A couple has been found dead in a granny flat behind a home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in what police suspect was a murder-suicide.
NSW Police responded to welfare concerns on Wednesday night and forced their way into a home on Cannons Parade in Forestville just before 9.30pm.
They discovered the bodies of a man believed to be in his late 40s and a woman in her early 50s.
Both had visible lacerations, and police say the deaths are being treated as suspicious.
Commander of the Northern Beaches Police Area Command Superintendent John Duncan said the victims have yet to be formally identified.
Before the grisly discovery, a member of the public who knew the couple had contacted police with concerns for their welfare, Mr Duncan said.
‘They hadn’t been seen since Saturday, and the member of the public were aware that they had some pets.
‘They were concerned for both their welfare and their pets.’
Police had secured the pets – a couple of dogs and a cat – and they were taken to a vet clinic.
There were no signs of forced entry to the home before the deaths.
‘They have got lacerations to them, but I can’t give any more details about the cause of death or the level of injuries, because it’s still being processed by our crime scene’.
Mr Duncan confirmed the pair were in a domestic relationship. The couple had only lived at the property for about six months but had lived in Sydney for several years.
A neighbour, Lynne, told Daily Mail they kept to themselves.
‘I saw them one night about six months ago and they were coming back from Coles, they looked at me like she was hiding from someone,’ she said.
‘She kept her head down and avoided eye contact. My interpretation was that they had a rough relationship. They put their heads down and didn’t want me to see them or engage.’
Lynne said the pair lived with an ‘older Asian family’ in the granny flat behind the main house.
‘The woman was tall, she looked like she was very country… I know Queensland and she looked like she’d come from a country property.’
The couple were from Queensland and were known to police in that state due to a history of domestic violence incidents.
Police seized a white ute parked in front of the property overnight on Thursday which had Queensland license plates.
Anyone with information has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.