Mark Tshuma, a £100,000-a-year IT executive, is alleged to have murdered his estranged wife and their two daughters at the family's £1.3million home near Bedford before fleeing Britain for his native Zimbabwe. The killings matter both as a shocking triple family homicide and because the suspect appeared entirely normal in the hours beforehand, standing beside his wife at their daughter's school sports day the day before the bodies were discovered.

The victims — Zandile Tshuma, 42, and daughters Natalie, 15, and Nala, five — were found dead at the property on Monday. CCTV reportedly captured Tshuma at Heathrow airport on Saturday boarding a flight to southern Africa. A friend who serviced the family's swimming pool said Tshuma had seemed fine on Friday and was looking forward to the sports day. The daughters attended local private schools, Natalie at Bedford Girls School and Nala at Pilgrims Pre-Preparatory School.