Elderly couple ‘ killed before home set alight’
AN elderly couple were battered to death in their seaside bungalow – which was then set alight.
Dennis and Sheila Jefferson were found dead in their £380,000 home after smoke alerted neighbours to the blaze.
However a post-mortem examination revealed that the couple – aged 76 and 73 – had both died from head and neck injuries.
A murder investigation is now under way, with police revealing a key suspect is a man in his 70s who is critically ill in hospital.
The man has severe burns and is known to the couple – but is yet to be arrested due to the severity of his condition.
Distraught neighbours described the Jeffersons, who had been married for more than 30 years, as ‘kind and generous’.
Mr Jefferson was a retired manager of a printing company while Mrs Jefferson was a housewife. They each had a son and daughter from previous relationships.
Their bodies were discovered when West Sussex fire brigade arrived at their bungalow in the idyllic village of Chidham, near Chichester, on Saturday morning.
Widow Ann Hill, 82, who lived next door, said: ‘A neighbour came running out onto the road and said “Dennis’s house is on fire”. I looked out of my window and saw huge flames billowing from their bungalow – the smoke was very thick.’ She added that she thought the couple ‘ were OK’ because ‘their back door was open’. But police later told her they had died.
‘It’s so sad.’ she said. ‘ They wouldn’t argue with anyone. The neighbours loved them – they
‘So kind and generous’
were so kind and generous.’ She said the bungalow was ‘ruined’.
The man police are treating as a suspect came to their attention on Saturday afternoon. He had turned up at an address more than 60 miles away in Rotherfield, East Sussex, before being rushed to hospital with burns. A police spokesman said: ‘The suspect is from Sussex and in his 70s. His condition is critical.’
Detective Chief Inspector Tanya Jones, from Sussex major crime team, added: ‘It appears the couple were attacked before their home was set alight.
‘We are treating this as a murder investigation. We are waiting to talk to a man who is in hospital for severe burns. He has not been arrested as he remains critically ill.’
The picturesque seaside village is just a ten-minute drive from Bosham, where Valerie Graves, 55, was bludgeoned to death at a £1.6million mansion in 2013. Her murder has still not been solved.