Ann Widdecombe was attacked at home 24 hours before she was found, police believe as manhunt for killer continues
Police believe Ann Widdecombe was attacked around 24 hours before she was found dead with serious injuries at her remote Dartmoor home as the manhunt to find the killer continues.
The 78-year-old former Tory prisons minister was found by ambulance crews on Thursday morning, prompting a murder investigation and a 26-year-old British national being arrested on Friday.
However, police said on Saturday that they had released the suspect and that he was no longer part of the investigation and that forensic teams were continuing to find his killer while examining his home.
It emerged that Ms Widdecombe contacted Channel 5 staff just after noon on Wednesday, ahead of a planned interview, and suddenly stopped responding to messages.
It is understood Ms Widdecombe sent her last message to an investigator at 12.19pm before becoming unreachable. ITV News.
Channel 5 presenter Dan Walker confirmed he would be appearing on Daytime 5 on Wednesday afternoon, but “he stopped responding to messages and did not appear on the show”.
In an updated statement on the murder investigation on Saturday afternoon, Deputy Chief Constable Matt Longman said they now believe he was fatally attacked around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8.
“Our investigations into a suspect, believed to be a white male, are progressing rapidly,” he said, adding that while the death is being treated as suspicious, they do not believe there is a wider risk to the public.
Police had previously said they had released a white male who was arrested on Friday in Newton Abbot, about nine miles from the small village of Haytor, where Ms Widdecombe lived.
Detectives are urging the public to come forward with video or images that could help them piece together what happened to Miss Widdecombe. online portal.
Her private chauffeur Peter Horrell, who lives alone, told reporters after leaving flowers outside Ms Widdecombe’s home that she had “no fears whatsoever” for her safety and that she loved living in Haytor.
Asked if he had expressed any concerns for his safety, he said: “Not really, he seemed quite happy living here on his own. You never expect that, do you? I certainly didn’t. You know, it’s very sad.”
Christine Maloney, who lives near Ms Widdecombe’s home, agreed the area was “very safe” and said it was not unusual for locals to leave their cars and front doors unlocked.
“I was so surprised [her death]It shouldn’t have happened like this, it’s terrible. Everyone knows this is his house, maybe that’s the problem?” he said.
Neighbor Alison Gilbert, who has lived in Haytor Vale for more than a decade, said the Brexiteer and former Reform spokesman was a “really nice woman” and well known locally.
“It’s a very nice area; you talk to strangers. Everyone saw him as an opinionated politician, but to us he was just a member of the public.”
A local woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It’s tragic that someone gives their whole life to public service and then it ends up like this.
“(Haytor) is a safe area. Every couple of years, someone goes around the garden sheds and steals all the expensive garden equipment. That’s it, really. We haven’t had anything close to (this) in years.”
A service was held for the Catholic Mrs Widdecombe on Saturday at Buckfast Abbey, where she attended Sunday services.
“I know that she was a woman of faith and a great public servant,” the Bishop of Plymouth, Rt Rev Nicholas Hudson, told the BBC, adding that the church was praying for her and her loved ones.
Political commentator Adam Boulton also apologized for his “insensitive” remarks after describing Ann Widdecombe as a “spinster” and “old maid” on Saturday.
The former Sky News presenter faced criticism for comments he made following news of his death on Friday. He initially defended his language, saying that as a “reporter who has known him for decades,” he was “sticking to the facts.”
He acknowledged the backlash on Saturday, writing: “I was seriously inaccurate and insensitive in one of several presentations I made to the media yesterday in response to the death of Ann Widdecombe. I misunderstood the timing and tone of her first word portrait.”
Ms Widdecombe was known for her social conservative views, first as a junior minister in Conservative Prime Minister John Major’s 1992-1997 government and later as the immigration and justice spokeswoman for Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK.
He converted to Catholicism in part to protest the Church of England’s ordination of women as priests, and opposed abortion and the equalization of the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual relationships.
