Final CCTV before ‘double murder’ of Andrew and Dawn Searle

A man’s last act before he was found dead alongside his wife has been revealed as authorities scramble to find their killer.

This CCTV footage is the last sighting of a British man who was found dead with his wife at their home in rural France just hours later.

The bodies of Andrew, 62, and Dawn Searle, 56, were discovered in Les Pesquiès, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, on Thursday.

Footage showed Andrew buying and bar of chocolate two Euro Lottery tickets from a tobacconist on Wednesday, shortly before 6pm.

The last known sighting of murdered man Andrew Searle. Picture: Supplied

The shopkeeper who served Andrew, Isabelle Palazy, 58, shared details about her interaction with the Brit.

She said: “I just couldn’t believe it when I heard the news. He and Dawn were regular customers. He would come in every day and buy Fortuna Blue cigarettes.

“That day he came in just before I was closing and he seemed perfectly happy, he was relaxed and he chatted and bought some chocolate and two lottery tickets.

“Thinking that they were to die less than 24 hours later makes me go cold, I just can’t believe it. They were a lovely couple, always happy and chatting and they spoke reasonably good French.

“He was working on his house, and he would come and boy chocolate bars here, KitKat and Kinder were his favourite.”

He bought sweets and lottery tickets. Picture: Supplied

This comes as a neighbour reported seeing Andrew – a former financial investigator who worked against organised crime – appear distressed while on a dog walk the day before he died.

They said: “I saw them the day before they were found, they were walking the dogs and Andrew was on the phone.

“He was very agitated, and he was arguing in English, he just waved at me and then carried on.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s relevant but I can’t see burglary as a motive.”

Andrew and Dawn Searle were murdered.

Family friend, Odile Marian, speaking with husband Christophe, recalled Andrew being frustrated about someone opening his garage door.

She added: “He had seen the door of his garage was open, although he was sure he had closed it.

“So he was looking for who opened his garage. And he didn’t find who did it.

“We don’t know if it’s connected/ Maybe it was him who left it open, but he was sure he had closed it?”

Andrew’s father Fred Searle, 88, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, expressed his grief following his son’s tragic death, per The Times.

He said: “We’ve got thousands of questions and very few answers.”

This comes as police have raised several shocking theories about the couple’s death.

Cops initially believed Andrew, originally from West Sussex, and Dawn, from Scotland, were killed during a burglary gone wrong at their remote home.

The couple’s deaths were originally treated as a robbery. Picture: Supplied

New information then suggested they may have been targeted by hit men with Andrew being a former organised crime investigator.

Reports also emerged claiming that Andrew may have been tortured before his tragic death.

Dawn had suffered a head wound and was found near the front door surrounded by scattered jewellery.

Investigators have said they are considering “all leads”.

Prosecutor Nicolas Rigot-Muller said both had died a “violent death”.

He added: “All leads remain under serious consideration.”

When asked if this could be a murder-suicide case Rigot-Muller said: “It’s being considered.”

Investigators also revealed no weapons were found at the scene and no bullet or knife wounds were found in an initial examination of the bodies, a source close to the investigation told La Depeche du Midi.

The autopsies are expected to take place on Monday as the couple’s home continues to be searched for clues.

Police search the property. Picture: Doug Seeburg

Andrew’s former work, cracking down on money laundering crimelords and sanctions busters linked to rogue states like Russia, has drawn attention into fears he could have been targeted.

He also probed terrorist money trails before moving to France from Scotland a decade ago following his retirement.

The financial crime expert worked as a consultant for banking giant Barclays for nine months before his retirement.

But prior to that he worked for more than 21 years for the Standard Life insurance company as UK & Europe Financial Crime Manager.

He worked with cops and Serious Fraud Office against organised crime groups involved in financial crimes like money laundering.

His LinkedIn professional profile said he was: “Responsible for all Anti-Financial Crime matters in the UK & Europe function – providing an investigation service for the Group.”

– this article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.