Why facts of British couple’s deaths in south of France are slow to emerge
The investigation highlights stark differences in procedures between France, UK and US
The bodies of Dawn and Andrew Searle were discovered by a neighbour at their isolated home near Villefranche-de-Rouergue on February 6
Holly Evans/Facebook
The disturbing deaths of Britons Andrew Searle, 62, and Dawn Kerr, 56, on February 6 and the ensuing media circus on both sides of the Channel highlighted the profound differences in the manner that such cases are managed in France and in the UK or US.
Unlike in the UK, where police investigate a suspected crime until the Crown Prosecution Service (District/State Attorney in the US) deems it can make a case, the French system places a Procureur de la République in charge from start to finish.
These officials typically maintain a veil of secrecy around a case in order to protect the victims’ privacy, to guarantee the presumption of innocence around any potential suspects and to ensure the integrity of any evidence.
Read more: What is the procedure after a death in France?
Their remit includes directing the activities of the police officers, deciding if further investigation is needed, ordering an autopsy, appointing a Juge d’instruction (examining magistrate) and deciding whether the case needs to go to court.
Coroners, who in the UK and US, can release limited details to the media during investigations, do not exist in France, meaning that even the basic facts are not immediately made public following a death.
However, the public thirst for information in high-profile cases inevitably gives rise to media speculation, as occurred following the deaths of Mr Searle and Mrs Kerr.
Initially, it was only known that the couple were British retirees and the veil of secrecy imposed by the investigation into their deaths meant that their names were only gleaned through investigations by UK newspapers.
The media circus around the case was galvanised by the fact that Mrs Kerr’s son is the Hollyoaks and Netflix actor Callum Kerr.
Speculation built from unofficial information
Frightening details began to emerge amid reports that Mr Searle had been gagged and that jewellery had been scattered around the body of Mrs Kerr - claims that investigators were slow to quash.
Was the couple killed in a ‘burglary gone wrong’? Was it a murder-suicide? Were they assassinated by a criminal gang in reprisal for Mr Searle’s former role as a financial crimes investigator?
Media attempts to establish a narrative leaned heavily on unofficial sources and individuals outside of the case, including the mayor of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, who claimed - illogically - that the deaths could not be part of a ‘burglary gone wrong’ as "no knife was found" at the scene.
Neighbours spoke of a happy, outgoing and smiling couple who were heavily involved in local community events.
By February 7, police sources reportedly told the UK press that the role of Russian or Albanian agents was “a prioritised line of enquiry”.
Official information finally came in the form of a press release from Nicolas Rigot-Muller, the Rodez procurer charged with the case, on February 11.
The deaths of Andrew Searle and Dawn Kerr
A neighbour found the body Dawn Kerr lying partially undressed outside the couple’s home on February 6 while walking his dog in Pesquiés, in the commune of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Aveyron.
He called the pompiers, who found Mr Searle hanged from a radiator at the back of the house.
Mrs Kerr was found to have received several blows to the skull with a blunt, sharp object. A box containing jewellery was found nearby, but no object or weapon was found that could have caused the injuries.
The investigation, initially led by the Villefranche de Rouergue research brigade, was handed over to the Toulouse research section.
No further information has been released by investigators, and indeed will likely not be disclosed until after the conclusion of the investigation if the deaths were a murder-suicide – or until a potential trial if otherwise.
Investigations still to determine cause of death
Mr Rigot-Muller confirmed the identity of the victims and the manner in which they were found, adding the detail that Mr Searle’s body showed “no defensive injuries” and that the house appeared to have been rudimentarily searched.
“Investigations are continuing, in particular to determine whether the tragedy was the result of a domestic crime followed by suicide, or whether it was the work of a third party,” he said.
The release of this limited information was authorised in response to the mounting speculation around the case under article 11 of the Code de procédure pénale, which allows the procurer to make public “objective elements drawn from the proceedings” in order to “prevent the dissemination of incomplete or inaccurate information”.
The case was then passed on to the Montpellier procureur, who confirmed the opening of an investigation for “intentional killings”, saying, however, that nothing should be read into this as to whether a third party was involved in the deaths.
“It is a merely technical expression, and I am appointing a presiding judge so the whole crime scene can be clarified,” he told journalists. “I never offer a ‘working assumption’, an expression which is more suited to fortune telling than the rigour that must hold sway in this kind of investigation,” he added.
It is worth noting that suspicious deaths frequently give rise to similar mixed messaging, speculation and conspiracy theories in the UK.
One high-profile example of this followed the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly, which was ruled a suicide by the coroner, investigated by the police and touted as a suspicious death by conspiracy theorists.
Dr Kelly’s death was subsequently confirmed as a suicide by the Hutton Inquiry.
