Police given more time to question suspect over murder of Portadown pensioners

Murder squad detectives have been given more time to question a suspect over the killing of a pensioner couple.
Undated handout photos issued by the PSNI of Marjorie Cawdery (left) and Michael Cawdery, both 83, who were found murdered in their own home in Portadown, Co Armagh, on Friday. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Saturday May 27, 2017. See PA story ULSTER Couple. Photo credit should read: PSNI/PA Wire

NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.Undated handout photos issued by the PSNI of Marjorie Cawdery (left) and Michael Cawdery, both 83, who were found murdered in their own home in Portadown, Co Armagh, on Friday. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Saturday May 27, 2017. See PA story ULSTER Couple. Photo credit should read: PSNI/PA Wire

NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Undated handout photos issued by the PSNI of Marjorie Cawdery (left) and Michael Cawdery, both 83, who were found murdered in their own home in Portadown, Co Armagh, on Friday. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Saturday May 27, 2017. See PA story ULSTER Couple. Photo credit should read: PSNI/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

Michael and Marjorie Cawdery, both 83, are understood to have been stabbed in their home in Portadown, Northern Ireland on Friday in what a senior officer described as a brutal attack.

A 40-year-old man was arrested after the killings after being found close to a vehicle stolen from the couple’s house.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Detectives in the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s serious crime branch secured more time to detain and question the man after applying to the courts.

“The extension was approved by a court today. Police inquiries are ongoing,” the PSNI said.

Police and emergency services were called to the pensioners’ house in Upper Ramone Park in Portadown at around 3.40pm on Friday after the couple were found dead by a relative.

Mr Geddes said a grey Kangoo van with the registration NJZ 6101, stolen from the couple’s home, was found around 5pm in the nearby Edenderry area.

Relatives described the murders as incomprehensible.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In a statement the family said: “The awful and incomprehensible events of Friday 26 May have deprived our family of two wonderful people, Michael and Marjorie, who were our father, mother, brother, sister and grandparents.”