings, especially a troubled mind and I knew with grief, for instance…we can think of the strangest/most routine/and things of no consequence in grief when our minds are struggling to find a ‘normality’ to hold onto…


Yes very true

[Gusto Brunt]

Sounds grim….poor people.

They knew the wrong people. Utterly sh** scary.

RIP.

Perhaps someone just got out of Prison :shrug:

And had a deadly score to settle.:shocked:

[Ammi]

…the case has apparently been handed over to a new prosecutor/division so I don’t know whether that means that one specific line is being explored more than another…from reports, it’s still feeling that murder of them both is the thing that is being thought the most likely…it’s so odd that no weapon has been found that was used for the head wounds but also that there seems to have been no defence wounds either…what the families must be going through right now is horrendous…

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/world-news/investigation-deaths-andrew-dawn-searle-34681934

[Livia]

It's like an episode of Morse in here...

[Cherie]

It's like an episode of Morse in here...

:laugh:

[UserSince2005]

He murdered her and staged the scene. How shocking. And their son is the hot gay from hollyoaks. Maybe he was gay too

[Ammi]

Scots mum was killed by husband in murder suicide at home in France…



The deaths of a Scots mum and her husband at their home in France has been ruled as a murder-suicide.

Dawn Searle, 56, and her husband Andrew, 62, were discovered dead at their property in Les Pequies near Toulouse, on February 6.

Mrs Searle's body was found in the garden with severe wounds to her head, while her husband's body was found hanging inside.

The mum-of-two, also known as Dawn Kerr, was originally from Eyemouth in the Borders.

The couple previously lived in Musselburgh and married in France two years ago. It is understood they had emigrated 10 years ago.

Their bodies were discovered after neighbours became worried as they hadn't seen the couple walk their dogs.

Mrs Searle's body was found outside their home by a horrified friend. She had suffered a head injury and there was jewellery scattered around her.

The area around the property was sealed off while investigations took place, and local police called in expert help from Toulouse.

A helicopter and drone were sent to the site.

Initially it was believed the couple had fallen victim to a home invasion and dawn had fled an attacker. This theory was supported by the fact cupboards and drawers were discovered open, with furniture upended.

Mr Searle was a retired fraud investigator specialising in financial crime prevention who worked at companies including Standard Life and Barclays Bank. Detectives considered the possibility of a revenge attack because of his work.

French prosecutors have since concluded Dawn was killed by her husband who went on to botch a staged burglary.

Post-mortem examinations confirmed Mr Searle died from hanging and Mrs Searle suffered "multiple blows to the head with a blunt and sharp-edged object."

The announcement follows weeks of speculation about what happened to the couple, who friends described as "comfortable" and "happy."

Dawn Searle's son, the Hollyoaks actor Callum Kerr, issued a statement on social media at the time of their deaths.

It read: "At this time, Callum Kerr and Amanda Kerr are grieving the loss of their mother, Dawn Searle (née Smith, Kerr) while Tom Searle and Ella Searle are mourning the loss of their father, Andrew Searle."

Mr Kerr, 30, walked his mother down the aisle when she married Mr Searle at a ceremony in France in 2023. The Record earlier revealed Dawn had been planning a trip to Scotland in the weeks before her death.

The project manager had posted an advert looking for a house to stay in when she visited for her son's wedding.

A post shared on Facebook group 'House and Pet Sitters UK' on January 3 read: "Hello, my name is Dawn and I lived in Scotland all my life before moving to France nine years ago.

"I have family in the Edinburgh area and often visit this beautiful city. I would much prefer to house sit on my trips which would help me and also help someone wanting to go away on holiday."

[Cherie]

Useless at every level, he couldn't even stage a botched burglary, interesting he didn't want to be blamed for his wife's death even after he hanged himself