Three people have been arrested after a mother of five was stabbed to death in the New Forest while looking after her three horses
Pennie Davis, 47, was killed on Tuesday afternoon on land belonging to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. Her body was discovered by her husband, Pete. The supermarket worker, from Blackfield, had died of multiple stab wounds.
A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said today that one person was arrested on suspicion of murder, one was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and a third was detained on suspicion of assisting an offender.
All remain in police custody and Mrs Davis’s family has been informed of the development.
Yesterday forensic science officers were dredging the small river at the bottom of the leafy paddock in which Mrs Davis was killed in a hunt for the murder weapon.
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At lunchtime, Mrs Davis’s five children, step-children, parents and husband laid flowers at the scene.
Her 20-year-old daughter, Sophie Pead, fought back tears as she left a note saying: “Words cannot express how I feel, you will always be our beautiful angel. I love you so much Mum, you will never be forgotten.”
Her son Josef, 13, wrote: “I know I didn’t always show it but somehow you always knew. I know I wasn’t the easiest child but you were always there. There’s a hole in my heart that can’t be filled.”
Mr Davis, who Pennie married in May after several failed relationships and a long stint as a single mother, left a card saying: “Angel, all my love, always and forever.”
Friends have said Mrs Davis had two passions, her children and her horses, and worked hard as a supermarket manager to provide for them all.
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The staff at the Sainsbury’s where Mrs Davis worked in Blackfield, Southampton, said it was a “dark time” for everyone.
Mrs Davis’s 18-year-old daughter, Georgia, called her mother a “goddess” and swore to make her “proud”. “I like to think you’re sitting there, watching on a cloud,” she wrote in a poem.
Mrs Davis’s mother, who the family said was “devastated” and “particularly close” to her daughter, left a simple note saying: “All my love, always.”
Her best friend, Nicola Crawford, 38, said: “Never let go of me. You were a light in my life. We survived much heartache and trouble through our lives together.”
Mrs Davis’s other two sons, Alex, 19, and Daniel, 15, also left their notes by the field gate, metres from where their mother was murdered.
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Police have increased patrols in the area to offer reassurance to local residents.