Four schoolgirls have been left orphaned after a village butcher killed his estranged wife before leaping to his death from a multi-storey car park.
Oliver Ruse, 37, was left ‘heartbroken’ after his wife Debbie left him and their four children and moved abroad.
He is understood to have been upset further when she came back and requested access to their daughters and demanded half the family business, which was founded by his great-great-grandfather.
Mr Ruse’s body was found at the bottom of a six-storey car park in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
Police discovered his wife’s body a few hours later on Thursday afternoon when they went to her rented cottage 13 miles away in the village of Long Melford.
Officers refused to reveal the cause of her death yesterday. Post-mortem examinations are due to take place over the weekend.
The couple’s daughters, aged eight, 11, 12, and 16, were being comforted by family members last night.
A family friend, who asked not to be named, said Mr Ruse had been on anti-depressants since his wife’s return, adding: ‘Nobody can quite believe that he did something so terrible. The whole village is in deep shock.’
Another friend said: ‘She [Mrs Ruse] came back and demanded half the business. Times are hard and it was just the last straw. Ollie was also a devoted father and he dreaded the thought of her becoming involved with the kids again.’
Another villager said: ‘He had custody of the kids and lived for his kids. He made sure they were always smartly dressed for school.’
Mr Ruse’s stepmother, Sheelagh – who married Oliver’s father Henry, 71, after his first wife died of leukaemia – said: ‘Everyone’s devastated.
‘Oliver was a very gentle man and bent over backwards to please Debbie. I don’t know what happened – a breakdown or something. I think he was still in love with her. He didn’t want her to leave him.’ The couple had met after Zambia-born Mrs Ruse, 39, had moved to the UK to study law.
They married in 1998 but split up around two years ago and she moved to Brazil. Companies House files show that she remained a 49 per cent shareholder in the family business.
There were conflicting explanations for the split. Some villagers claimed she had met a man through the internet. Others said she was a devout Christian who went to Rio as a missionary before returning two months ago.
A family friend said: ‘Oliver did everything to accommodate his wife and treated her like a queen. When she got involved in a happy-clappy church, he got embroiled in it as well.
When she walked out, he got a phone call from her at Heathrow, saying that she was about to fly to Brazil.’
Her rented two-bedroom cottage was 400 yards from Ruse & Son, which was founded by Mr Ruse’s great-great-grandfather in 1860.
The fifth generation of his family to control the business, he began working there in 1998 and took it over from his father in 2007.
The firm supplies a number of upmarket outlets and featured in the Jamie Oliver documentary, Jamie Saves Our Bacon.
Curtains were drawn at the 16th century house in the village where Mr Ruse lived with his daughters.
Suffolk Police confirmed that they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths...dailymail
Such a terrible story, Rip but why kill your wife and yourself, now your kids are orphans. Oh Chineke , save us
ReplyDeleteWhat have these Whites been drinking??
ReplyDeleteEwo!
ReplyDeleteOMG! May her soul rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteI can't deal!
ReplyDeleteWhat is this world turning into? Rip
DeleteClick Here to visit my page
Everyone Gatsa be careful o.
ReplyDeleteThings are happening.
Am just #speechless
Really,some people are paranoid
ReplyDeleteRip to them
What a sad wicked day for the family .
ReplyDeleteMay their souls rest in peace .
I wish they opened up and talk to family member that kept it bottled and blown up like a bomb .
what a story .
Na wetin we go call this one now, depression, confusion, wickedness or stupidity?
ReplyDeleteLove gone wrong
ReplyDeleteWhat a pity. Marry oyibo men na problem. They are so emotional. They always know the easy way out. Pity that two selfish people made their children ophans. RIP to both of them. Hope you find comfort in wherever you are. I pray the children find peace in their relatives and know that mama and papa love them both
ReplyDeleteWhat a waste of life. May the womans soul rest in peace, but the mans soul never rest in peace. And I pray God sends an angel to take care of the children.
ReplyDeleteYour comment will be visible after approval
Chaiii...poor poor kids!
ReplyDeleteWhat now?
What was dis man thinking oooo?
This is so sad,when sm white folks loves,its always to d fullest&cn smtimes do crazy tins wen their feelings get hurt. I just feel for the innocent kids involved. Rip u both.
