British couple, Andrew and Dawn Searle, found deceased in Les Pesquiès, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue 6th February 2025

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STLBlues said:
RS&BBM I agree completely. I have worked in banking/financial services for 35 years. You would be surprised at the number of people employed by banks, credit unions, and financial service companies that are horrible at managing their money and are in debt up to their necks.
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I have noted financial roles usually state employment will be subject to credit checks. So are the financial checks only carried out prior to commencing employment, aren't employees also checked annually throughout the duration of employment (similar to an annual DBS check renewal)?
That's interesting if not.
 
OceanElix said:
I have noted financial roles usually state employment will be subject to credit checks. So are the financial checks only carried out prior to commencing employment, aren't employees also checked annually throughout the duration of employment (similar to an annual DBS check renewal)?
That's interesting if not.
Click to expand...
IME, correct, credit checks are only performed prior to commencing employment. After that, I've never had my credit checked even when moving to a new role within the same company. In 35 years, I've worked for 5 different companies in the banking/financial services industry. I've only had my credit checked prior to starting with a new company.

ETA - I am in the US so, things may be different in other countries.
 
"Mr Searle was a former financial investigator who was involved in the fight against organised crime.

The couple moved to France ten years ago
after Mr Searle took an early retirement in 2015.

He went on to experience financial troubles,
mainly with his pension,
and had taken months to pay a bill of several thousand euros,
according to reports.

He had been seen crying
in the nearby town of Villefranche-de-Rouergue in December
after settling the debt,
The Telegraph reports.

Publicly available financial documents in France also show that a rental business he set up in Les Pesquies
folded in December 2023 with no accounts filed."

www-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org

Money problems of Brit found dead with his wife in their French home

Andrew Searle, 65, and his wife Dawn, 56, were found dead by a horrified neighbour outside their idyllic house in Les Pesquies, north of Toulouse, last Thursday.
www-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org www-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org
 
STLBlues said:
RS&BBM I agree completely. I have worked in banking/financial services for 35 years. You would be surprised at the number of people employed by banks, credit unions, and financial service companies that are horrible at managing their money and are in debt up to their necks.
Click to expand...

I, too, have heard this, and know a few examples..though not heavy duty cases...

But being in financial services, and buying lottery tickets...where the odds are stacked... THAT just seems a tad strange. ha. I suppose many many others won't agree, tho,

Still in the same alley as "the shoemaker's kids wear no shoes"
 
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To retire at 55 for a man is impossible where I live.
Men's retirement age is 65 in my country,
Women's - 60.
And I mean State Pension.

Only special jobs (LE, firefighters, Army) can retire earlier.
(Also teachers).

Of course, ppl can work as long as they wish.
Their pension will increase much if they stay employed after 60/65.
They can also work while being retired (pension + salary - but only to certain limits).

I'm surprised AS retired so early (55),
but I have no idea how it works in other countries.

But if he had problems with his UK pension,
it might mean the decision to retire so early was not thought over thoroughly.

Didn't he know how much he would be paid?
Wasn't his pension calculated in advance?
What kinds of problems were there?

Quote:
"Financial troubles with his pension".
What does it mean exactly?

Really, this case is baffling me :oops:

JMO
 
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catgreen said:
Yes I know, I read that and was shocked - where I live (a small town in Correze) a friend was attacked by a neighbour and there was no cctv anywhere around and that was in a town. If there was cctv here wouldnt they be able to say if they were looking for someone in connection to the 'murders' by now?
Click to expand...

not sure but I don't think they lied
 
catgreen said:
I understand your point but it is simply not true that suicides always occur after worsening mental health, sometimes (personal experience) they occur completely out of the blue, and the police/coroner can find nothing concerning on phones/laptops/behaviour leading up to the event itself. The poor family are left completely without answers. Whether the same can be applied to murder suicide I dont know but I would have thought that a serious domestic fight leading
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Dotta said:
To retire at 55 for a man is impossible where I live.
Men's retirement age is 65 in my country,
Women's - 60.

