Police quiz man, 45, after mother and son are 'hacked to death with axe and two teenage girls flee'
By Andy Dolan
Last updated at 1:32 AM on 14th December 2010
A mother and son were hacked to death in their own home by a man neighbours said was wielding an axe.
The victims, understood to be mother-of-three Sally Cox, 43, and son Martin, 22, were found 'dead or dying' at their end of terrace home early yesterday.
Armed police arrested a 45-year-old man a few hours later in Wiltshire. Police said the suspect was the woman's former partner.
Attack: Former line dancing coach Michael Kelly, far left, had been in an relationship with Sally Cox until last month
Police activity outside a house in Banbury, as officers investigate a suspected double murder
Ten uniformed officers remained at the scene, along with five detectives and a number of forensic investigators
Mrs Cox's daughters Amy, 19, and Katie, 13, fled to a house across the road to raise the alarm as the attack unfolded. Neighbours told yesterday how an axe had been used in the bloody assault.
It is understood Mrs Cox was in the process of getting divorced from her second husband Anthony, who was not the father of her children, when she was killed.
Split: Michael Kelly, right, walked out on his wife Suzanne and child after meeting Sally Cox
She moved in to her rented three-bedroom home in Banbury, Oxfordshire, with new boyfriend Michael Kelly, 45, and her three children from her first marriage in January.
The pair met on Facebook while Mr Kelly was still living with wife of 22 years Susanne, 46, in his home town of Swindon, Wiltshire.
They started dating after arranging a first date at a bar in the town and Mr Kelly then walked out on his wife and two young sons and was also in the process of getting divorced.
It is understood that the relationship fell apart around a month ago.
Amy was last night in an undisclosed hospital with serious injuries sustained in the incident. Social services had been called in to take the siblings to a 'place of safety', where they were due to be told the tragic news of their brother and mother's murder.
Thames Valley Police told a press conference yesterday officers had had no prior contact with the occupants of the house before today's tragedy.
Detective Inspector Steve Duffy said: 'As you can appreciate officers went out this morning and they were faced with a quiet horrific scene.
'There were two people who were obviously dead, or very close to death, at the scene.'
He would not say whether or not the victims had been attacked with an axe but said that a firearm was not used. Officers were still hunting for the murder weapon.
Enlarge
The bodies were discovered in Banbury, Oxfordshire
Det Insp Duffy said he could not confirm if the suspect was related to the victims but did say that he was recently in a relationship with the female victim.
He added: 'This is a traumatic and horrific incident and what I can say is that while there is a background to this and it is very, very tragic, the wider community is not at risk.
'As far as I am aware there have been no previous calls to this address.
'We believe they had been in a relationship in the last few months but that had broken down.' He said the victims had suffered 'blunt trauma' injuries.
Police said a 43-year-old suspect was arrested two hours after the alarm was raised after he was 'tracked' to an address in Swindon, 55 miles away.
The street where the double murder took place, Mold Crescent, was the scene two years ago of another brutal killing in which a wife was battered to death with a chapatti pan.
In that incident the 30-year-old woman was murdered and body wrapped in a duvet and hidden behind a settee. Her husband, Mohammed Rashid, was jailed for life after walking into a police station and giving himself up.
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Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Man questioned over double axe murder of mother and son in Banbury | Mail Online
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