British couple’s dream new life in France becomes a murder inquiry after a skeleton is discovered in a well… and sparks even more shocking claims of family ‘rape and abuse’

British woman Heather Comins has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the skeleton of her long-term partner, Anthony "Tony" Rickard, was discovered at the bottom of a well at their home in the Breton village of Ménéac. Rickard vanished without trace in 2001, and his remains were only found earlier this year, ending a 25-year mystery. The case has since taken an unexpected turn, with Rickard's estranged stepdaughter, Jenny Devine, publicly alleging that he was a violent abuser who sexually molested her as a teenager and subjected the family to years of controlling and abusive behaviour.

Devine, 51, says she last saw her stepfather when he was jailed for molesting her, and that her mother Lynn endured a violently controlling relationship with him, including an incident in which he allegedly kicked the family out of the house and threatened to blow it up. Her account contrasts sharply with that of her half-sister, Mary Rickard, Tony's daughter, who welcomed news of the murder investigation as bringing "closure" and grieved her father's death on social media. Devine says she does not wish to upset her sister but wants the public to understand the truth about the man she describes as "a monster," while Comins, who has not been named as having entered a plea, remains under investigation by French authorities.