A Tesco worker has today been charged with murder after his wife and 18-year-old daughter were found with their throats cut.
Police were called to a disturbance shortly before 3pm on Monday after locals reported terrified screams from a house in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Marcin Zdun, 39, will appear via video link before Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court this morning.
The body of 18-year-old Nikoleta Zdun was found at the property while Marcin Zdun’s wife Aneta Zdun, 40, was found alive but died a short time later.
Horrified witnesses claim two little girls fled the house, allegedly telling a neighbour, ‘Mummy isn’t very well. She’s been cut.’
Residents living nearby today described how brave locals chased down the suspect and tackled him after the double killing unfolded on their ‘quiet’ street in the historic cathedral town.
It was claimed two ‘big’ builders chased down and ‘flattened’ the suspect, who had not been living at home for a couple of months.
Police said Marcin Zdun, 39, from Salisbury has been charged with two counts of murder and will appear virtually, via video link, before Basingstoke Magistrates this morning.
Amanda Barlow, a mother-of-three, who lives close to the scene said she heard ‘horrific child-like screaming’.
Ms Barlow, 40, said: ‘A neighbour who lives across the road took the children into his house to look after them because they apparently saw what had happened. The other two children are much younger. It’s all such a shock.’
One neighbour, who works at the nearby Tesco superstore, said when she was interviewed by police there ‘seemed to be a suggestion’ Zdun had split with his wife.
The Polish Zdun family are understood to have been living in Salisbury for around four years, and are believed to be originally from Tarnow, Poland.
Neighbours Nick and Jan Maher rushed and took the little girls into their home to keep them safe, ordering pizza and letting them watch cartoons.
Mr Maher, 59, who owns his own catering company, said: ‘There was some noise and I thought it was kids playing… but it got louder, dramatically louder.
‘I thought they were having a fight at first but someone shouted ‘they’ve been stabbed, call the police’.’
‘So I went out and my wife and I grabbed the two children to put them in our house and keep them safe. One of our neighbours came up the hill very out of breath and said, ‘We’ve caught him, just down the road’.
‘We had the children in here and kept them entertained. In passing, the seven-year-old said, ‘Mummy isn’t very well because [someone] was stabbing her in the throat, but she should be alright by Friday’… it’s just awful.
Neighbour Gary Smith, a retired Army veteran, said he had seen ‘some horrific things in combat but never anything like that’.
The 67-year-old, who rushed to help, said: ‘I went round there and in the front garden I could see a woman with her throat cut. It was horrible, I don’t understand how someone could do that.
‘I was in the services so I’ve seen my fair share, but I never saw anything like that.
‘The family were all nice to talk to, very friendly and always said hello. Not ones to have a full conversation, but polite.’
Officers were called to the property on Wessex Road at 2.45pm and found the body of one woman, with another woman found seriously injured.
The second woman was treated by paramedics from South Western Ambulance Service but died shortly afterwards.
Forensic officers retrieved what appeared to be a knife from the roof of the house.
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