A murder investigation has been opened in Southwest France after the dead bodies of a British couple were found at their isolated countryside home.
Friends of the pair – who have not been named – visited after not hearing from them for at least three days in Boudrac, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, south of Toulouse.
When they arrived at their home – which was due to be turned into a bed and breakfast guest house – on Sunday afternoon they found the lifeless body of a 65-year-old woman.
‘She has been dead for some days and had a rope around her neck,’ said local prosecutor Christophe Amunzateguy.
A British couple has been found dead at their isolated countryside home in Boudrac, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, south of Toulouse. Friends had not heard from them for the last three days, but upon checking on them found the pair hanged on Sunday afternoon
‘Wounds were also found on her body – there were signs of strangulation and blows.’
When gendarmes arrived later they found the woman’s husband, 64, dead in an outhouse.
‘He was found hanged, and had left a note’ said Mr Amunzateguy, adding: ‘The couple had a project to open a guesthouse but it was ended because of financial difficulties.’
The note found at the scene spoke of financial trouble, according to Connexion France.
The couple had bought their house in Boudrac – which has a population of around 130 – in early 2021 and wanted to turn it into a bed and breakfast.
Confirming that a murder investigation had been opened, Mr Amunzateguy, the public prosecutor in Saint-Gaudens, said ‘there was no evidence of a third party being involved.’
He added that an autopsies would be performed on each of the bodies on Tuesday, to try and establish a cause of death.
Source: Daily Mail
