Arson Apparently?

[Tommy G]

I think there is a deeper side to this news story.

a) He tried his best to make it look like someone else did it, but did a bad job.

b) Some sick gangsters killed the animals, then burnt the family alive inside the house, probably taking them hostage whilst boarding up the windows.

c) Accidental, but unlikely because who boards up windows....from the inside.

Sounds like the poor guy had enemies and his Business went into liquidation the previous year.

From the Mail

The millionaire businessman feared dead along with his wife and teenage daughter after a suspected arson attack on their home had recently been branded untrustworthy by a judge, it emerged last night.

Mystery still surrounded the whereabouts of Christopher Foster, 50, his wife Jillian, 49, and 15-year-old Kirstie yesterday.

Missing: Christopher Foster, his wife Jill and their 15-year-old daughter Kirstie

Fears were rising that all three might have been shot dead and the house then set on fire but the family officially remained ‘unaccounted for’, as police and firefighters have not yet been able to enter the house to search for bodies because it remains unsafe.

Forensics experts dressed in white overalls were today sifting through the ash of the burnt out stables block and police hope to make their first foray into the house itself later on.

Investigators are today sifting through the remains of the stable block while firefighters continue to damp down the ruined mansion

Mystery surrounding the fire deepened today when it was revealed that the mansion's doors and windows were boarded up from the inside.

And when firefighters arrive to tackle the blaze they discovered a horse trailer had been dragged in front of the gates which had to be lifted out of the way.

A picture believed to be the last taken of the family emerged yesterday.

Kirstie Foster poses with a school sports team. Tributes have flooded in for the missing family

Taken on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon, just hours before the huge blaze gutted their home at about 5am on Tuesday, Mr Foster and his wife look relaxed as they enjoy a drink at a friend’s barbecue.

‘Horse-mad’ Kirstie, a pupil at £16,500-a-year Ellesmere College, smiles as she looks over her shoulder, unaware of the impending disaster.

Yesterday there were more grisly details of the scene confronting the 80 officers trying to unravel what happened at Osbaston House in Maesbrook, near Oswestry, Shropshire.

A member of the search team said: ‘There were three seats of the fire, in the house, the stables block and the garage.

‘There were two pools of blood in the courtyard and a trail of blood leading into the house.

'It looks like the two dogs have been shot, dragged across the courtyard and thrown into the house.

'Two of the horses were shot in the stables and the third shot and its body set on fire. There were spent bullets all over the place.’

The police are examining CCTV footage retrieved from the mansion’s security system. One line of the investigation is focusing on Mr Foster’s financial situation and business dealings, while another is looking at his state of mind in recent months.

Mr Foster was formerly managing director of a firm called Ulva Ltd, responsible for insulation on oil rigs, which went into compulsory liquidation in September last year.

Following a series of legal wrangles, it emerged during a Court of Appeal hearing in May this year that the company owed £1million to its suppliers and £800,000 to the taxman.

Mr Foster was said to have transferred assets from the company to another company he ran with a similar name, a practice the judge in the case, Lord Justice Rimer, described as ‘an exercise in asset-stripping’.

Enlarge Gutted: The £1.2million Shropshire mansion was almost destroyed in what police believe was an arson attack

The charred remains of what could be the family's horses in what were their stables

He also branded Mr Foster ‘bereft of the basic instincts of commercial morality’ and ‘not to be trusted’.

Mr Foster and his family had appeared to live a privileged existence at the £1.2million, three-storey house set in six acres which they moved in to four years ago.

Mr Foster, who enjoyed country pursuits such as shooting and fishing, had four expensive cars, which were kept in the separate brick garage and were all burnt out in the blaze.

It has also emerged that two years ago Mr Foster claimed two men tried to blackmail him into giving them £100,000 after a land deal in Cyprus fell through.

Timothy Baker, then 33, and Leo Dennis, 40, were cleared of blackmail but Baker was found guilty of intending to pervert the course of justice and given a suspended prison sentence.

Dennis and Baker claimed Mr Foster made a false allegation of blackmail to cover up a bid to have Baker assaulted.

Rescue services attend the scene of the fire, which police suspect was arson

Mr Foster denied the claims.

Yesterday former security firm boss Mr Dennis told the Mail: ‘Sometimes rich people offend people, they tell lies and they create enemies – what comes around, goes around.

‘I have no love for him [Mr Foster] but I have been getting on with my life and I have no reason to harm him.

'He got me locked up but it was an identity mix-up.'

[Tabou]

From the Mail

That isn't a newspaper. That's a comic.

[Alexikokopops]

That isn't a newspaper. That's a comic.

Alright.

From the BBC

[The People's Hero]

Alex, you do less work than me and get paid far more.

Can you hook me up with some Virgin work?

[Alexikokopops]

Alex, you do less work than me and get paid far more.

No I don't, I'm on half wage at the moment because I'm doing my dissertation. When I'm on full wage I'll be working more. BOOYAH!

[The People's Hero]

If your half-wage is more than my full-wage, I'm going to cry in to my nadler shaped pillow.

[Alexikokopops]

If your half-wage is more than my full-wage, I'm going to cry in to my nadler shaped pillow.

I'm pretty sure it's not. And I tell a lie, it's actually 55.56% of my actual wage. You have a Nadler shaped pillow? I wish I had one

[The People's Hero]

I'm pretty sure it's not. And I tell a lie, it's actually 55.56% of my actual wage. You have a Nadler shaped pillow? I wish I had one

I fashioned it from my old Gary Glitter shaped pillow.

I went off him when I realised his real name isn't Gary Glitter.

[Phube]

I fashioned it from my old Gary Glitter shaped pillow.

I went off him when I realised his real name isn't Gary Glitter.

You could have had a Gaddler shaped pillow!!!

[stez]

I think there is a deeper side to this news story.

a) He tried his best to make it look like someone else did it, but did a bad job.

b) Some sick gangsters killed the animals, then burnt the family alive inside the house, probably taking them hostage whilst boarding up the windows.

c) Accidental, but unlikely because who boards up windows....from the inside.

Sounds like the poor guy had enemies and his Business went into liquidation the previous year.

i'll reserve judgment until the police and fire investigators have actually got inside. until then we'll all know as much as the papers, which is zip.

[Thracian]

From what you read about the tycoon it would hardly be surprising that he had serious enemies.

I think it remarkable that more businessmen don't end up dead the way our laws work and the way that ordinary investors/contractors/suppliers can so easily lose their money while banks/liquidators feed off the remains of supposedly fallen businesses. And, of course, while business principals can asset strip so painlessly.

At this stage it is not certain that any of the above had anything to do with what happened and, even if it did, it is hard to see why a school age daughter and animals should become victims.

But it's nothing if not intriquing.

[The People's Hero]

JOURNALIST POWER!!!!!!!!

HE MUST HAVE DONE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right, Thracian?

Sod facts etc, idle speculation and finger pointing is king! In fact, it's not just King, it's Andy King. And he's the new Doddsheehan you know.

[AoWW]

2 bodies found inside the house. Linkage

[fox123]

Wife died from gunshot to the head