Murder-suicide: UK family found dead amid coronavirus lockdown

A family of four and their dog were found dead at home in a West Sussex village in the UK.

The bodies were said to be of builder Robert Needham, 42, his partner Kelly Fitzgibbons, 40, and their two children Ava, five, and Lexi, three.

The incident was reported just two days after Ms Fitzgibbons posted a series of photos on Facebook of her family out in the countryside last Friday under the heading “our walk for the day”.

The builder’s mother Maureen Needham, who was away from the home at the time of the deaths, said on Facebook: “It was Robert, Kelly and my lovely grandchildren that all died upstairs.”

Police went to the three-bedroom home at 6.45pm on Sunday after receiving a call raising a welfare concern for the residents. All four were pronounced dead at the scene, along with the dog, which was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Bill.

An investigation into the incident has been launched amid suspicions over a possible murder-suicide.

Police officers confirmed they are not seeking anyone else in connection with it.

The killing death toll during the coronavirus lockdown which began last Monday is now at nine, after three other incidents in Wales, Hertfordshire and South Yorkshire.

The Sussex murders were the latest in a string of cases at the weekend at the end of Britain’s first week on lockdown, following concerns raised when the measures were imposed of a possible increase in domestic violence and mental health issues.

In West Sussex, Douglas Meany, 70, a retired neighbour of the Needham family, said today: “I’ve known the family a very long time. We got on well as neighbours.

“As far as I know they were a fairly close-knit family, just normal, but not in each other’s pockets. For a while the house was used as a care home which the family ran.

“Previous to that Maureen and her husband used to run a village shop. On Sunday I was alerted to the fact there was a lot of activity in the lane outside. I saw two paramedic vehicles, unmarked police cars in the lane as well as marked”

“That carried on right through the night, comings and goings, and forensics seemed to arrive at around midnight. At first we didn’t know who or what was involved, but because of the activity it was obviously important.

“As there was more police and paramedics involved, we knew that somebody was in trouble, then it came to light that there may have been fatalities and there might have been more than one.

“We were naturally very surprised, it would take a lot for somebody to do that but there was no evidence previously that there was a problem.

“Robert was building an extension for the family to live in, but whilst he was building that he wasn’t getting an income from any other building work so it might have been that there were issues over finance or it might have been issues over people living together in confined conditions.”

“I think Robert and Kelly and the children tended to stay in a section of the house and Maureen stayed in another section. I don’t know how Robert used to get on with Kelly but there was never any evidence of any discord.

“Maureen has relatives in Manchester and near London and she does spend time with them. I don’t know where she is but I would suspect that she might be with one of her daughters.”