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

[indicolite22]

Google translated:

A witness, a neighbor of the couple, heard Andrew having a telephone conversation with his father, with whom he was very close, shortly before the tragedy.
...
“Dawn, the wife, lies in front of the door, half naked and with a wound on her head,” while her husband, Andrew, is found hanging inside, with a gag in his mouth, reports Midi Libre information.

Mort de deux Britanniques en Aveyron : cette piste qui n’avait jusque-là jamais été envisagée

Cinq jours après la découverte des corps de Dawn, 56 ans, et de son mari Andrew Searle, 62 ans, un couple britannique retrouvé mort chez eux au sud de Villefranche-de-Rouergue (Aveyron), de nombreuses questions...

www.midilibre.fr

 

[Lalalacasbah]

I think, myself, it is unlikely anyone targeted them.

However, there's the example of the billionaire Shermans in Toronto, whose deaths were staged, suggesting murder-suicide. But there was evidence of the wrists having been bound, and at least one person was caught on camera.

Police took many weeks to conclude their inquiry, which has been the source of severe criticism from their family and media. It will be interesting to see whether the French inquiry rushes to a quicker conclusion.

JMO

Shermans came to my mind with this one as well!

 

[Dotta]

Leparisien.fr:

"The autopsies performed on Dawn and Andrew Searle
are consistent with the scenario of a murder committed by the husband on his wife,
followed by suicide.

But the motive for this possible femicide remains mysterious."

Décès d’un couple de Britanniques dans l’Aveyron : l’hypothèse du drame familial se précise

Les autopsies pratiquées sur Dawn et Andrew Searle, deux Britanniques morts le 6 février à leur domicile de Villefranche-de-Rouergue, sont c

www.leparisien.fr

Well,
As many theories as there are people

 

[Kittypoo]

Hmmmm

Post-mortem results reveal injuries of British couple found dead at home in France

The investigation continues into whether a third party was involved, or whether the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide.

news.sky.com

Detectives say Dawn Searle, 56, was found at their property in Les Pesquies with "several" injuries to her head, while her husband, Andrew Searle, 62, was found hanged with no visible defensive injuries.

A statement from the office of public prosecutor Nicolas Rigot-Muller said Ms Searle was found partially dressed with a major wound to her skull next to a box with jewellery inside.

But no object or weapon was found that could've caused the wounds, which an autopsy carried out in Montpellier on Monday found were caused by a blunt and sharp object. There were no signs of sexual assault.

The house appeared to have been quickly searched, while some cash was found in the couple's room.

So there were two murder weapons? Blunt and sharp otherwise surely a contradiction.
Also if murder suicide wouldn’t Mr Searle have DS DNA evidence on him ?
Just my opinions

 

[Sillybilly]

So there were two murder weapons? Blunt and sharp otherwise surely a contradiction.
Also if murder suicide wouldn’t Mr Searle have DS DNA evidence on him ?
Just my opinions

And where are these murder weapons?

from: French prosecutors confirm how Andrew and Dawn Searle died

A box containing jewellery was found nearby but "no object or weapon capable of causing the injuries was found".

 

[Sarahlou]

So there were two murder weapons? Blunt and sharp otherwise surely a contradiction.
Also if murder suicide wouldn't Mr Searle have DS DNA evidence on him?
Just my opinions

We don't know that he didn't yet. They are probably holding a lot of details back until they can confirm everything.

 

[indicolite22]

Their friends don't think they could have had money problems:

"They weren't flashy by any means, but they were definitely comfortable and had it good out here. They were always travelling. They recently went to a family wedding in Goa and they went to South America for their honeymoon." (They got married in September 2023.)

In the same article:
Publicly available financial documents in France also show that a rental business he (the husband) set up in Les Pesquies folded in December 2023 with no accounts filed.

Autopsy results in death of couple in France reveal surprising new twist in case

Dawn Searle suffered 'multiple blows to the head' and her husband Andrew was found hanged 'with no defensive wounds' but the French authorities say they cannot be sure it was murder-suicide

www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk

 

[Kittypoo]

We don't know that he didn't yet. They are probably holding a lot of details back until they can confirm everything.

Yes I know I’m just thinking out loud really. This case is a strange one.
I assume the press conference was in French only as wasn’t shown on UK news reports I saw today

 

[iamshadow21]

So there were two murder weapons? Blunt and sharp otherwise surely a contradiction.
Also if murder suicide wouldn’t Mr Searle have DS DNA evidence on him ?
Just my opinions

Not necessarily. A heavy item with sharply defined corners can leave both.

For example, say, a statuette with a square marble base. If you held the statuette and hit with the base end, the corners would leave sharp injuries but the flat sides would leave blunt.

Also, an item like an axe can leave both depending on if the blow is landed with the edge of the blade, the back of the head or the flat of the blade. The first would leave sharp, the latter two would leave blunt.

MOO

 

[Dotta]

Their friends don't think they could have had money problems:

"They weren't flashy by any means, but they were definitely comfortable and had it good out here. They were always travelling. They recently went to a family wedding in Goa and they went to South America for their honeymoon." (They got married in September 2023.)

In the same article:
Publicly available financial documents in France also show that a rental business he (the husband) set up in Les Pesquies folded in December 2023 with no accounts filed.

Autopsy results in death of couple in France reveal surprising new twist in case

Dawn Searle suffered 'multiple blows to the head' and her husband Andrew was found hanged 'with no defensive wounds' but the French authorities say they cannot be sure it was murder-suicide

www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk

Goa (India)?
South America?
Wow!
Nice.
And expensive.

