British man and his wife found dead at their home last week. (Image: Facebook)
Andrew and Dawn Searle, originally from Scotland, were found dead in their French home last Thursday. British counter-fraud specialist, Mr Searle, had been heard “violently arguing” on the phone just days before, neighbours reported.
The couple were found at their home in the village of Les Pesquies, a two-hour drive north-east of Toulouse. Mr Searle, 56, was discovered by local authorities hanging inside the house, with a gag reportedly inside his mouth.
Mrs Searle, 62, was found by neighbours lying in the garden with a head wound and her jewellery scattered around her body.
Both neighbours and friends of the couple recalled seeing Mr Searle “very agitated” while on the phone in the few days leading up to their deaths.
A post-mortem examination of the couple was due to be carried out yesterday. (Image: Facebook)
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One neighbour explained how Mr Searle had been “violently arguing in English” while on a walk through the village with his wife and their two dogs on Wednesday afternoon, the day before.
“I saw them the day before they were found. They were walking the dogs, and Andrew was on the phone. He was very agitated and he was arguing violently in English. He just waved at me and then carried on,” the neighbour, who did not wish to be identified, told The Telegraph.
Another resident who lives nearby with his wife, Antoine Da Silva, 63, said to the newspaper: “Last two times I saw him he was walking up in a real hurry on his own with only one dog.
“He only said hello and waved. It was last week. He only said “bonjour, bonjour, bonjour,” reportedly in a hurry.
Mr Da Silva lives a five-minute walk from the scene. He continued: “Then last Tuesday, I saw him on the phone. He looked very worried. He said: ‘I can’t speak with you, I’m on the phone’ and looked very worried and walked on immediately. I knew him very well. He was someone calm and quiet and nice. But the last two times I saw him, he was very different.”
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Mr Searle’s father, Fred, 88, said the family has “thousands of questions and very few answers”.
The state of the British expat’s finances in the months leading up to his death has now raised questions, with local sources saying it had taken him over a year to pay a bill of several thousand euros.
After problems with his UK pensions, he had reportedly settled in in December and was spotted crying in a nearby town.
On Monday, a post-mortem examination of the couple was due to be carried out in Montpellier, with details due to be disclosed in a press conference on Tuesday.