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DAVID BATTLE 1958-1999 |
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John Turnbull, 41, gunned down wife Marion and her lover Dave Battle after arranging a showdown at his family home. He had been tipped off about their affair by his teenage son. Former public schoolboy Dave, the dropout son of a retired diplomatic corps officer, had told friends Turnbull invited him round after finding out about the three-week romance. Marion warned him that son Aaron, 16, had aroused her husband's suspicions by telling him how she was always returning home late from her driving lessons. Friends of the 40-year-old busker, known as "Guitar Dave", begged him not to take up the invitation. Turnbull was known to have been a former gun club member and a regular reader of gun magazines. Dave's pal and neighbor Stephen Fuller said: "John Turnbull had a reputation for losing his temper and Dave wasn't the argumentative type. "But he said Marion was in love with him and he wanted to deal with the matter face to face. "I cannot believe it ended so tragically. And I can't imagine how the couple's son is feeling." Two days after the fateful meeting Turnbull's body was found in a field outside Durham, where he was born and married, along with a suicide confession note. Kent police were alerted and broke down the door of the Turnbulls' home in Kemsing, near Sevenoaks, Kent. They found the lovers dead from multiple shotgun wounds. Marion worked as group manager for the Bligh's Bargain Books chain in the Sevenoaks area. Managing director Sarah Isaac said: "She was a terrific manager and terribly dedicated. We are all devastated." Aaron Turnbull, a former pupil at Sevenoaks' Wildernesse School, is said to be with relatives. Victim Dave was a shining student at Sevenoaks boarding school. But he told friends he felt frustrated and caged in by his strict family life. In the 1980s his family claimed to have rescued him from a religious group called Divine Light Mission. Friend Russell Leeke 27, said last night: "He was an inspiration to hundreds of people. "He was such a peaceful man - he practiced Buddhism - it is hard to believe he came to such a violent end." |
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