ReplyDeleteHow won't they paint him as a saint.... A lot of men abuse their wives psychologically and when U want to leave they threaten to kill you..some men will not beat you but are controlling and say things to demean and control you... Her demanding her share of the biz is nothing strange if she had 49 percent share..... Stupid oyibo villagers with their amebo am sure they will conviniently have selective amnesia even if they have known him with controlling tendencies...... Just pity the children....
ReplyDeletePoster fear God o! I'm guessing u are one of those Nigerian women who knowingly married a man they either did nt luv or knew did nt luv dem but married for other reasons. don't say bcos he's oyinbo, u won't b fair. Put urself in his shoes, d biz has been is his family for generations, den one unfaithful wife he married bcos of love despite several warnings frm his family wants to cart everything away. For her to have owned 49% shows d guy was a nice man and it shows d woman married him for his money but he was too blinded by love to see it. I'm a woman o, FYI. If u are nt happy in ur union no one tied ur arse there.
DeleteNawao.. may their souls RIP
ReplyDeleteUwa nkea sef,was that the only solution?I tire 4 d matter.
ReplyDeleteGod i cover myself and family with blood of Jesus Amen.xmas is approaching too much death
ReplyDeleteAll those that have been writing in about wanting to date / marry white guys, please shine your eyes. There are 2 sides to every coin. Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteEvery trivial thing depresses them and next thing they snap and either commit suicide or murder.
DeleteGod please deliver me from this sort of woman. Yes let it be that i'm judging her.
ReplyDeletea.k.a EDWIN CHINEDU AZUBUKO said...
ReplyDelete.
She is crazy and deserve to die.... May his soul R.I.P.....
*GLO BRING 3G TO KONTAGORA*
.
.
***CURRENTLY IN JUPITER***
Oyinbo nd madness
ReplyDeletePoor children. R.I.P to the dead.
ReplyDeleteGeneral's wife is that you in that pikshure? Black and pretty with Mt. olympus aplenty. lol
ReplyDeleteThAnks Nikki...
DeleteHahhahahaha @ Mt Olympus aplenty
Bae,u just cracked me up now Haha
ThAnks Nikki...
DeleteHahhahahaha @ Mt Olympus aplenty
Bae,u just cracked me up now Haha
Sad Story...
ReplyDelete@Alloy....Never pray that a soul of a human being should not rest in peace, no matter the evil that you perceived they did.
I feel for the kids!
ReplyDeleteWhite men can be so jealous and controlling whenever they see a black guy around their gf/wife, they become so threatened.
ReplyDeleteThat was how I met my class mate on Instagram married to a white guy now, the girl added me up just normal greetings oo the next day the girl deleted me,I asked her why she deleted me, she said her husband is always threatened when ever he sees a coloured guy around her even her male cousins are not exempted.
Anyways Rip to both of them wonder what the kids will be going through.
Mr Lyca
Not true! I dissagree totally
DeleteWhite men aint controlling atall
And that's what thing that attract me to them
Ask ur friend wetin she don do
Or they husband himself is just insecure on his own!
A Typical white man aint controlling!
There re some freaks though
Am sure this guys is still in love with the wife and feel if I can't have u no one else will kinda
Wen they love they love totally
So sad though
I think even the woman got carried away a lil bit too!
Come back after 2yrs?
Nay!!!
Marriage is not an escape root to happiness
ReplyDeleteHhcfhj
ReplyDeleteSad one, Rip
ReplyDeleteWhite folks love hard and hate hard! A white man will treat you like a princess but if you hurt them, that's a whole different ball game. It turns into a deadly obsession.
ReplyDeleteThat's how my cousin's friend married one correct oyibo guy. With generational money, only son. Quiet and worships the ground she walks on. Next thing, we hear say she don divorce. Why? She say the man too quiet. Annoying part be say she get 1 and half leg and she never born. Na as d man carry her go India go correct the leg issue finish- She say she wan divorce.
ReplyDeleteCome back naija come dey date on married man. Oyibo guy hasn't been himself ever since. I won't be surprised if he commits suicide.
White men are fragile. If you can't love them, then leave them. But we Africans, always looking at the money until the cookie crumbles.
R.I.P to the dead
Sorry o but that ur cousin is a user. Ahn ahn. After now she'll be ranting "God where are u, I need a man". Why did she lead the poor man on? Oyinbo or not. Karma the surest would catch up with her. Upon her half keg she still dey do wickedness.
DeleteCrimes of passion are real. Do not mess with people's hearts and minds because you never know when they will snap.
ReplyDeleteThis is an extremely sad tale. Those four children will need all the help they can get.