London, Aug 27 (IANS) A gardener who became “increasingly intimate” with an elderly British woman living in France has been charged with murdering her.
Patricia Wilson, in her 60s, is believed to have been killed by the unidentified man early last week. But her body was yet to be found, Daily Express reported Monday.
After noticing bloodstains on the walls and floor of her cottage in Vabre-Tizac, an area in France popular with British tourists, Wilson’s neighbours raised an alarm.
Police found obvious signs of a struggle but no clue to Wilson’s whereabouts. The officers took blood samples to compare with DNA found on Wilson’s personal effects. They then arrested the gardener.
Wilson had moved to the remote cottage, located in the Aveyron region, with her husband five years ago. But they separated last year and she had been living there alone.
The gardener was “known to the victim for some time and had forged an increasingly intimate relationship with her”, said a police source.
An examining magistrate formally charged the man with murder despite the body not being found and he has been remanded in custody.
The Aveyron region is popular with retired British people because of the relatively low property prices and good weather.
