A gun-dealer has been charged with the murder of his solicitor wife after she was shot dead at their 17th century farmhouse while their twin boys slept.
Silke Hartshorne-Jones, who was in her early forties, was found with gunshot wounds at the family’s £610,000 Grade II-listed Chestnut Farm in Barham near Ipswich in the early hours of Sunday.
Her husband Peter-Hartshorne Jones, 51, was arrested on suspicion of her murder and has now been charged.
He will appear before Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday
Hartshorne-Jones worked as a corporate solicitor in London, but had been working from home since the start of lockdown, while her husband owned a shotgun business.
Her death came just two weeks before her identical sons’ ninth birthday.
Police were scrambled to the property in Suffolk just after 4.45am on Sunday where Mrs Hartshorne-Jones was found in a critical condition. She was rushed to Ipswich Hospital but pronounced dead a short time later.
Silke Hartshorne-Jones, in her early 40s and the mother of twin sons aged eight, was shot dead at her farmhouse home in Suffolk
Pictured: The Grade II-listed 17th century farmhouse in Barham, Suffolk, with a heavy police presence outside
A neighbour of Mrs Hartshorne-Jones told how her identical sons were taken away by police after she was shot in the early hours of Sunday.
Kevin Terry who lived next door recalled the heartbreaking scene of the boys leaving the farmhouse was captured by a CCTV camera on his property.
He said that police investigating the suspected murder had taken away the footage from his camera as potential evidence.
Mr Terry, 53, said: ‘There didn’t seem to be any movement or anyone coming and going before the police arrived.
‘But it later showed police taking away the two boys in a car while an officer appeared to be restraining a man.
‘You have got to feel sorry for these two young boys who have lost their mother in the most awful circumstances. They are going to be the big losers out of all this.’
German-born Mrs Hartshorne-Jones lived with her husband Peter, their two sons and two dogs at the Grade II-listed property, which bought in October 2015 and is now worth £610,000.
The home remained cordoned off today as police forensic officers in protective suits continued to search for clues.
Mrs Hartshorne-Jones who was described as a ‘devoted mother’ by one villager worked as a lawyer for technology company K2 Partnering Solutions.
Her Linked In profile described her job as being in charge of the company’s ‘legal and compliance function’ across Europe.
Mrs Hartshorne-Jones was shot at the Grade II listed Chestnut Farm in Barham near Ipswich, Suffolk, where she lived with her husband Peter Hartshorne-Jones, 51, and her sons
Mrs Hartshorne-Jones (pictured) worked as a corporate solicitor in London, but had been working from home since the start of lockdown
Neighbours said that she used to commute to work, leaving home at 5.30am every weekday and not returning until the evening.
She had been staying at home since lockdown started, although it is not known if she was still working or had been furloughed from her job.
Mr Hartshorne-Jones, a former governor at nearby Otley Primary School who is on his second marriage, always worked from home, according to neighbours.
He has his own recruitment agency providing staff for the catering industry and a business called Hartshorne Fine English Shotguns selling what his website describes as ‘the finest sporting English and Scottish shotguns’.
It adds that the firm deals in guns made by ‘leading makers including James Purdey & Sons, Boss & Co, Holland & Holland, James Woodward & Sons, Grant, Lang, Lancaster, William Evans, Charles Boswell and John Dickson & Son.’
Villagers said that he also had an income from renting out a 17th century cottage where he and his wife used to live around eight miles away in Nedging Tye.
Emma Bennett, 44, who currently rents the house, described him as ‘a country gentleman’ who loved guns.
She said: ‘We have a got a room at the back with bars on the windows and a locked door. He said that was where he kept his guns under lock and key. I just assumed he was a country gentleman who would probably have guns.’
Ms Bennett said she was last in contact with him two-weeks-ago when he sorted out a problem with her sewage tank ‘playing up’.
She said: ‘He seemed fine and got it sorted for us. I messaged him to say that I hoped his family was all well. He said he was all keeping well.
‘He is just a really nice guy. He was very level-headed and was quite quiet, not an extrovert, but a really friendly and a normal guy.
‘He was very much a traditional person and loved the country life. I believe he had a small holding as well.
‘Everything seemed fine. He spoke about his wife and even compared me to her in my mannerisms.
‘He would talk about his boys and how they loved country life and it was so good because it was a healthy upbringing for them.
‘He would be slow on getting things done, but most landlords are like that. I was always having to chase him up.’
Forensic experts are pictured going into the farmhouse in Barham, Suffolk on Monday
Police said a man, 51, is currently being questioned at the Police investigation Centre in Bury St Edmunds
Jamie Taylor-Holt, 67, who lived next door to Mr and Mrs Hartshorne-Jones in Nedging Tye, said: ‘I know he worked as a head hunter.
‘I don’t think he was a very sociable person, but he loved shooting. He would go out game shooting with a group.
‘He was quite calm and always softly spoken. His wife’s parents would come over from Germany to see them and we would hear them talking German in the back garden.’
Mr Terry who lives next door to the couple’s farmhouse at Barham said he did not hear anything suspicious before police arrived.
He said: ‘The police came round to ask if we had hear anything, but we were unable to help.’
‘She was quite a stern and forthright person – a typical German really. But she spoke excellent English with only a bit of an accent.
‘He was a very English character who liked to wear a flat cap, and a Barbour jacket, and he had a collection of multi-coloured corduroy trousers.
A police officer lifts a cordon allowing another vehicle to enter the property in Barham today
One villager described Mrs Hartshorne-Jones, who was German, as ‘friendly’ and ‘a devoted mother’ to her sons
A man, 51, has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the corporate solicitor was killed
‘When they moved in a couple of weeks after we bought our house, one of the first things he asked me was, ‘Do you shoot?’ I don’t so that was the end of the conversation.
‘He worked from home and always boasted that he had three different companies including his gun company and recruitment business.
‘I know he sold guns from the house and he had a secure gun cupboard.
‘I used to see Silke every Sunday when she would walk up to the village green. She would always wave and say hello.’
The incident took place in the village of Barham, near to the A14 motorway by Ipswich
A Suffolk Police statement said: ‘Police were called shortly before 4.45am today, Sunday 3 May, to reports a woman had been shot within a property.
‘On arrival at the premises, officers discovered a woman, aged in her 40s, inside who had suffered serious injuries.
‘She was transported to Ipswich Hospital via ambulance in a critical condition, where she sadly died a short time later.
‘A 51-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder and was taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre for questioning.
‘A police cordon is in place at the property while an investigation is carried out.’
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact South CID, quoting crime reference: 37/24434/20