British Catholic politician’s death investigated as murder, police say

Police are conducting a murder investigation into the death of long-serving British Catholic politician Ann Widdecombe, authorities said on July 10, one day after her death at 78.

The long-serving British politician, who converted to Catholicism in the early 1990s, was found dead on July 9 at her home in Dartmoor in southwestern England.

Initial reports suggested she may have died from a fall in her home. But in a statement on July 10 Devon and Cornwall Police said they had launched a murder investigation into her death.

Police “are conducting extensive enquiries into the circumstances surrounding Miss Widdecombe’s death,” the statement said, adding that investigators were performing forensic examinations of the purported crime scene.

“Our murder enquiry is in its early stages but moving at a significant pace,” Chief Inspector Ilona Rosson said in the statement. “We are deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened and to locate the person responsible, who we believe to be a white male.”

The police said later on July 10 that a 26-year-old male suspect had been arrested as part of the investigation and was in police custody. The event…