 

[indicolite22]

The neighbor saw the husband agitated the day before (not sure if this is about the conversation with his father mentioned earlier):

“I saw them the day before they were found, they were walking the dogs and Andrew was on the phone,” the unidentified neighbor said, according to the outlet. “He was very agitated, and he was arguing in English, he just waved at me and then carried on.”

A friend of the Searles, Odile Marian, said the 62-year-old had been worried about finding his garage door opened in the days leading up to the couple’s deaths.

Husband and wife found dead at rural home hours after he was seen buying lotto ticket: ‘Clearly a homicide’

Andrew Searle, 62, and Dawn Searle, 56, were found dead at their home in the French village of Les Pesquiès on Thursday.

nypost.com

Is the garage door incident connected or made up? Didn't they normally lock their doors? The husband was reportedly found in a first floor bedroom. If the wife was wounded in the bedroom, there would likely be a trail of blood leading outside. Did the house appear ransacked? One of the articles mentions cash being found in the bedroom.

 

[indicolite22]

Goa (India)?
South America?
Wow!
Nice.
And expensive.

On her fb, the wife posted pictures from South Africa in September 2024, but the husband insn't in them.

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www.facebook.com

 

[ch_13]

I'm an early retiree myself. And in my experience, there are two basic types of people who go down this path.

The first type has been planning their early retirement for years. They've done copious research and have read every article, blog and forum discussion on the topic. They have spreadsheets detailing their net worth, expected returns, future income streams, projected expenses and so on and have even run computer simulations to ensure that they won't run out of money.

The other kind of person is just kind of winging it. Oftentimes they are pushed into early retirement because of ill health or the loss of a job. They may not have enough to truly retire but they figure they can be their own boss in a new career: landlord, consultant, etc.

I don't know which group the Searle's fall into, but I did find it interesting that Andrew left Standard Life after 21 years, only to retire nine months later. If he had been planning an early retirement, why go through all the hassle of starting a consulting business for such a short stint? It does make me wonder if his leaving that job wasn't voluntary on his part. Did the consulting thing not work out, and that's why he pivoted to a house rental business?

 

[Kemug]

So there were two murder weapons? Blunt and sharp otherwise surely a contradiction.
Also if murder suicide wouldn’t Mr Searle have DS DNA evidence on him ?
Just my opinions

I was wondering about a large frying pan/skillet. Ugh.

 

[Kemug]

I still can't comprehend how it came to this. But I now struggle to believe that anyone else was involved.

 

[dotr]

I was wondering about a large frying pan/skillet. Ugh.

Or a radiator, both sharp and smooth, imo. speculation.

 

[scapa]

I do read French (and am in France) but the popups are impossible! This is from Midi Libre, not much more info: After five days of intensive investigation and multiple investigative acts, the tragedy of the hamlet of Pesquiès remains a mystery. On Tuesday, February 11, the public prosecutor of Rodez published in a press release the results of the autopsy of this British couple in their sixties, Dawn Kerr and Andrew Searle, found dead in their beautiful villa in Villefranche-sur-Rouergue on February 6 by a walker.

Couple britannique tué en Aveyron : pas de violences sexuelles, un objet tranchant, ce que révèle l'autopsie de Dawn et Andrew

L’enquête va se poursuivre pour comprendre le déroulement du drame survenu dans leur belle propriété de Villefranche-sur-Rouergue le 6 février dernier.

www.midilibre.fr

Speak and read French here also. Chatvert's translation looks good to me

Very little if anything new here. Next paras read (summarized roughly and on the fly). JMO, the references to multiple blows from an object blunt and sharp have the sense of an object capable of producing both of those types of wounds, rather than 2 separate objects -- but that's just a guess.

Autopsies confirmed CoD: head wounds on the woman, and death by hanging for her husband.

According to the magistrate, the house seemed to have been superficially searched, suggesting a burglary gone wrong, or deadly (maybe targeted) attack, though this disarray might also suggest staging. Dawn Kerr was found partially naked in front of her house, with a jewellery box nearby. No weapon of the sort that might have caused her wounds has been found.

Investigations are continuing, with an eye to determining whether the tragedy is a domestic murder /suicide or an attack by some third party. Additional analyses (anatomopathological, tox) are ongoing and may shed light on the precise circumstances of this tragedy.

 

[tree1]

Surely if this was a double murder, as in both killed by person or persons unknown, Andrew would have had some defence wounds of some sort, bruising etc, if forced to hang himself? The post mortem results state no defence wounds which I interpret as no signs of a struggle.

 

[Furore]

What a tragic case for the families, victims and small knit community I initially thought organised crime but I think hanging is such a difficult thing to do to another person (the weight and physical dominance required) and they are an age group where domestic murder-suicide does appear to happen IMO. I believe financial strain is a common precipitant? It does seem the poor lady was fleeing the house.

I hope they find answers.

 

[Furore]

Speak and read French here also. Chatvert's translation looks good to me

Very little if anything new here. Next paras read (summarized roughly and on the fly). JMO, the references to multiple blows from an object blunt and sharp have the sense of an object capable of producing both of those types of wounds, rather than 2 separate objects -- but that's just a guess.

Autopsies confirmed CoD: head wounds on the woman, and death by hanging for her husband.

According to the magistrate, the house seemed to have been superficially searched, suggesting a burglary gone wrong, or deadly (maybe targeted) attack, though this disarray might also suggest staging. Dawn Kerr was found partially naked in front of her house, with a jewellery box nearby. No weapon of the sort that might have caused her wounds has been found.

Investigations are continuing, with an eye to determining whether the tragedy is a domestic murder /suicide or an attack by some third party. Additional analyses (anatomopathological, tox) are ongoing and may shed light on the precise circumstances of this tragedy.

Hmm it is disconcerting not to have found the murder weapon for Dawn, as you’d expect that to be nearby in a murder suicide. JMO