Police arrest suspect over murder of retired British couple in Alicante

A Moroccan national was arrested by the Civil Guard on Thursday in connection with the death of a British couple found shot inside their home last March.

The victims were a former Olympic athlete and his wife, both living in retirement in the small Mediterranean village of Xaló (Alicante).

Their bodies were found sitting on the living room sofa, and both had suffered gunshot wounds.

The bodies were found by friends of the couple who used to meet them for lunch every Sunday

Peter David Tarsey, 77, was an elite diver who participated in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. For over 20 years he had been living in Xaló, where he and his spouse had a house located one kilometer from the village center.

On the day that the bodies were found, the front door was ajar and bore no signs of having been forced open. It later emerged that the television set had been stolen and the couple’s home computer had been tossed into the swimming pool.

The couple had two children, one of whom resides in London and the other in Palma de Mallorca.

The bodies were found by friends of the couple who used to meet them for lunch every Sunday, according to statements made at the time of the discovery by Xaló Mayor Joan Miquel Garcés.