Only special jobs (LE, firefighters) can retire earlier.
(Also teachers).

Of course, ppl can work as long as they wish.
Their pension will increase much if they stay employed after 60/65.

I'm surprised AS retired so early,
but I have no idea how it works in other countries.

But if he had problems with his UK pension,
it means the decision to retire was not thought thoroughly.
Didn't he know how much he would be paid?
What kinds of problems were there?

Really, this case
Click to expand...
Dotta said:
To retire at 55 for a man is impossible where I live.
Men's retirement age is 65 in my country,
Women's - 60.
And I mean State Pension.

Only special jobs (LE, firefighters) can retire earlier.
(Also teachers).

Of course, ppl can work as long as they wish.
Their pension will increase much if they stay employed after 60/65.
They can also work while being retired (pension + salary - but only to certain limits).

I'm surprised AS retired so early (55),
but I have no idea how it works in other countries.

But if he had problems with his UK pension,
it might mean the decision to retire was not thought over thoroughly.

Didn't he know how much he would be paid?
Wasn't his pension calculated in advance?
What kinds of problems were there?

Quote:
"Financial troubles with his pension".
What does it mean exactly?

Really, this case is baffling me.

JMO
Click to expand...
I think the term
Dotta said:
To retire at 55 for a man is impossible where I live.
Men's retirement age is 65 in my country,
Women's - 60.
And I mean State Pension.

Only special jobs (LE, firefighters) can retire earlier.
(Also teachers).

Of course, ppl can work as long as they wish.
Their pension will increase much if they stay employed after 60/65.
They can also work while being retired (pension + salary - but only to certain limits).

I'm surprised AS retired so early (55),
but I have no idea how it works in other countries.

But if he had problems with his UK pension,
it might mean the decision to retire was not thought over thoroughly.

Didn't he know how much he would be paid?
Wasn't his pension calculated in advance?
What kinds of problems were there?

Quote:
"Financial troubles with his pension".
What does it mean exactly?

Really, this case is baffling me :oops:

JMO
Click to expand...
the reference to ‘financial troubles with his pension’ mag relate to his work pension n. He wasn’t state pension age. Not sure how it works in his line of work but certain public sector roles , for example NHS, you can retire from 55 I think but would be a lesser amount if under a certain age. I can’t imagine he was able to draw his work pension when he ‘retired’ as only 52 at that time? Another possibility is that he sourced a state pension prediction and realised he wouldn’t be entitled to full amount when he reached 67 or whatever age he was due this. This could be due to not paying enough National Insurance in the UK. I am not a pension expert so please feel free anyone to totally contradict!
As others have said though, I would imagine him to be totally on the ball with these things .
 
tree1 said:
I think the term

the reference to ‘financial troubles with his pension’ mag relate to his work pension n. He wasn’t state pension age. Not sure how it works in his line of work but certain public sector roles , for example NHS, you can retire from 55 I think but would be a lesser amount if under a certain age. I can’t imagine he was able to draw his work pension when he ‘retired’ as only 52 at that time? Another possibility is that he sourced a state pension prediction and realised he wouldn’t be entitled to full amount when he reached 67 or whatever age he was due this. This could be due to not paying enough National Insurance in the UK. I am not a pension expert so please feel free anyone to totally contradict!
As others have said though, I would imagine him to be totally on the ball with these things .
Click to expand...
Excuse typos!
 
Dotta said:
To retire at 55 for a man is impossible where I live.
Men's retirement age is 65 in my country,
Women's - 60.
And I mean State Pension.

Only special jobs (LE, firefighters) can retire earlier.
(Also teachers).

Of course, ppl can work as long as they wish.
Their pension will increase much if they stay employed after 60/65.
They can also work while being retired (pension + salary - but only to certain limits).

