Iona Napier
THE shooting of a British expat couple in their Benidorm villa is the subject of a murder investigation and causing confusion in the international press.
Named by Spanish police as Peter and Jean Tarsey, both 77, the couple was found dead in their Xalo villa yesterday afternoon at 4.15pm.
The couple was found locked in each other’s arms on the sofa surrounded by bullet casing by guests they were expecting for dinner.
Whilst Sky News reported that a TV was missing from the property and the computer was found in the swimming pool with the police treating it as homicide, the Spanish press takes a different line.
Spanish daily La Marina Plaza said that violence and robbery were ruled out given that ‘the house was intact and no valuable objects in the house appeared to be missing.’
The expat couple had been living in Spain for 18 years, with no criminal history and no sign of forced entry to their property.
The post-mortem examinations are not yet complete but the deaths are thought to be very recent.
The weapon is thought to be a small calibre gun that was shot several times.
I remember when a hit was carried out on a Manager of an Apart Hotel 600 yards from my apartment many years ago. Murders do happen in Spain and they happen in the UK, probably more so in the UK. 537 murdered for England and Wales last year if you include Scotland think it goes to over 600. Spain is over 300 P.A. London below.
2013 – 101
2012 – 102
2011 – 116
2010 – 114
2009 – 128
2008 – 147
2007 – 155
Does seem strange, nothing taken. If they had broken in to any house other than mine in the street where I have a place in Spain they would have been shot as they all have guns and if a few unfavourable make a regular appearance the locals are out there with their guns. Spain still feels like a safe place.
There maybe more murders in the UK statistically I don’t know but in 15 years in Spain there has been quite a few close to home on the CDS. I only know of one that happened close to home UK. I wouldn’t feel very safe if all my Spanish neighbours owned guns.
I thought Spain was a lovely place to live until we were gassed and burgled and my poor dog killed by a heroin injection my car stolen it was later found in ricon de la Victoria by a police station it had been there for months with the keys still inside. We came back to England with nothing, the house is still there. we lived in Spain for six years the worst time of our lives. I think Spain is a dangerous place to live, it may have sunshine and swimming pools but not much else.