An actor and musician whose mother was the victim of a suspected murder-suicide in France has urged her friends not to attend his stepfather’s funeral.
Callum Kerr, who starred in Hollyoaks and Netflix’s Virgin River, said it would be “inappropriate” for the memory of his mum to be associated with a service honouring the man who “may have been responsible for her death”.
The bodies of British couple Andrew and Dawn Searle were discovered on 6 February at their home in the hamlet of Les Pesquies.
Mrs Searle’s body was found outside the property with a significant head injury, while Mr Searle’s body was discovered inside.
Prosecutors later ruled the incident to be murder-suicide due to a lack of evidence that someone else was involved.
In an Instagram post on behalf of himself and his sister, Amanda Kerr, Mr Kerr said: “In the absence of any evidence suggesting third-party involvement in the tragic death of our mother, Dawn Kerr, the prevailing hypothesis remains that of a murder-suicide.”
Mr Kerr, a country music singer who is also set to appear in the second season of Netflix’s One Piece, said his mother was “killed by multiple blows to the head”, while “no defensive wounds” were found on Mr Searle.
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Mr Kerr said: “While the official investigation is still ongoing, we cannot ignore the circumstances as they stand.
“For this reason, we must respectfully but firmly request that our mother not be included in any way in the funeral arrangements being made for Andrew.
“Please do not share photographs of them together. Please do not attend Andrew’s service if you were a friend of our mother.
“It would be inappropriate for her memory to be associated with a service honouring the man who, based on all available evidence, may have been responsible for her death.
“We ask for understanding, privacy and respect as we continue to grieve and seek justice for our mum.”
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Mr and Mrs Searle, who previously lived in Musselburgh in East Lothian, had been living in the Aveyron region for five years.
They lived in Les Pesquies and were married in 2023 in the nearby town of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, with Mr Kerr walking his mum down the aisle.
Neighbours described them as a happy couple, who had fully integrated into rural French life and held an annual party for villagers.
Jean-Sebastien Orcibal, the mayor of Villefranche-de-Rouergue who conducted the couple’s wedding, told Sky News they were “very happy, very friendly and didn’t seem to have any problems”.
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Mrs Searle, 56, grew up in Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, while Mr Searle, 62, was originally from England.
According to his LinkedIn page, Mr Searle retired in 2015 after previously working in financial crime prevention at companies including Standard Life and Barclays.
Following the deaths, investigators were said to be following several lines of inquiry – including whether the couple were killed during a burglary or potential links to Mr Searle’s previous work in the UK.
