Neil Entwistle, a British expatriate whose wife and child were found dead in their US home at the weekend, has voluntarily attended the American Embassy in London for interview, according to British police.
Mr Entwistle flew back to Britain on Friday, hours before the bodies of his American wife Rachel and nine-month-old daughter Lilian were found in bed at their home in Hopkington, Massachusetts. They had been shot, apparently while they slept.
American detectives have followed him to Britain in order to speak to him about the deaths. Until now they have been only in telephone contact with Mr Entwistle, 27, who has been staying with relatives in Nottinghamshire.
Today Nottinghamshire Police issued a brief statement: “Neil Entwistle has agreed to voluntarily attend the US Embassy in London to speak to the US authorities in connection with the deaths of his wife and daughter.
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“Officers from Nottinghamshire Police offered to assist the (Entwistle) family by driving them to the US embassy this morning. Mr Entwistle is not under arrest.”
US detectives describe Mr Entwistle as a “person of interest” to their inquiry, but decline to say that he is a suspect. It is understood that they will ask him to go back to the US with the officers voluntarily. They have not asked for any international arrest warrants to be issued, or for help from police in Nottinghamshire.
A state trooper told The Times however that Mr Entwistle “is above all the other suspects because he is the spouse and father of the deceased. There is no one we are seeking to talk to more than him.
“When police went to the house it was dark and locked up so whoever did it locked the house after them.”
Martha Coakley, the Middlesex county district attorney, said earlier that the “best guess” was that Mrs Entwistle, 27, and Lillian died between 1am on Friday and early Saturday. Mr Entwistle is believed to have caught a flight to London from Logan on Friday evening.
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But she added: “It’s still kind of a blurry timeline, whether he was still in the country or not when the shooting occurred.”
The bodies of Rachel and Lillian were discovered on Sunday evening after friends arrived for a dinner party on Saturday night at the snow-covered home and found it in darkness. They called police, who broke in and found Mrs Entwistle and her daughter shot dead and wrapped in blankets on the master bed.
Recently the inquiry has expanded to look at Mr Entwistle’s business interests, including his possible involvement in internet pornography sites. State troopers yesterday took boxes from the family’s house in Massachusetts. It is believed that they are looking at computers owned by Mr Entwistle.
Police are investigating how Mr Entwistle was able to rent a five-bedroom home worth £300,000 when he was unemployed and looking for work.
One of the sites being investigated, millionmaker.co.uk, was shut down three days after the murders. The company promised assistance to those with an adult internet business for a £50 joining fee and and £14 monthly fee. The site also included links to three other websites, including one said to be associated with SRPublications — the same name used on an alleged eBay scam selling the get-rich-quick software.
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Complaints about the eBay sales have been listed on the internet, including one from a woman called Anne who said she agreed there was a link to eBay scams “as the user SRpublications”. She wrote: “SRPublications activity stepped up massively over the holidays and a really large scam has been organised that has earnt SRPublications thousands of pounds in a couple of weeks. It was a very well run and well timed scam, using the holidays to buy extra time, and I think was planned in advance.
“Some of the software was being sold under the name Neil Entwistle, some under the name Rachel — whether that means both were involved or whether only one, I don’t know,” she continued.
The site was apparently closed by eBay within weeks.
Another site, Embedded New Technologies, had the registration listed on Tuesday to Neil Entwistle in Droitwich, the same registration address as the family’s personal website. The registration for the sites is reported to have changed to an address in Tremont Street, Carver. Rachel Entwistle’s parents live in a street of that name in Carver, Massachusetts.
Ms Coakley confirmed that state police and local detectives were looking into Mr and Mrs Entwistle’s finances as well as personal lives.