71-year-old pensioner charged with murdering his wife in Mapleback

Police reports confirm that the 70-year-old wife was strangled; suspect in hospital due to ‘life-threatening injury’.

12:38 06 January 2013

The quiet village of Maplebeck in Notts was shaken when news that 71-year-old pensioner is accused of murdering his 70-year-old wife surfaced. The accused, Peter Thurgalandwas arrested in hospital on Saturday.

 

Police confirmed that he has suffered ‘life-threatening injuries’ but did not specify the nature and how they were incurred. The victim, 70-year-old Julie was a churchwarden at nearby St Radegunds Church in the village, which has a population of just 96.

Neighbours, who were utterly shocked with the incident, confirmed that the couple had been married for 46 years and had retired after farming in the village for decades.
 
The couple had three children, David, 41, Ann, 39, and Jane, 37.

 

Retired vicar Eddie Neale said that the couple are “much-loved people” in the community. Talking about the incident, he said: ‘There is an enormous sense of shock, obviously, in the whole village and in the wider community that such a thing could happen here.

 

‘They were much-loved people. He had been one of the local farmers here and looked after quite a large area. She had been involved in all sorts of organisations around the place.’