Couple found shot dead in woods after ‘bailiffs told them they were being evicted from home’
A TRAGIC couple found dead with shotgun wounds to their chests had been told by bailiffs they were going to be evicted, it has been alleged.
John Richardson, 74. and wife Angela, 64, both left suicide notes and were found in the grounds of their sprawling country estate on June 8 this year.
The retired journalist and publisher and his company manager wife were found by cops after bailiffs failed to get a response when visiting their five-bed luxury mansion in South Oxfordshire.
Details of the couple's deaths were revealed on Thursday by a coroner who opened an inquest into the incident which happened at stunning Bensgrove Farm in Goring Heath, near Goring-on-Thames.
Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter heard that bailiffs were going to evict Mr and Mrs Richardson over financial problems when they found a chilling note pinned to the front door.
It notified visitors the pair were "at the top of garden and to notify police", Mr Salter said.
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The coroner added: "The details that have been provided are that John Richardson had been struggling with financial difficulties.
"Bailiffs attended the property for eviction."
He added how a handwritten and a typed note were also found inside the property which he said were "in the nature of suicide notes".
Mr Salter said that a post-mortem examination confirmed the pair both died of "a shotgun wound to the chest".
Mr Richardson's body was identified by his brother-in-law while his wife's brother identified her.
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The next inquest hearing into the couple's deaths will take place on January 18 next year.
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