South Wales PoliceAn 86-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the murders of a couple on their farm more than 30 years ago.
Harry and Megan Tooze were found dead with shotgun wounds in a cow shed at their Ty Ar y Waun cottage in Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf, on July 26, 1993.
South Wales Police carried out a forensic review of the cold case in 2023 and detectives have now made an arrest over the murders of Harry, 64, and Megan, 67.
The man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder and is in custody.
Senior investigating officer Detective Constable Mark Lewis said: “While this arrest is clearly a significant development in the investigation, our inquiries are ongoing.
“This case has affected many people over the years and we aim to find answers to the unanswered questions that remain about their deaths more than 30 years later.
“Even with this passage of time, I appeal to anyone who has any information about the murders to come forward and speak to police.”
Retired fruit wholesaler Harry and his wife Megan left their farm on the morning of Monday 26 July 1993 and drove their Land Rover to Tesco in nearby Talbot Green to do their weekly food shop, stopping to collect their pensions on the way home.
They were seen returning home at 11:00 GMT.
Around 1:30 p.m., neighbors heard two gunshots, but this was not considered unusual for a farm.
South Wales PoliceThe couple’s daughter Cheryl raised the alarm when her usual daily call to her parents went unanswered that night.
She called her neighbor Owen Hopkins, but he said there was no sign of them at his house and suggested they call the police.
Officers went to the farm and found the couple’s bodies in a cow barn.
Both were shot in the back of the head from a distance of about 3 feet (0.9 m), then covered with a rug and hid under bales of hay, detectives said.
Investigators believed that Harry and Megan had not died in the cow barn. Their bodies are believed to have been moved there after the murders, probably transported.
Her daughter’s boyfriend, Jonathan Jones, was convicted of her murders and sentenced to life in prison in 1995, but was later released after an appeal.
Mr Jones, who worked as a self-employed recruitment consultant, had told police he had taken the day off work on the day the Tooz were killed.
He said he had gone to Orpington, Greater London, to look for office space to rent, but police could not find anyone who had seen him that day.
His partial fingerprint was also on a cup and saucer that had been found in the couple’s living room.
He was arrested that December, five months after the murders.
Cheryl Tooze supported him and moved with her family to Caerphilly after his arrest.
A year after his conviction, Jones was released after appeal. It took three appeals court judges five minutes to reach their decision.
The trial judge was criticized and it emerged that the police had not properly sealed the crime scene.
