A former UKIP councillor from Stowmarket arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife has been charged this morning.
Suffolk police arrested 64-year-old Stephen Searle following the death of his wife Anne, 62, in The Brickfields, Stowmarket.
Officers were called at around 10.30pm on Saturday, December 30, to find a woman who was unresponsive.
Paramedics from the East of England Ambulance Service attended, but the woman was declared dead at the scene.
She has been formally identified as Anne Searle.
A Home Office post mortem was carried out on Sunday, with more tests to be carried out.
Police arrested Searle, who lives at the same address, and after a 12-hour custody extension granted yesterday, has been charged with murder this morning.
He will appear at South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court in Ipswich this morning.
Searle stood for the UKIP party in the Suffolk County Council elections, securing a seat for Stowmarket South in May 2013.
His election material said he was a former Royal Marine commando.
In May last year he stood again but lost to Conservative Mid Suffolk council leader Nick Gowrley.
He also ran as a UKIP candidate for the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich seat in a bid to become an MP, but finished last of the five candidates, including Conservative MP Dan Poulter who retained the seat.
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