Cheshire police are reviewing a report from a senior coroner's officer suggesting that five apparent murder-suicides of older couples in north-west England over the past 24 years may have been the work of a serial killer.
The report, compiled by Stephanie Davies, Cheshire police's senior coroner's officer, raises concerns about the deaths of Harold and Bea Ainsworth in April 1996 and Donald and Auriel Ward in November 1999, both in Wilmslow. Police had closed both cases as murder-suicides, concluding the husbands killed their wives and then themselves, despite no history of violence and reportedly happy marriages.
Davies's 197-page report, obtained by the Sunday Times, also highlights three other cases with "striking" similarities: Michael and Violet Higgins in Didsbury (2000), Kenneth and Eileen Martin in Davyhulme (2008), and Stanley and Peggy Wilson in Kendal (2011). In the Higgins case, a coroner noted the violence was "completely out of character".
Cheshire police stated they are reviewing the report, which was produced independently by Davies. They have notified Greater Manchester police and Cumbria constabulary. Davies expressed concern that "there is an outstanding offender, who could still be offending, and who needs to be brought to justice."
