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

[Dotta]

The theories are all conjecture IMO.

I cannot see a solid proof one way or the other.

Maybe the truth will never be known.

And the poor families will forever wonder

JMO

 

[LadyL]

And why would the husband drag the body of wife outside?

If the alleged burglars were inside the house plundering there
(during this "staged robbery").

Did the evidence show the woman was killed inside or outside?

I'm sure if she was outside,
she would shout for help while being murdered, no?

Regardless of who the perp/s was/were.
A husband or burglars.

Oh well...

JMO

[bbm]

the cops said something about her blood being evident inside the house JMO

 

[Muddy K]

I'm not sure
this "commonplace blunt object"
(quoting OP)
can be so thoroughly cleaned
that even the smallest drop of victim's blood is removed.

There are methods of bloody traces' detection.
This is 21st century after all

And really,
I'm more than sure that Police checked all these "objects hiding in plain sight".

It is, after all, an obvious procedure.

JMO

I agree, mostly. Give it time. This tragic event is still in the early stages of forensic investigation. Luminol sweeps, fingerprint recovery, inch-by-inch inspection of the house and its contents, interior and exterior, all plumbing indoor and out, any wells if nearby, all the surrounding property, it's quite a lot to recover and then analyze off site.

IMO, it's still possible to eliminate all traces of blood from a nonporous object. I'm just not sure that could be accomplished by someone who had "snapped" or otherwise become unhinged.

Of course, we still know very little about Mr. Searle's mental state.

And it's been asked why he would have moved the body of his wife outside. I wonder if he did that so as not to look at what he had done, just gone into denial instead.

I find this case peculiar, somehow out of sync, not quite meshing into a coherent whole that will make sense in the end. I mean, it looks like a murder-suicide, to LE at least, but it doesn't  feel like one. I'm not sure why, other than a few too many pieces are still missing.

 

[catgreen]

The French judicial system is different to the UK, there is a tendency towards secrecy of judicial inquiries, it is normal to not hear step-by-step of investigations and even when the case is completed it would not be unusual for the results to not be in the public domain, although this is perhaps changing more recently Secrecy Of Pre-Trial Investigations And Inquiries: A Fundamental Principal Undermined By Social Changes

The theories are all conjecture IMO.

I cannot see a solid proof one way or the other.

Maybe the truth will never be known.

And the poor families will forever wonder

JMO

 

[heartandsoul]

It's curious that he bought lotto tickets right before this as if it was his last desperate act to fix his financial problems. MOO

That was exactly my thought too.

 

[Officer Dibble]

I'm leaning towards the financial theory.Maybe gambling? However, after planting the robbery 'evidence' he could not face what he'd done, taking his wife outside so he didn't need to look at what he'd done to her.

That or a professional hitman that's done an excellent job of staging murder-suicide.

Which is the most far fetched? Moo

My strongest hunch is Gambling causing huge debt. Edited to add: JMO MOO

 

[Kittypoo]

My strongest hunch is Gambling causing huge debt. Edited to add: JMO MOO

I think someone previously mentioned bitcoin but in view of his financial/fraud background it may be gambling in shares or dodgy investments of some kind.
JMO

 

[Marie A]

I just don’t think he had financial trouble. I think they were plenty secure financially.
They were traveling regularly far and wide. They owned the most resort-like home for miles around in a beautiful spot with extra land. He regularly bought a few lottery tickets like millions of other people do. It means nothing. Just because his rental business was shutdown- honestly that could totally be red tape and paperwork not filled out properly or him not having papers to earn rental income in France - so his rental business is shut down and he may have had to pay fines. His rental business probably consisted of his extra room at their lovely abode.
I do think he could have been trying to sort out his rental problem at his house and he ran into roadblocks because of the laws and red tape. Very frustrating and maybe not easily sortable.
Secondly you can see their home clearly on the map and I’m not sure that neighbors with closed windows on a cold night were anywhere near being able to hear screams or fighting from their home.
All imho

 

[Furore]

I agree, mostly. Give it time. This tragic event is still in the early stages of forensic investigation. Luminol sweeps, fingerprint recovery, inch-by-inch inspection of the house and its contents, interior and exterior, all plumbing indoor and out, any wells if nearby, all the surrounding property, it's quite a lot to recover and then analyze off site.

IMO, it's still possible to eliminate all traces of blood from a nonporous object. I'm just not sure that could be accomplished by someone who had "snapped" or otherwise become unhinged.

Of course, we still know very little about Mr. Searle's mental state.

And it's been asked why he would have moved the body of his wife outside. I wonder if he did that so as not to look at what he had done, just gone into denial instead.

I find this case peculiar, somehow out of sync, not quite meshing into a coherent whole that will make sense in the end. I mean, it looks like a murder-suicide, to LE at least, but it doesn't  feel like one. I'm not sure why, other than a few too many pieces are still missing.

