A couple who died in an apparent suicide pact on Christmas Day, leaving behind two children, have been pictured for the first time.
Jan Tshabalala, 33, and his wife Julia, 30, described as ‘completely normal and pleasant’, were found dead inside their home by a concerned neighbour shortly after 9am on Christmas morning, after a relative apparently saw one of the pair through a window and went to get help.
The Billingshurst, West Sussex, couple, who are believed to have left behind a five-year-old and a seven-year-old, were rumoured to have ‘deep financial trouble’, according to a neighbour, quoted in the Mirror.
‘They were a private couple but we would always speak to them over the fence and sometimes washed our cars together,’ he told the paper.
‘They were nice. We used to receive Christmas cards from them and my wife spoke to Julia on Christmas Eve. She said the kids were with a relative.
‘There were various rumours going around here about them being in financial trouble.’
A report will be prepared for the West Sussex coroner who will hold inquests.
