The bludgeoned body of murdered Scot Dawn Kerr was found by a horrified friend, it has been revealed.
Dawn, 56 and husband Andrew Searle, 62, were discovered by a friend at their home in the hamlet of Les Pesquies, near Toulouse, south west France, on Thursday last week. The pair suffered violent deaths, according to local prosecutors, reports the Mirror.
So far, authorities have not ruled out third party involvement in their deaths. Horrific revelations were made by neighbours this week, detaling that a friend had visited the couple’s home with her dog when she found Dawn brutally beaten. Meanwhile Andrew was found hanged inside the house.
The pair had two big dogs of their own, according to residents and they often walked with the friend or several other dog owners in the quiet hamlet north of France’s third biggest city.
One woman, Bénédicte, said the couple were “absolutely adorable, we would often meet like this simply walking our dogs around the village”.
“We are very shocked, of course we are,” she told the BBC. It comes as one local who knew Dawn told The Mirror how the project manager had been in good spirits in the days before the couple’s deaths, despite having been suffering from a bout of flu. “Her mood was very good, [and she was] smiley,” the woman working at a nearby fireplace shop said.
She described the pair as a “very generous and united couple” who often gave up their Sundays to teach their neighbours how to speak English, free of charge. Another local businessman described the couple as “perfect” who were always involved in social events held within the community.
Since the heartbreaking discovery, police have said they are following various leads – amidst mounting theories the couple were killed in a revenge attack due to Andrew’s career investigating financial crime.Murder-suicide has also been investigated as a possible theory.
It is understood that Dawn had been searched in the attack, there was reportedly no evidence of a burglary or a sexual assault, despite her having been found “partially undressed”, prosecutors said. Post-mortems on the couple carried out on Monday revealed Dawn suffered “a significant wound on her skull” from a “blunt and sharp object.” Meanwhile “[Andrew] was found hanging by a rope tied to a radiator [and] showed no visible defense injuries.”
Prosecutor Nicolas Rigot-Muller said: “Further examinations (anatomical-pathological, toxicological) are ongoing to determine the precise circumstances of the deaths. Investigations are continuing, notably to determine whether the tragedy resulted from a marital crime followed by a suicide or from the intervention of a third party.”
The couple married in 2023, with Dawn’s son Callum, a former Hollyoaks star, walking her down the aisle. Andrew and Dawn are said to have moved their family to France a decade ago. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it is supporting the family and liaising with local authorities.