A mother of a Hollyoaks star found dead at her home in France may have been murdered by her husband who "staged" her death before killing himself, French police fear.

Dawn Searle, 56, was discovered dead last month outside her house in Les Pesquiès, north of Toulouse. Her husband, Andrew, 65, was also found dead at the scene.

At first it was believed that the couple, who only married two years ago, had been killed in a burglary gone wrong on February 6.

Dawn was found in her pyjamas, beaten to death, with jewelry scattered around her. Officers believed she had been trying to escape.

Andrew, a former financial investigator, was found hanging from a radiator inside the house. One theory was that he and his wife had been killed after he had uncovered criminality during his career.

But now officers believe it is possible that he killed Dawn and set up the scene to look like a robbery, before killing himself. Investigators think that had Dawn been killed outside she "would have certainly been heard by near neighbours".

One investigator said: "What is very likely is that the victim was killed inside the house, with doors and windows shut on a winter’s night, and then her body dumped in the garden.’

It is believed that the killing was a "staged burglary gone wrong".

Nicolas Rigot-Muller, the Rodez prosecutor leading the investigation into the deaths, told The Sunday Post that "a marital crime followed by a suicide" was likely.

Dawn's son, whom she had during another marriage, is Callum Kerr. The Hollyoaks actor and country singer walked his mum down the aisle in 2023, during her wedding with Andrew.

Callum played PC George Kiss on the Channel 4 soap, and also featured in Virgin River on Netflix.