Fugitive’s wife found stabbed in camper van
A BRITISH woman who fled the UK to be with her fugitive husband has been found dead from a single stab wound.
Police initially assumed that Tracey Brown had taken her own life after her body was discovered at a Black Sea resort on Christmas Day.
But The Mail on Sunday has learned that Bulgarian prosecutors are now examining other possibilities, including foul play, after receiving new information from the UK.
Her husband Martin – a fugitive who faces assault charges in Britain dating back to 2017 – is understood to have told investigators that he discovered his wife’s body in their Fiat camper van after he returned from walking their dogs near the coastal city of Burgas.
The 39-year-old has not been questioned as a suspect.
Mrs Brown, 54, sold her successful accountancy business and five-bedroom farmhouse near Rochdale, Greater Manchester, four years ago after her husband fled Britain, later joining him in France.
She left behind a son, now 18, from a previous marriage which ended when she began an affair with Mr Brown ten years ago.
A close friend said: ‘She was besotted with him and bought him a motorbike and a car. She loved the fact that he was 16 years younger than her.’
The pair travelled across France in a motor home, at one stage planning to run a guest house, before moving to Portugal, Spain and finally Bulgaria, where they ran out of money.
Her father Alan Kershaw, who runs an engineering business, said: ‘We never believed this was suicide so we welcome the latest development. We just want the police to get to the truth of what happened.’
Mr Kershaw and his wife Ann, both 73, said they have heard several conflicting accounts of their daughter’s death, including that she bled to death from a knife wound to the groin, but nothing official.
‘It has been extremely difficult getting anything out of the Bulgarian police,’ he added.
He last saw the couple in May 2018 in Italy. ‘Relations had been strained for some time, but [Tracey] rang me on my birthday and I thought it might be an opportunity to mend bridges,’ Mr Kershaw added.
He said in recent months the pair asked frequently for money, including £1,000 for a new tyre for the camper van, which he refused.
Lancashire Police said Mr Brown faces three outstanding charges from January 2017 – assault with intent on a police officer, a separate charge of assault and another of damage to a property.