British woman, 66, found stabbed to death in Italy
A BRITISH woman has been found stabbed to death at her home in rural Italy – with police last night searching for her partner.
Michele Faiers, 66, was found dead in her first floor bedroom by a worried friend who had not heard from her.
The keys were reportedly still in the front door of her house in the tiny village of Verratti in the eastern Abruzzo region.
She made her last post on Instagram on October 25, uploading pictures of a sunset taken from her terrace. She capioned it ‘another beautiful sunset’ – and her partner Michael Whitbread, 76, was among those who ‘liked’ it.
Police were last night searching for Whitbread. ‘There is no smoking gun here, but he is a suspect,’ an investigator told The Times.
A local plumber who the couple employed said: ‘I just can’t believe it. They seemed such a perfect couple. I last saw Michele and Michael a ago. They had bought some abandoned properties in front of their house and were going to do them up.’
The friend had not heard from Ms Faiers for three days and decided to check on her.
Neighbours said they heard her screaming at discovering Ms Faiers in a pool of blood and called the police.
Medical examiners were last night running forensic tests to discover how long the victim was dead before she was found.
The couple had been living in the house, on an isolated road near Palombara, for three years and were described by locals as ‘very private’.
They were often seen walking with their three dogs. A source told the Mail the friend ‘found the woman dead with a stab wound to the stomach and her screams alerted other neighbours and police were called’.
The Abruzzo region is popular with Britons attracted by the cheap cost of living.
‘They seemed such a perfect couple’