The Wheelers lived in the village of Carnbee |
A British man and his wife have been brutally murdered at their home on the Caribbean island of Tobago.
Lawyer Richard Wheeler, 73, was found "face down in a pool of blood with chop wounds to both arms and the back of the head".
A gardener found his wife, Grace Wheeler, dead on the lawn with a cut to her neck on Tuesday morning, according to a police statement.
Officers then discovered Mr Wheeler dead inside the house in the village of Carnbee.
Richard Wheeler had lived on the island for 16 years. Pic: Trinidad Express |
Robbery is thought to be the motive as the bedroom and living room had been ransacked - but police said "all avenues are being explored" and they were "pursuing certain leads".
Mr Wheeler had been living in Tobago for 16 years and was a partner specialising in property law at the firm Lex Caribbean.
He was originally from Sheffield, according to the Trinidad Express.
Police cordoned off the area around the house |
His wife was a local woman who reportedly worked as an estate agent.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Following the death of a British national in Tobago on October 20, our staff are travelling to the island to support family members at this difficult time.
"They will also meet senior police officers investigating this terrible crime after our High Commissioner spoke with Trinidad and Tobago's Police Commissioner earlier today."
Richard Wheeler is not the first expat to be savagely attacked in Tobago - there have been a number of violent attacks in recent years.
In 2009, Britons Murium and Peter Green, from Reading, were left for dead after a machete attack. They suffered horrific injuries, but survived.
A Swedish couple died in a similar attack in 2008.
And only last year German couple Hubertus Keil, 74, and wife Brigid, 71, were chopped to death on the tiny island.
The murders were never solved, leading to speculation the crimes could be linked.
Sky