Soldier jumps off roof after killing wife and friend

HAMPSHIRE detectives believe a paratrooper killed his wife and her woman friend and then himself by jumping off a multi storey…

HAMPSHIRE detectives believe a paratrooper killed his wife and her woman friend and then himself by jumping off a multi storey car park.

Lance Cpl Darren Mallia (27) was said to be devastated at the break up of his marriage, and detectives believe he stabbed his wife, Alexia, and Ms Alison Williams, who was staying with her, before throwing himself from the car park in Aldershot, Hampshire.

The soldier's mother was last night being comforted by relatives after army officials visited her to break the news of the tragedy.

Cpl Mallia grew up on the large Llanedeyrn housing estate but moved away several years ago to join up.

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At her home in Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, Mrs Brenda Pascoe, a mother of two, said: "We're all too upset to say anything. The army have been very good but we are all in a state of shock."

Friends said Cpl Mallia had become increasingly upset about the break up of his marriage and Alexia's close friendship with Alison (34). A woman friend, who asked not to be named, said: "Taff totally adored Alexia and he was devastated when their marriage broke up. He just couldn't handle it.

"I don't know how this terrible tragedy could have happened. Taff and Alexia were lovely people and Taff was totally besotted with her."

The bodies of the two women were found in their nightclothes, one on the first floor landing and the other in a bedroom of the semi detached two bedroom house in army married quarters on the Goose Green estate at Aldershot, home of the British army.

They had stab wounds, and detectives said they believed the incident to be a domestic one and they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the inquiry.