British parents and handicapped daughter found shot dead 'in murder-suicide' on Costa del Sol

 
1/2
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Three members of a British family have been found dead in an apartment on the Costa del Sol in a suspected murder-suicide.

The bodies – believed to be a couple and their daughter – were discovered with gunshot wounds in the £350,000 four-bed villa last night by their landlord.

Spanish police are probing the theory the man had killed his wife and daughter before turning the gun on himself because of financial problems.

Neighbours in the costal resort of Mijas near Fuengirola said debt collectors had visited the family just days before at their three-storey property.

The dead man, named by locals as Philip Wood, was found lying dead on a sofa and his wife and daughter, named as Sophie, were discovered in a bedroom.

Dutch neighbour Elizabeth Van Heyningen, 66, said: “He used to work in a Spanish bank before becoming an estate agent and then losing his job. I think they had run out of money.

“He used to drive a BMW and his wife had a nice car of her own but then they sold them for a hired Opel they used to drive. In recent weeks I hadn’t seen them driving anything and a couple of weeks ago I saw him walking up the hill to his house with heavy bags of shopping.

“They kept lots of cats of pets and it was about the same time Philip came rushing round asking me if I could take him to the vets.

“His wife had fallen ill in recent months and he often came round asking if I could do anything about another neighbour’s barking dog which was upsetting her.

“Their daughter was around 20 and had trouble walking. You’d very rarely see her or the wife out and about.

“The talk round here is that he killed his wife and daughter and then turned the gun on himself. It’s shocking.”

Garage owner Kevin Watts, 65, an immediate neighbour, said: “They lived like hermits. They always kept the metal shutters on their windows down.

“I’d see his daughter walking round in her nightdress looking like a ghost and saying, ‘Grandad, grandad’.

“I’d assumed she was the granddaughter but neighbours said it was his daughter.

“I heard a bang going off about three nights ago. It was like the boom in a harbour when the lifeboat’s going out.

“My dog jumped on my lap.”

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “We’ve heard what happened was down to financial problems.

“Debt collectors were round at the property last week.”

Expat Brit Suzanne Hughes, 58, originally from Manchester, said: “I heard three shots the other day.

“It wasn’t yesterday or the day before that but I can’t say exactly when it was.

“I put it down at the time to someone shooting wild boar.

“I even turned round to my husband and joked, ‘I hope someone’s not being shot.’

“It’s horrible to think that may have been the moment the killings were happening.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of the tragic incident involving the death of three family members in Spain.

“We are liaising closely with the local police and stand ready to provide consular assistance.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in