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Mansion family inquest to begin Mansion fire man's money worries
(about 11 hours later)
An inquest into the deaths of a family of three found dead in their burnt-out £1.2m Shropshire mansion last August is due to begin later. A businessman thought to have killed his wife and daughter before torching their mansion was in "severe financial difficulty", an inquest has heard.
Police believe Christopher Foster, 50, killed his wife and daughter before setting fire to their home in Maesbrook and taking his own life. Christopher Foster's thermal insulation firm Ulva Ltd went into liquidation in October 2007.
The ruined millionaire was laid to rest in a separate funeral to his wife Jill, 49, and 15-year-old daughter, Kirstie. Police believe he killed Jill, 49, and Kirstie, 15 before burning their £1.2m home in Maesbrook, Shropshire.
The two-day hearing will take place at Shrewsbury Magistrates' Court. A Home Office pathologist said Mr Foster probably died as a result of smoke inhalation in last August's fire.
It will be held by John Ellery, coroner for mid and north Shropshire. Police opened a murder inquiry after tests showed Mrs Foster had been shot in the head.
Police opened a murder inquiry after tests showed Mrs Foster, 49, had been shot in the head. 'No evidence'
A gun owned by Mr Foster and spent and unspent cartridges were found scattered around the grounds of Osbaston House.A gun owned by Mr Foster and spent and unspent cartridges were found scattered around the grounds of Osbaston House.
CCTV footage showed a man believed to be Mr Foster, who made his fortune developing insulation technology for oil rigs, firing a rifle at a horsebox as the mansion and its outbuildings burned in the early hours of 26 August. But Dr Alexander Kolar told the hearing at Shrewsbury Magistrates' Court there was "no evidence" that Mr Foster died of a gunshot wound although he added he could not rule this out.
The bodies were found in the house days after the blaze, which gutted the property. The £1.2m mansion was destroyed in the fire
The family was laid to rest near their home in December. He said Mr Foster would have been alive during the fire but probably died in "tens of minutes" from breathing in smoke.
About 100 mourners were at St John's Church to pay their final respects to Mrs Foster and Kirstie. Stephen Langton, representing Mr Foster's brother Andrew and mother Enid, said the family believed there had been kidnap threats made against Kirstie Foster.
Hours later, scores of mourners filed into the same church to pay their respects to Mr Foster in a separate service. He said a lorry driver had also witnessed three men "loitering at the property" on the morning of the fire.
While cross-examining Det Con Paul Rogers, of West Mercia Police, he asked him whether police were aware of the kidnap allegations and the witness.
Mr Rogers said officers had no witness statement to such effect and had only learned of the claims on Wednesday evening but said the force would investigate.
Heating oil
The two-day hearing was also told the ruined millionaire had told police in December 2005 his ex-accountant was blackmailing him over a joint property deal in Cyprus.
Two defendants were prosecuted and found not guilty at Shrewsbury Crown Court in November 2006.
The inquest has also been shown photographs of the five-bedroom house before and after the blaze.
Photos of the property's dining room showed containers of heating oil on the floor.
The hearing was told an oil tank used to heat the property was situated in the outbuildings of the house and would have been full at the time of the fire.