Daughter found parents dead after going to deliver heartbreaking news
16.06.2023 - 09:01
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
An elderly couple who were found shot dead in their home were only discovered days later when their daughter came to deliver some tragic news.
Leslie and Catherine Wardleworth were discovered by their daughter Emma at their property on June 23, 2021. After struggling to open the front door at the home on Dinorwic Road in Southport, Merseyside, Ms Wardleworth found her mother's body in the hallway, covered by a blanket.
As reported by the Liverpool Echo, her father's body was found in bed upstairs, under a blue sleeping bag. A probe into the deaths found Leslie, 74, had shot Catherine twice in the left arm and chest before turning the 12 bore double-barrel shotgun on himself.
At an inquest on Thursday June 15 it was reported neighbours heard two distinctive bangs on June 20, 2021, three days before the couple's bodies were found. The pair were discovered when Ms Wardleworth visited the house to inform them their son, 51-year-old Colin Reynolds, had tragically died of complications from bowel surgery.
Officers initially feared the couple had died as a result of a noxious substance in the house. However, a more thorough search found blood stains on the wall close to Catherine - and a shotgun was found in the bed beside Leslie. Leslie, a retired gardener, was a registered gun owner. He had also applied for his licence to be renewed on June 1, 2021.
Equipment for making shotgun cartridges was found in the house, and shotgun cartridges were found in the bin and in Leslie's trouser pocket. Following a forensic examination, his gun was identified as the murder weapon. However, a two-year investigation was unable to establish any motive for the killing.
A domestic homicide review, carried out following the double shooting,