Advertisement

Northern Ireland police release names of couple killed at home

Marjorie and Michael Cawdery
Marjorie and Michael Cawdery. Photograph: PA

Two pensioners who were killed in their own home have been named by police as husband and wife Michael and Marjorie Cawdery, who were both 83.

The couple are understood to have been stabbed in what a senior detective described as a brutal attack.

A 40-year-old man was arrested close to a vehicle stolen from the property in Portadown, County Armagh, police said. He remains in custody.

It is believed one line of inquiry relates to the detention earlier on Friday of a man found wandering naked in Newry, County Down, who was then taken to the mental health unit at Craigavon area hospital.

Police and emergency services were called to the Cawderys’ house in Upper Ramone Park at around 3.40pm on Friday after the couple were found dead by a relative.

DS Kevin Geddes, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said a grey Kangoo van that had been stolen from the couple’s home was found in the nearby Edenderry area at around 5pm.

“Earlier in the day, at around 12.20pm, we had a report of a male breaking into a car in the Upper Ramone Park area,” he said. “We are appealing for anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area between 11am and 5pm yesterday to get in touch with police on the non-emergency number 101.

“We need to know the movements of this car from the time it left Upper Ramone Park until it was recovered in Edenderry Gardens.”

Geddes said police were trying to establish the car’s whereabouts between 3.30pm and 5pm as they investigate whether it is linked to the killings.

Several police officers guarded the scene in the quiet residential street on Friday evening as forensic officers conducted examinations.

DUP representative David Simpson said: “A family member was the first to find them and we can only begin to imagine the shock, heartbreak and pain this has caused. It is important the family receive time and space to grieve the loss of two parents in such tragic circumstances.”

Ulster Unionist Doug Beattie said: “This is a very quiet area of Portadown which has been visited by an absolutely terrifying situation. An elderly couple in their 80s have been murdered in their own home and my thoughts and prayers are with them, their family and their friends.”

The local SDLP councillor Declan McAlinden said the couple were the victims of a “heinous crime”. “The entire community is just in shock that someone could murder an elderly couple in their own home like this,” he said. “I would appeal to anyone with any information or who saw anything suspicious in the area to come forward to police as soon as possible.”