Second exhumation in care-home case
Tuesday, 12 Jun 2007 09:39
Marion Alder died in July 2006
Police investigating the deaths of seven residents at a Somerset care home will today exhume a second body as part of their inquiries.
The remains of Marion Alder, who died in July 2006 at the age of 79, will be exhumed from a cemetery in the village of Butleigh.
Last week detectives exhumed the body of Nellie Mary Pickford, 89, from her final resting place at Glastonbury's cemetery and later reburied the remains after forensic experts conducted a post-mortem examination and toxicology tests.
A third body is also due to be exhumed in the coming weeks as part of the investigation by Avon and Somerset police into deaths at the Parkfields residential home in Butleigh, which has now been closed.
Officers working on the case have arrested a 45 year-old woman and 48-year-old man on suspicion of administering a noxious substance.
The pair, identified by the media as the care home's former managers Rachel and Leigh Baker, have been bailed until September pending further enquiries.
Detectives have said they have been compelled to conduct the exhumations after they were contacted by the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate (CSCI), which uncovered irregularities at Parkfields during an inspection in January.
Avon and Somerset police say today's exhumation will operate on a similar timetable to the one carried out last week, with officers set to remain at Butleigh's cemetery until tomorrow.
In a statement the family of Ms Alder said that she was a "proud" grandmother of four and mother to a son and daughter.
"As a family we miss her greatly and would ask we be left alone by the media at this difficult time," they said.
Ms Alder, who moved to Butleigh with her husband and local pharmacist Roy Alder in 1987, lived in the village until her death.