26th May 2010

BRIDPORT: Couple in suicide pact?

by Paul Crompton

AN ELDERLY Bridport couple that had not been seen for days may have died in a suicide pact after they were discovered dead in their upstairs bedroom.

An investigation has been launched after police discovered the couple, named locally as Philip and Cynthia Wakeley, on Monday, May 24th.

Police kicked in the door of 40 Magdalan Lane after a tip-off from a Weymouth man, thought to be their eldest son Nigel. The property was then sealed off whilst house-to-house enquiries were carried out.

The man and the woman are believed to be aged in their early 70s and mid-60s respectively.

A neighbour, who had known the couple for over 30 years but didn’t want to be named, described the pair as “eccentric” adding they had heard overdose mentioned as a cause of death.

The couple’s son was seen on his phone outside the house on Sunday. Police were called to the semi-detached house at 2:24pm on Monday, and the house remained sealed off yesterday morning (Tuesday).

Neighbour Matthew Norris described the couple as “very ritualistic”.

He said: “It’s not a very nice thing to happen, especially when something like that happens so close to your own front door. The police were here last night and finished about 10:30(pm).

“My girlfriend was the first person police saw and the police said to my girlfriend it was the ‘worse one they’d seen’.

“I’ve lived here about a year and from the time I moved in their behaviour was quite odd but I ignored it really. They were sat in their car all-night or walking down the road bickering.

“Then something happens like this and you realise you haven’t seen them for a while it’s strange. I last saw them a week and a half ago.”

The couple’s next of kin have been informed of the deaths.

A police spokesman said: “Dorset Police has launched an investigation after the bodies of an elderly couple were found in a house in Bridport.

“Police were called to the semi-detached property in Magdalen Lane, Bridport, by a man in Weymouth who was concerned for the couple’s welfare and phoned the police. Officers attended the property and forced an entry - finding the couple dead in an upstairs bedroom.”

An ambulance crew attended the property and confirmed that the couple were deceased.

The coroner has been informed and a forensic post mortem to establish the cause of death of the man and the woman was due to be undertaken by a Home Office pathologist at the Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester yesterday afternoon (Tuesday).

PICTURE: DOUBLE DEATH - A police vehicle at the incident scene

BRIDPORT: Couple in suicide pact?

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