The postmortem on Stephen Chapple was continuing on Tuesday but a police source said he, too, had suffered stab wounds. Police said the children were being looked after by family members.Ī postmortem confirmed Jennifer Chapple had died from multiple stabs wounds. Steve will be sadly missed by all staff and students and our thoughts and prayers go out to his children and wider family at this time.”Ī murder investigation is being led by the major crime investigation team. He led innovations in the use of technology across the school, as well as within his own teaching. Gregg Mockridge, the headteacher of West Somerset college, where Stephen Chapple taught, said: “Steve was a fantastic colleague, a brilliant teacher that cared deeply about the students in his care. She was a respected member of the team and was well liked by all her colleagues.” Rob Brooks, the manager of Otter garden centre in Taunton, where Jennifer Chapple worked, said: “Jenny joined us at the beginning of this year and worked in our coffee shop. Officers searched bushes, gardens and drains around the house in Dragon Rise. On Tuesday, magistrates granted an extension to the custody time limit in relation to a 34-year-old man, while a man aged 67 was released under investigation. Two men, aged 34 and 67, were arrested on suspicion of murder after the attack at about 9.45pm Sunday. Neighbours said there had been disputes about parking in the street and that police had visited on at least three previous occasions to speak to those involved.Īvon and Somerset police has referred itself to the watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct because of the previous contacts.
Officers ushered them away, not allowing them to see their parents’ bodies. When police arrived they found their children, aged five and six, still asleep. Paramedics tried to save Stephen Chapple, 36, a teacher, and Jennifer Chapple, 33, who worked in a coffee shop, but they died of their wounds in their house in the village of Norton Fitzwarren, near Taunton. A husband and wife were stabbed to death at their Somerset home as their children slept upstairs, police have said.