Newtown murder-suicide: Couple looked ‘happy’ before grisly discovery
ONE of the last people to see a Newtown couple alive before they died in an apparent murder-suicide has described them looking “happy”.
NSW
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ONE of the last people to see a Newtown couple alive before they died in an apparent murder-suicide has described them looking “happy”.
Neighbour Scott Haggarty said the pair moved into their tiny flat above a King St restaurant about three or four months ago.
He said he saw them arrive home together on Wednesday afternoon — two days later they were discovered dead in their apartment.
The Daily Telegraph has previously revealed that the woman, aged in her 20s, was British and planning to leave the country before she was found dead with head wounds.
Her body was found alongside her partner, who is aged in his 30s and understood to be of Nepalese background.
It is not yet clear how the couple died.
Mr Haggarty said that his “heart stopped” when police told him what had happened.
They asked if he had seen anything unusual.
He saw them arrive home on Wednesday afternoon together and said “they looked happy”.
He said there was nothing out of the ordinary in the hours that followed.
“They kept to themselves,” he said, adding the man often arrived home late and seemed to do night work.
“They looked like a couple who worked in the bars and were on holidays here.
“They just looked like a regular couple, I never heard an argument or anything.”
Another neighbour, Jason You, said he heard a loud bang about 5pm on Friday, shortly before the traumatic scene was discovered by the landlord, who was delivering mail to his tenants.
However Mr You was not sure if it came from their apartment or the other direction.
“It was like a boom,” he said.
Another resident on the street said she would often see the woman walking alone and that she never noticed anything out of the ordinary.
Police said the couple had been dead “for a few hours” before they were discovered on Friday evening.
A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are providing consular assistance to the family of a British national who has died in New South Wales, Australia, and our staff are in contact with the New South Wales police.”
NSW Police Inspector Chad Deegenaars said that a post mortem would be carried out early this week to confirm the causes of death.
He said they were still treating the murder suicide as the “most likely” situation.
Police continued to search the unit, which sits above a Persian restaurant, on Sunday, as they work towards trying to piece together their last moments.
Strike Force Tenisonwood has been established to investigate the incident.
Detectives are urging anyone with information to come forward.
Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14