I'm surprised AS retired so early (55),
but I have no idea how it works in other countries.

But if he had problems with his UK pension,
it might mean the decision to retire so early was not thought over thoroughly.

Didn't he know how much he would be paid?
Wasn't his pension calculated in advance?
What kinds of problems were there?

Quote:
"Financial troubles with his pension".
What does it mean exactly?

Really, this case is baffling me :oops:

JMO
Click to expand...

I was curious about how AS was already drawing a pension as well, so I did a little research. In the UK, he wouldn't be eligible to draw his State Pension until he turned 67. However, he could take a private pension (e.g., a workplace pension) as early as 55. Although, of course, the earlier one takes it the longer the value has to last.

Another wrinkle with private pensions is that some are defined contribution, not defined benefit. In other words, how much one gets is dependent on how well the underlying investments do. Furthermore, even after retirement, the money can stay invested if one chooses. However, if those investments tank post-retirement, then there's less money available to withdraw.

So, depending on how AS chose to set up his pension, he may have found that he did have to cut back on his monthly withdrawals if his investments were doing poorly.

More info here: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/p...s-basics/defined-contribution-pension-schemes
 
He also had a property business that crashed in the year before his death, could have borrowed money off dodgy people to keep it going and couldn’t pay the money back and his lenders came after him

I just am not convinced about murder/suicide or burglary gone wrong in this case
 
ImmyR said:
A possible explanation for the jewellery box is that he wanted to sell some jewellery, she refused, a fight started and she tried to get away taking the jewellery with her to keep it from him. He lost his temper, hit her, realised she was dead and then killed himself.
Click to expand...

hit her with the jewellry box - depending on how big or heavy it is, could've been the murder weapon
 
Dotta said:
To retire at 55 for a man is impossible where I live.
Men's retirement age is 65 in my country,
Women's - 60.
And I mean State Pension.

Only special jobs (LE, firefighters, Army) can retire earlier.
(Also teachers).

Of course, ppl can work as long as they wish.
Their pension will increase much if they stay employed after 60/65.
They can also work while being retired (pension + salary - but only to certain limits).

I'm surprised AS retired so early (55),
but I have no idea how it works in other countries.

But if he had problems with his UK pension,
it might mean the decision to retire so early was not thought over thoroughly.

Didn't he know how much he would be paid?
Wasn't his pension calculated in advance?
What kinds of problems were there?

Quote:
"Financial troubles with his pension".
What does it mean exactly?

Really, this case is baffling me :oops:

JMO
Click to expand...
He was 52 when he retired as far as I see. V young .
 
Honestly,
costs of living in France seem to be high.
To maintain such a big house must have been financially draining for AS and DK -
think only about heating such property!
And all repairs: roof, plumbing, stairs, swimming pool, yard, etc,
there is always something to repair in an old house.

OK, they seemed to rent some rooms.
Tourists?

But France is full of professional tourist accommodation places,
well kept, and in beautiful locations attractive for tourists.
This is saturated market.

This house in a small hamlet seems to me too isolated to attract many tourists.

Sure,
agritourism has its fans.
You know,
type of tourist accommodation on rural farms
(agricultural, breeding, gardening or fishing)
owned by farmers
and rented to tourists.

But it is a business which needs
a well-developed business plan to be successful.

It is not easy.
Not easy at all.

JMO
 
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Lalalacasbah said:
What gadget or is that around his neck? Heart monitor or something or a way to talk on a cell phone?
View attachment 564308
Click to expand...

www.dailymail.co.uk

CCTV footage shows British man buying chocolates hours before dying

Andrew Searle can be seen entering a tobacconist in the nearby town of Villefranche de Rouergue at just before 6pm on Wednesday evening as the shop was closing.
www.dailymail.co.uk

Around his neck is a tracking device used to keep an eye on the couple's two hunting dogs and which were found at the scene and taken away for DNA testing by police following what has been described as their 'violent deaths'.
 
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