Investigators have ruled out murder after a couple were found dead by their own children in the jacuzzi of their Spanish holiday villa. Autopsies on the Irish woman and her partner have ruled out foul play, according to sources close to the probe.
Thomasina McArdle, aged 45, from Co Monaghan, and New Zealand national Patrick Tobin, aged 50, were found by their children, aged 16 and 14, on Tuesday afternoon in the hot tub at the upmarket residential estate called Cap Blanc in Cullera near Valencia. The family were staying near Cullera beach south of Valencia.
Freak chain-reaction accident
Tests are continuing to try to determine how exactly the couple lost their lives, but post-mortems have endorsed the idea they were the victims of a freak "chain-reaction" accident. Overnight it emerged forensic experts had discovered the woman died first and her partner lost his life in his desperate attempts to pull her out of the water and save her.
Authorities were notified of the discovery after the couple's two children alerted the homeowner of the villa, with the man then calling the 112 emergency number. Mr Tobin had small "puncture marks" on his body, investigators are still said to be considering several possibilities about the couple's exact cause of death according to local press.
Theories under consideration
Local paper Las Provincias reported that one theory is Thomasina died as a result of a suction failure in the jacuzzi's hydrotherapy system or by a sudden health problem, and her partner could have suffered a fatal electric shock, poisoning by toxic vapours or a heart attack. Sources close to the ongoing probe have confirmed there were no sign of forced entry to the villa and nothing suspicious on CCTV cameras outside the property.
There are no indications the dead couple's children were aware of any problems before they discovered their bodies and raised the alarm. Urine, blood and tissues samples taken during the autopsies at Valencia's Institute of Forensic Medicine have been sent to a specialist lab in Barcelona. It is expected that results from tests will take several weeks.
Children raised the alarm
The couple's children are said to have called out to their parents from various floors without getting any response after leaving the upper floor where they had been initially, before deciding to go through every room looking for them. The hot tub where they found their parents dead is on the lowest floor. The teenagers are now being comforted by relatives who flew to Spain to be with them after being informed of the double tragedy.
Initial reports said that both victims were Irish before clarifying Mr Tobin was from New Zealand. He reportedly did not hold an Irish passport and had lived in the UK for nearly three decades. His family in New Zealand and the UK are being assisted by New Zealand consular authorities. The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was providing consular assistance in the case of one Irish citizen.
