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Mansion arson pair's funeral held | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
The funeral of two members of a family killed in an arson attack at home in Shropshire has been taking place. | |
Christopher Foster, 50, is believed to have killed wife Jill, 49, and daughter Kirstie, 15, before setting fire to the £1.2m home in Maesbrook in August. | |
About 100 mourners attended the mother and daughter's funeral. The father's funeral is due to be held at 1430 GMT in St John's Church, Maesbrook. | |
Relatives have asked for Jill and Kirstie to be buried beside Mr Foster. | Relatives have asked for Jill and Kirstie to be buried beside Mr Foster. |
'Extreme difficulty' | |
The deceased's family made the decision to bury all three on the same day in adjoining plots, the Diocese of Lichfield said. | The deceased's family made the decision to bury all three on the same day in adjoining plots, the Diocese of Lichfield said. |
The two coffins of the mother and daughter, each adorned with pink floral arrangements, were wheeled into the church followed by the congregation. | |
The service was led by the Venerable Tony Sadler, formerly the Archdeacon of Walsall, who said: "No-one could have predicted that such a tragedy as this could happen in the depth of this beautiful Shropshire countryside." | |
The funeral of the family was taking place on Friday | |
He went on to speak of how much Jill and Kirstie had loved living in Maesbrook, after moving to the rural village four years ago. | |
Kirstie was a "popular girl", he said, who loved horses and had her heart set on studying at the Equestrian College at Gloucester University. | |
Referring to the brutal way their lives were ended, he added: "The sadness of these latest events must not diminish the happiness of their earlier lives together." | |
He added: "Part of the pain is caused by our realising that young lives have been cut short before their time. | |
"More so, I believe the hurt comes as a result of our extreme difficulty in finding forgiveness in our hearts for what has happened." | |
Many people stood in the churchyard listening to the service on a loudspeaker system. | |
A post-mortem examination revealed Mr Foster's wife was shot in the head. | |
It has not been determined how Kirstie and her father died. | |
An inquest into the family's deaths has been opened and adjourned. | An inquest into the family's deaths has been opened and adjourned. |
CCTV footage recovered from the mansion showed Mr Foster carrying a gun through the burning buildings. | CCTV footage recovered from the mansion showed Mr Foster carrying a gun through the burning buildings. |
Police said they were not looking for anyone else over the deaths. | |