Partner of British grandmother stabbed to death in her Italian home will face ... trends now
A man arrested in connection with the murder of a British grandmother at her home on Italy is set to appear in court tomorrow for an extradition hearing.
Michael Whitbread, 74, was arrested by British police in Leicestershire on Wednesday after being named by Italian prosecutors as a suspect in the murder of his partner Michele Faiers earlier this week.
Whitbread is said to have set off for England hours after she died, driving through Switzerland and France to reach British shores hours after Ms Faiers, 66, died.
An arrest warrant seen exclusively by MailOnline reveals how a local coroner concluded that she had been stabbed seven times in the back.
Leicestershire Police have confirmed that Whitbread - who has not been charged with any crime - is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday after being arrested in Shepshed, around 10 miles north-west of Leicester, on Wednesday.
Michele Faiers (pictured with her partner Michael Whitbread) was found fatally stabbed in her idyllic Italian home on Wednesday
A 74-year-old man who has been arrested over the murder of a British grandmother in Italy was found by police in a UK home (pictured) owned by his daughter
A force spokesperson said on Friday: 'A 74-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder of Michele Faiers in Italy is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court tomorrow (Saturday).
'The man, who was arrested in Shepshed on Wednesday night (1 November), has not been charged with a criminal offence. The hearing is listed as part of the extradition process.
'Detectives from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) major crime team are continuing to liaise with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the extradition team in the CPS’s Serious Economic and Organised Crime and International Directorate and Italian authorities regarding the incident.'
Ms Faiers was found on Wednesday dressed in just her underwear with a sheet over her body by the bed of the house in Italy she shared with Whitbread, a retired IT consultant.
Shocked friend Petrina Keay alerted police after making the grim discovery at the £90,000 house Michele and Michael had moved to in Verratti near the Italian city of Chieti in 2020.
The warrant highlighted how he had left the house on Sunday, crossed the Swiss border and then driven through France and onto England where he was held on Wednesday at Shepshed near Loughborough.
On Friday Whitbread was still in custody in a police station in Leicestershire. He was found by police in a UK home owned by his daughter.
Michele, 66, was discovered lying in a pool of blood in her first-floor bedroom by her friend inside her rural home in Veratti village near Casoli, a town in eastern Italy, on Wednesday morning.
Pictures show the house in a sleepy market town where the pensioner was arrested, while detectives were at a 'crime scene' in a leafy residential street in Shepshed, Leicestershire.
A white Jeep Compass, which the suspect is believed to have crossed the border and travelled to the East Midlands in, has been removed from the property, according to residents.
Pictures show the house in a sleepy market town where the fugitive pensioner was arrested
Detectives were at a ' crime scene' in a leafy residential street in Shepshed, Leicestershire
A white Jeep Compass, which the suspect is believed to have travelled across the border and travelled to the East Midlands in, has been has removed from the property, according to residents
Michele Faiers, 66, was found lying on her first-floor bedroom in a pool of blood by her friend inside her rural home in a village near Casoli, a town in eastern Italy on Wednesday morning. Pictured: The home with police tape surrounding it
A 74-year-old man, who is a British national, was arrested by police officers in Shepshed, a town in Leicestershire, in connection with the murder of Michele Faiers (pictured) in Italy
Shocked locals in the quiet rural town - located between Loughborough and Ashby-de-la-Zouch - told how detectives and forensic experts had been on the street all day for 'reasons no one has told us.'
One elderly woman, told MailOnline: 'There's been a big police presence here and no one has told us why. There's been offers coming and going all day and teams of forensics.
'It's been rather alarming and for reasons no one has told us.'
The resident, who declined to be named, said there had been focus on the semi-detached property opposite her home, and said she had 'found the whole situation distressing.'
She said she had 'no idea' who lived there, saying: 'This is a very pleasant street to live in but people keep themselves to themselves and we like to have our privacy.'
Staff and locals at a nearby pub told how teams of police had been 'staking out' the area for hours late last night.
Bar attendant David, 22 (no surname) said: 'There were 10-12 cop cars driving up and down at least 20 times in marked vehicles.
'We had no idea what was going on but they were clearly staking out someone or something.'
David told how officers had come into the pub this morning asking for CCTV but because of a faulty system they could not help providing any footage.
He explained: 'We asked what is was about, and they told us they were investigating the death of a dog which had recently been run over in the street.
'It was all very odd, and whilst a dog had sadly been run over outside last week, it didn't add up to the large police contingency in the early hours.:
He told that as he was walking to the car park to drive home he saw a white jeep being uploaded onto a recovery truck from a 'house round the corner form the pub.'
Whilst a visible crime scene was not in place, with no cordon, one police car remained parked up opposite the targeted house.
She was found inside her rural home in Verratti village near Casoli, a town in eastern Italy, on Wednesday morning
Colonel Alceo Greco, of Italy's carabinieri police force, said Ms Faiers had probably died on Saturday or Sunday and her partner Michael Whitbread (pictured), 74, is a prime suspect
Local residents of the village near Casoli described the couple as 'very private'
The mother-of-two was found on the floor next to her bed, dressed in her underwear and covered in a white sheet with just her feet poking out, an investigative source told MailOnline.
Italian police were hunting Michele's partner Michael Whitbread, 74, a retired IT consultant originally from Torquay, after he allegedly left the scene in the couple's white Jeep Compass before police could question him.
Colonel Alceo Greco, of Italy's carabinieri police force, said Mr
