British couple found dead in south of France home being ‘treated as murder-suicide’
The sudden death of a British couple in their south of France home is now being treated as a murder-suicide.
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Andrew Searle and Dawn Kerr were found dead at their home address in the hamlet of Les Pesquies in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Aveyron, in the early afternoon of February 6.
Detectives say Ms Searle was found at their property in Les Pesquies with "several" injuries to her head, while her husband was found hanged with no visible defensive injuries.
After the shocking discovery, police launched an investigation to determine whether the couple died as a result of murder-suicide or if a third party was involved.
Now, prosecutor Fabrice Belargent has said that “the analysis carried out does not so far show any evidence that a third party was involved.”
It is understood the couple were the mother and stepfather of actor and musician Callum Kerr, who played Pc George Kiss in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, and appeared in Netflix's Virgin River, according to a statement published on Mr Kerr's social media accounts on February 8.
Friends and family of the couple had previously rejected suggestions of a murder-suicide.
A couple, in their 60s, told The Sun: “Us Brits, who knew Dawn and Andy very well, are certain this is not a murder-suicide because of financial difficulties or anything like that.
“They weren’t flashy by any means, but they were definitely comfortable and had it good out here.”
Mr Searle worked with the police and the Serious Fraud Office for the last two decades in the “fight against organised crime and terrorism”.
Mr Searle is thought to have moved with his family to France a decade ago, retiring in 2015 from his job in Scotland in the financial crime assurance arm of Barclays Bank.
He conducted “sanction screening” in his later roles, involving a check on individuals and groups who might be barred from dealing in the UK because of their links with rogue states, terror groups or drug traffickers.
This led investigators to suggest they couple may have been killed in a gang-related murder.
An investigating source previously said: "A criminal enquiry has been launched and the fear is that the couple were murdered.
“They were very fit, and very popular locally, but there is a theory that they were being pursued by criminals from the United Kingdom.
“This is currently the prioritised line of enquiry, because Mr Searle was once involved in the fight against organised crime and terrorism."