LONDON (AFP) — Police said Tuesday they believe a debt-ridden millionaire shot dead his wife and daughter before setting fire to his mansion and killing himself.
Two bodies found in the charred remains of the 1.2-million-pound Osbaston House near Oswestry have been identified as Christopher Foster and his wife Jill.
Further tests are being carried out to determine the identity of a third body discovered in the property, but it is believed to be the couple's 15-year-old daughter Kirstie, Detective Superintendent Jon Groves of West Mercia Police told a news conference.
"We believe Mr Foster killed his wife and daughter before setting fires," Groves said.
He confirmed that a rifle found next to the bodies of Foster and his wife after the fire in the early hours of August 26 was registered to the millionaire.
"Jill Foster died of a gunshot wound to the head. We believe Mr Foster took his own life after setting the house alight," Groves said.
He told journalists that CCTV footage recovered from the house showed a man thought to be Foster carrying a rifle.
"It also shows outbuildings going up in flames and a large horsebox being moved down the driveway, in front of the gates to the premises," he said.
"A man, again believed to be Mr Foster, is seen to get out of the vehicle and apparently shoot out two of the tyres."
Police have confirmed that a horse box had been used to block the entrance to the grounds of the house.
Mystery had surrounded the fire until Jill Foster's body was found in the rubble of the house and a post-mortem revealed she had been shot in the head.
Detectives launched a murder inquiry, but police said Tuesday they were no longer looking for anyone else in connection with the case.
Foster, 50, made a fortune developing insulation technology for oil rigs, but earlier this year a judge ruling on a debt case said the businessman was "bereft of the basic instincts of commercial morality".
Court documents show that Foster's company, Ulva Ltd, which had gone into liquidation, faced legal action from one of its suppliers for thousands of pounds, and owed about 800,000 pounds.
Accountant Terence Baines, a former director of Ulva Ltd, said he feared Foster might have "just flipped because the pressure of it was too much for him".
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