Murder-suicide suspected in deaths of two Irish women

Police in the south of Spain are working on the assumption that the deaths of two Irish women and a British man whose bodies were found together in their Costa del Sol home were the result of a murder-suicide.

The bodies of Philip Wood (56), his wife Sheila (54) and daughter Sophie (28) were discovered yesterday by the landlord of the property they had been renting in Mijas, near Málaga. The identities of all three were confirmed today by Irish and British authorities after the families of the deceased were contacted.

All of them appeared to have died from gunshot wounds.

Kenyan-born Mr Wood was a British national, while his wife and daughter held Irish passports, the civil guard said. Mrs Wood, who has family in Dublin, had suffered increasing physical incapacity in recent years and her daughter had a disability, possibly Down’s Syndrome, although this has not been confirmed.

Mijas, a small town inland from the Spanish coast, is a popular destination for visitors to Spain as well as foreigners who have settled in the country.

Sources close to the investigation said that a note was left at the scene, apparently by Mr Wood. The content of the note has not yet been officially revealed.

The family are understood to have been living in Spain for over 10 years.

The Foreign Office in London said it was “liaising closely” with the local police and was ready to provide consular assistance.

Last night, a Guardia Civil spokeswoman said the family were renting the property where they were found dead. “The latest information we have is that the owner of the house had not heard from the family for a few days and had not been paid,” she said. “He went to the house today and when there was no reply at the door, he went inside. Inside he saw the man dead on the sofa and immediately called the Guardia Civil.

“When officers inspected the house they found the wife and the daughter dead in a bedroom. The initial hypothesis at this early stage of the investigation is that this was a murder-suicide.”

A civil guard spokesman told The Irish Times that investigators are not looking for any further suspects in the case, reinforcing the theory that it was a murder-suicide.

Local newspaper Diario Sur reported that there were no signs that anyone had forced their way into the home, which is heavily secured, and that some neighbours said they had heard what sounded like gunfire in the area on Sunday night.

A spokesman said the Department of Foreign Affairs was liaising with Spanish authorities and was in contact with family of the deceased in Ireland, including Mrs Wood’s sister in Dublin. The British authorities had made contact with members of Mr Wood’s family by yesterday evening.

The Wood’s residence sits on the hillside just outside Mijas, a town of 70,000 inhabitants which is near Spain’s south coast and about 30 kilometres from the city of Málaga. Its quiet atmosphere and whitewashed walls are typical of Andalusia’s traditional towns and have helped make it popular with holidaymakers and ex-pats alike.

But despite the town’s reputation as a quiet resort, this is not the first violent incident it has seen in recent years. In 2010, a 26-year-old British man wanted by police in the UK in connection with an attempted murder was shot dead in a bar in the town in a suspected contract killing.

In January of this year, one of Italy’s most-wanted mafia members, Vittorio Maglione, was arrested as he left a restaurant in Mijas..