Murder probe launched into deaths of elderly married couple Brenda and Lynton Anderson, who police believe were poisoned

A married couple was murdered by the same person a year apart, police believe, after suspicious toxicology results raised the alarm. Watch the press conference here.

Police are investigating the murders of Brenda and Lynton Anderson. Picture: 7NEWS

Major Crime detectives have launched a murder investigation into the deaths of an elderly married couple – and believe both were killed by the same person.

Brenda and Lynton Anderson, both 94, died a year apart in 2022 and 2023.

Launching an appeal for public information on Thursday, police said Brenda Anderson was being treated for medical issues at Noarlunga Hospital in 2022, before was transferred to Flinders Medical Centre on March 12 when her condition deteriorated. She died on March 15.

Her husband, Lynton Anderson, was found by a carer to be unconscious at his home address at Hackham on April 30, 2023. He was taken by SA Ambulance to the Flinders Medical Centre and died the following day.

WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE REPLAY

Police say toxicology results for both Mr and Mrs Anderson have led them to believe they were both murdered by the same person.

The results revealed prescription medication that had “no reason to be in their system”.

Police are appealing to anyone that may have had contact with the couple and may have knowledge of their deaths and the circumstances that led to them – in particular, anyone that may have knowledge of prescribed or non-prescribed medications each were using or had spoken about.

Detectives said there was no suspicion of foul play or concerns over the level of care from either hospital.

A death notice for Mr Anderson in The Advertiser said he was a father or father-in-law of eight children, a grandfather of seven and great-grandpa of nine.

Detective Inspector Mark McEachern said police believed Brenda was murdered by a person in a close enough relationship with her to have been visiting her in hospital.

Police are investigating the murders of Brenda and Lynton Anderson. Picture: 7NEWS

Detective Inspector Mark McEachern is leading the investigation. Picture: Matt Loxton

Police believe that whatever led to Brenda’s death occurred while she was in hospital.

“Mrs Anderson’s hospital death was identified during the coronial investigation process after toxicology results gave significant rise for concern,” Det Insp McEachern said.

“When an innocent explanation for toxicology abnormalities was eliminated, the possibility that Mrs Anderson’s death was a deliberate act by another party became the primary subject of the investigation.”

Det Insp McEachern said they had identified a primary suspect who had a close relationship with the couple, but no further information would be provided about that person’s identity.

Brenda and Lynton came from “a close, reasonably sized family” and several people had been spoken to by police already, he said.

“We’re not prepared to speculate as to what the motivation is in relation to either death, but we do appeal to anyone who may have information regarding each death to contact CrimeStoppers,” he said.

Det Insp McEachern said they had spoken to the prime suspect, who had co-operated with police, and remaining members of the Anderson family.

“There was a lot of shock involved as far as we’ve been dealing with them for a couple of months, there was a lot of shock over the information we’ve been providing,” he said.

“I’m sure this will be a shock to a lot of people that knew Mr and Mrs Anderson, that their deaths have been a Major Crime murder investigation.”

Originally published as Murder probe launched into deaths of elderly married couple Brenda and Lynton Anderson, who police believe were poisoned