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Crying children alert UK police to suspected murder-suicide Crying children alert UK police to suspected murder-suicide
(about 3 hours later)
A suspected murder-suicide was discovered after the cries of children, including a baby, were heard coming from a property, police have said. Detectives have been alerted to the scene of a suspected murder-suicide by the cries of three children, including a newborn baby.
A 26-year-old woman is thought to have been attacked and killed by her 30-year-old husband before he killed himself at the family home in the West Midlands. Police said they found the bodies of a 26-year-old woman and her 30-year-old husband when neighbours heard the children sobbing and raised the alarm.
A neighbour called police on Saturday afternoon after becoming concerned by the cries of three children, all aged under eight, at the address in Oldbury. The woman is thought to have been violently attacked and murdered by her partner, who then killed himself at the family home in the West Midlands.
DI Jim Munro said West Midlands police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths. DI Jim Munro said police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.
“This is a truly tragic incident. It’s understood the woman was violently attacked before the offender took his own life,” he said. He said: “This is a truly tragic incident: it’s understood the woman was violently attacked before the offender took his own life.
“The timeline of exactly what happened is unclear but we believe the two people died during the morning. There were three children, including a small baby, present at the address when officers made the discovery – they are being looked after by loved ones and will receive specialist support.” “The timeline of exactly what happened is unclear but we believe the two people died during the morning.
Postmortems would take place later on Monday. “There were three children, including a small baby, present at the address when officers made the discovery and they are being looked after by loved ones and will receive specialist support.”
Meanwhile, shocked residents spoke of their horror at the news in what is usually a quiet suburban street. Neighbours described how the eldest child, believed to be seven or eight, rushed out of the house and banged on a neighbours’ door after the violent attack on Saturday afternoon.
Police and at least three ambulances rushed to the semi-detached house, home to what neighbours described as an Eastern European couple, on Saturday afternoon. The property is thought to belong to a housing association. One neighbour, who declined to be named, said the couple, thought to be eastern European, lived at the semi-detached house with a baby and two other young children.
One man, who declined to be named, said the dead couple’s eldest daughter had raised the alarm, knocking on their immediate neighbour’s door. “One of them, the middle child, was refusing to come out initially, as they wanted to stay inside with their mother,” he said.
He said: “The eldest, their daughter, is about seven or eight - she knocked on the neighbour’s door. Another neighbour added: “It’s such a shock, I can’t believe it. Nothing usually happens here, it’s really quiet. I just feel for the kids, you know, because they’ve lost their mum and their dad.”
“There’s a small baby and another child. The children were taken out. One of them, the middle child, was refusing to come out initially, as they wanted to stay inside with their mother.” Two police officers sat in an unmarked car parked outside the house in Oldbury on Monday.
Another neighbour said: “It’s such a shock, I can’t believe it. Nothing usually happens here, it’s really quiet. The curtains of the house were drawn, while in the tidy back garden a trampoline and a child’s ride-along car could be seen.
“I just feel for the kids, you know, because they’ve lost their mum and their dad.” Postmortems will take place on Monday, police said.
Outside the house on Monday, two police sitting in an unmarked car were the only signs of what had taken place behind the property’s white front door.
The curtains were drawn, while in the tidy back garden a trampoline and a child’s ride-along car could be seen.