A man aged 86 has been arrested by police investigating the unsolved murder 32 years ago of a couple shot in their own farmhouse.
The elderly suspect is being questioned by detectives who opened a ‘cold case’ review into the brutal killing of Harry and Megan Tooze, who were both blasted with a shotgun.
Harry, 65, and Megan, 67, were found at their farm in Llanharry, south Wales, in 1993 – and their killer is still at large.
The arrest follows a two-and-a-half-year forensic review of the case by South Wales Police.
Their bloodied bodies were found at Ty ar y Waun farm when they were hidden in the cowshed.
It sparked a massive police investigation – and four months later with the boyfriend of the couple’s only daughter was charged with the double killing.
Jonathan Jones, now 65, was jailed for life after a trial at Newport Crown Court in 1995, only for him to be freed a year later when the Court of Appeal ruled his conviction was unsafe.
Their daughter Cheryl Tooze stood by her boyfriend and campaigned for his release, offering a £25,000 reward for information about the murders.
After his release the couple soon married and had a son together.
The couple called for the case to be reopened and over the years there have been several reviews by South Wales Police, which failed to produce a breakthrough.
Mr Jones now lives as a recluse, speaking in 2023 about how he has suffered three decades of ‘inner turmoil’ while waiting for the real killer to be traced.
On the 30th anniversary of the murder, South Wales Police announced Operation Vega led by Supt Mark Lewis.
Today Supt Lewis said: ‘While this arrest is clearly a significant development in the investigation, our enquiries are very much ongoing.
‘This case has affected many people over the years and our aim is to find the answers to the unanswered questions which remain about their deaths over 30 years on.
‘Even with this passage of time I appeal to anyone who has any information about the murders to come forward and speak to police.’
No further details have been released about the suspect who was arrested early on Wednesday.
Operation Vega is a thematic forensic review of the case, under the guidance of world-renowned forensic scientist Professor Angela Gallop.
She has helped solve some of the country’s most complex murder cases including the Stephen Lawrence case in London and Lynette White in Cardiff.
For the last 30 months, Vega has focused on all the exhibits from the original murder scene which had been retained by the police, to see if they might hold vital clues.
Forensic techniques have advanced dramatically in the 30 years since the murders took place and DNA can now be extracted from even the tiniest stains.
The couple’s bodies were discovered because Cheryl rang her parents every day in the early evening – and raised the alarm with their neighbour Owen Hopkins when she was unable to raise them that day.
Mr Hopkins offered to go to the farm to check on Cheryl’s parents.
‘It was quiet, we went round and knocked the door and the door was locked so we shouted and called for Harry,’ he said later.
‘I went to the shed, there was nobody about in the yard, I thought maybe he’d fallen over or something.’
He rang Cheryl back and told her her parents were not at home and suggested they call the police.
The couple’s bodies were eventually found by police in the cowshed in the early hours of the following morning, prompting South Wales Police to launch a major murder investigation.
The couple had both been shot in the head from behind from a distance of about 3ft covered in carpet and hidden under hay bales.
A neighbour told police they had heard two gunshots at about 1.30pm that Monday but had assumed Harry was out shooting rabbits – this gave police a likely time of death.
Anyone with information about the deaths of Harry and Megan Tooze is asked to contact South Wales Police quoting occurrence number 2300016841.
