TWO PEOPLE have been arrested in connection with the death of a police officer and a woman who died nearly 18 years ago.
RUC man Trevor Buchanan (31) and dentist’s wife Lesley Howell (30) were found dead in a fume-filled car parked in the garage of a house in the seaside town of Castlerock, Co Derry.
An inquest hearing at a Coroner’s Court later ruled they committed suicide.
But police confirmed yesterday that they had reopened the investigation after arresting a man and woman on suspicion of murder.
The man was detained in Castlerock after detectives answered a telephone at their station in neighbouring Coleraine where the woman was later held.
Mervyn Storey, a North Antrim DUP member of the Assembly, said people were stunned: “The community is absolutely flabbergasted.”
Mother of four Mrs Howell’s body was discovered in the back seat of the car in May 1991. She was wearing Walkman earphones and clasping photographs of her children. Mr Buchanan, a father of two, was in a front seat.
At the time, police said a hosepipe led from the exhaust into the car and no crime was suspected.
Mrs Howell worked for her husband Colin’s dental practice in Ballymoney, Co Antrim. He later remarried. Their son, Matthew, was killed in May 2007 when he fell off a balcony while on holiday in Russia.
Mr Buchanan’s wife, Hazel, also remarried. Her husband is a retired senior police officer.
Police said the man and woman had been arrested on suspicion of murder. The man was arrested yesterday morning and the woman later in the day. Detectives are to re-examine witness statements and post-mortem reports. – (PA)