Husband held on suspicion of murder after his estranged wife was found strangled at home
Martin Cavanagh, the estranged husband of a woman found murdered in a "vicious attack" in a South East London flat, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Sophie Cavanagh, 31, was found dead on May 20 in Bromley.
Her death was initially treated as "unexplained" but Scotland Yard launched a murder probe after a post-mortem suggested it was "suspicious". The authorities then launched a lookout for her estranged husband.
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Vandenbergh said in a statement, "We are working tirelessly to establish exactly what happened in the lead up to Sophie's death and I am committed to finding the person responsible for this vicious attack."
"I would urge anyone who knows the whereabouts of Martin Cavanagh to get in touch. My advice would be not to approach him, but dial 999 or the incident room straight away."
Sophie was found dead in her house in Chatterton Road after the ambulance was called to the scene before 6.15 pm.
The Met Police has now confirmed that Martin, 34, turned himself in at a south London police station on Thursday.
Scotland Yard issued a statement saying: "Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 6.13pm on Sunday, May 20, to a residential address on Chatterton Road in Bromley following reports of a woman found deceased. Officers attended and found the body of a 31-year-old woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene."
"Her next of kin have been informed and although formal identification awaits, police are satisfied that the woman is 31-year-old Sophie Cavanagh from Bromley. The death was initially treated as unexplained. However initial findings from the post-mortem suggest that Sophie's death is suspicious."
"We await the full outcome of the post-mortem. Officers are working hard to trace the whereabouts of Sophie's estranged husband, 34-year-old Martin Cavanagh, as a matter or urgency. He is believed to have links to south east London and the south coast. There have been no arrests, enquiries continue."
London is going through a rash of violent crimes at the moment with 66 murders already taking place in the capital city this year.
For the first time in history, New York's crime rate was topped by another city and this spelled some troubling news for police forces in both cities.
Sophie's death increases the grisly murder toll in the capital to 67 this year, reports Daily Mail.