Three held on elderly couple murder

Detectives have arrested three men on suspicion of murdering an elderly Italian couple who were found dead in their home.

Guiseppe Massaro, 80, and his wife Caterina, 77, were discovered dead - reportedly in their bedroom - by a family member on Friday.

The couple's car was missing from the address in Woden Road, Wolverhampton. It was later recovered from nearby Wednesfield.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said today that three men were arrested overnight in connection with the incident.

He said: "Two men from Wolverhampton, aged 32 and 21, and a 30-year-old from Birmingham were arrested overnight on suspicion of murder and are being questioned at separate police stations in the West Midlands."

Post-mortem examinations on the couple started yesterday and will continue at 2pm today, the spokesman said.

Yesterday Mr and Mrs Massaro's family spoke of their devastation at the double murder, saying they could not "begin to grasp the evil" that had taken place.

In a statement they said: "Words cannot describe the devastation that has struck our family after discovering our beloved grandparents hurt by the hands of someone else.

"We cannot even begin to grasp the evil that took place in their home and how frightened they would have been.

"An entire generation was taken away from us that day and we cannot comprehend how something could go this far."

Grand-daughter Lindsey Booth, 22, who discovered the couple's bodies, told the Sunday Mercury it was clear they had been burgled.

She said she found both in their bedroom, her grandmother's body covered by a duvet.

"They were both still in their day clothes and I didn't see any blood or signs that there had been a struggle," she told the paper.

Police have continued to appeal for information about the couple's black Peugeot 307, registration PK56 VRW.