I think electronic devices, communications, financial transactions, messages will all help the police point to a particular conclusion. I’m just not entirely sure much will be released publicly about any of that, if the murderer is dead and not going to trial etc MOO

 

[Skigh]

I think someone previously mentioned bitcoin but in view of his financial/fraud background it may be gambling in shares or dodgy investments of some kind.
JMO

I do not think he needed to have been doing anything such as gambling or dealing in bitcoin or dodgy shares.

I think they might have under estimated how much living in France would cost,taxes are very high. I think they probably enjoyed a certain way of living and if each month they slightly over spent things could all have began to add up. At first it might have been a case of juggling payments using credit cards or delaying paying bills ,then it became harder when credit limits were reached and interest payments difficult to afford and so on until things became unmanageable. He might have been hiding the truth from her or he might have asked her to cut down on spending which she found hard to do. Perhaps he had received a bill (s) which he knew he could not pay.

 

[Kemug]

Does this work? Let's say that for one reason or another, Andrew was desperate for extra money. So he decided to stage a burglary, probably of Dawn's jewellery, then claim the insurance money. He began a phone call to report the theft, but before the call was connected, Dawn realised what he was doing and tried to stop him. Possibly grabbed the phone, or his arm. He pushed her off, and yelled at her. And it escalated from there. Maybe when she was pushed, she hit her head on something. I really don't believe he would have killed her intentionally.

 

[Marysmith]

I just have to say this - I am really surprised that people think that this couldn't have been a planned murder suicide. We don't know him. There are many wolves in sheep's clothing out there. The world is a scary place and people's coping skills seem to be getting worse as well.

 

[iamshadow21]

I really don't believe he would have killed her intentionally.

But we don't know these people. He could have been capable of anything.

 

[Sarahlou]

I just have to say this - I am really surprised that people think that this couldn't have been a planned murder suicide. We don't know him. There are many wolves in sheep's clothing out there. The world is a scary place and people's coping skills seem to be getting worse as well.

Right?
We know nothing about him. I don't know how anyone can say what he would or wouldn't do.
The only thing we can go by is the evidence we've heard so far which has told us there's no evidence of anyone other than the couple being in the house, he hanged himself and had no defensive wounds. Which all really point to one thing only.

 

[ScalableHeights]

I completely agree that there’s no way of knowing what he was or wasn’t capable of. And whilst it’s possible they were comfortably well off, the information that’s come out points towards financial difficulties which we all know can cause people to do terrible, irrational things.

 

[ScalableHeights]

This case is a real stumper. If it was a robbery, they don’t seem to have been interested in money or jewellery which suggests the culprit may have been looking for something specific (possibly of personal rather than financial value). Money and jewellery being scattered around Mrs Searle’s body could imply someone tried to stop her leaving with it, but the fact the body was partially unclothed but not assaulted implies (to me) it was deliberately arranged to look that way.

If it was a “hit” made to look like a murder/suicide, why keep the gag in his mouth which looks decidedly suspicious? If it was a murder/suicide, why do it in a way that makes it look like a double murder? I can only think it was either so their dependents could get a life insurance payment (debts usually still need to be paid after the person has died, they’re not written off) or out of shame and not wanting to be remembered as a murderer. But then this assumes some kind of rational mindset.

Whilst I wouldn’t expect them to make this public, it would be interesting to know if there was any blood found on him.

 

[Marysmith]

Any news on this case?

 

[sunshineray]

I agree, mostly. Give it time. This tragic event is still in the early stages of forensic investigation. Luminol sweeps, fingerprint recovery, inch-by-inch inspection of the house and its contents, interior and exterior, all plumbing indoor and out, any wells if nearby, all the surrounding property, it's quite a lot to recover and then analyze off site.

IMO, it's still possible to eliminate all traces of blood from a nonporous object. I'm just not sure that could be accomplished by someone who had "snapped" or otherwise become unhinged.

Of course, we still know very little about Mr. Searle's mental state.

And it's been asked why he would have moved the body of his wife outside. I wonder if he did that so as not to look at what he had done, just gone into denial instead.

I find this case peculiar, somehow out of sync, not quite meshing into a coherent whole that will make sense in the end. I mean, it looks like a murder-suicide, to LE at least, but it doesn't  feel like one. I'm not sure why, other than a few too many pieces are still missing.

One obvious thing to me is, how many people who have just killed their wife and decide to hang themselves, first gag themselves? A self-gagged suicide...is that done? Do we know if his hands were bound at all?

 

[crespo29]

Having had experience of the French Police, it is true that they do things in their own time. They will talk to everyone and follow all leads before releasing any statement.

 

[Sarahlou]

French officials investigating the deaths of a British couple in their home in south-west France have said it was murder followed by suicide.
The prosecutor in charge of the case has told the BBC there is no evidence that another person was involved in their deaths.

Death of British couple in France treated as murder-suicide

The bodies of Andrew and Dawn Searle, who previously lived in East Lothian, were found at their home near Toulouse.

www.bbc.com

RIP Dawn.