Car dealer and wife murdered in cottage

DETECTIVES were last night examining the business contacts and background of an East Sussex car dealer who was murdered with his wife of six months in their country home, writes Terry Kirby.

Tests by a Home Office pathologist showed that Harry Fuller, 45, was shot once and Nicola Fuller, 27, was shot several times with a small calibre handgun early on Wednesday.

Their bodies were discovered by police the same evening at their cottage in the High Street at Wadhurst after Mrs Fuller's parents failed to get a reply. Mr Fuller was on the ground floor and his wife was upstairs.

Detectives said they were looking for a motive in Mr Fuller's personal and business life and have not ruled out the possibility that a professional hitman was used. There were no signs of forced entry or burglary of the cottage. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Snelling said detectives wanted to hear from anyone who had seen Mr or Mrs Fuller recently.

Mr Fuller, who had a criminal record, was a car dealer and property developer who came from Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Villagers said he was a sharp dresser who drove sporty cars and was nicknamed 'Flash Harry'.

The couple married six months ago and moved into the rented cottage, between a butcher's shop and the village tearooms, last October. Mrs Fuller is also believed to be from Kent. Mr Fuller's first wife, Elizabeth, lives in East Sussex.

Detectives were assessing the importance of two handwritten notes left on the windscreens of the couple's two cars - Mr Fuller's silver Ford Sierra and a light blue Ford Escort XR3i convertible belonging to his wife - which were parked outside their house. The notes are believed to relate to where their cars were parked overnight.