The uncle of Elgin ‘Lotto lout’ Michael Carroll told his neighbours that he had just shot his wife – moments before he killed himself in his front garden.
Stephen Muncaster, 47, was found dead in the garden of his bungalow in Magdalen near King’s Lynn in Norfolk while the body of his wife Ali, 48, was discovered inside the house.
Bev Golding, 53, who knew Steve and Allison for over 20 years, told the Mirror: “He went into his front garden and his neighbours saw him out of their window.
“He said to them, ‘I’ve just shot Ali’. Their deaths are a total shock. Steve was such a lovely person and she was as well, they were honest with hearts of gold.”
Sarah Reeves, 43, who spoke to Steve just 36 hours before his death, said: “He didn’t seem stressed or anything.
“I know they had just put down a £600 deposit for their holiday next year.
“It has come completely out of the blue. It does not make sense. He loved and adored her, and she loved him. They were such a lovely couple.”
Carroll – labelled by the press as “King of the Chavs” due to his lavish lottery-winner lifestyle – used to live with Mr Muncaster and built the £400,000 property for his uncle and his then-wife Kelly, who split up around 13 years ago.
Eight years after his 2002 lottery win, Carroll was forced to sign of for job seeker’s allowance before moving to the north-east to work at Walker’s shortbread factory and later a local slaughterhouse.
Mr Muncaster stayed in the house and is believed to have started a relationship with Ali, who moved in about 11 years ago.
Neighbours reported to police that they heard a row at the rural bungalow at around midnight followed by several loud bangs.
Police are treating the incident as a “murder and suicide”.
Detective Superintendent Paul Durham of Norfolk Police said: “The ambulance service got a phone from a member of the local community who reported the sound of gunshots.
“They notified us and we went to the scene and found the body of a man in the front garden and shortly afterwards, the body of a woman inside.
“I am treating it as a murder and suicide. It would appear that there was a domestic element to it.
“The couple involved had not come to our notice before in terms of any previous domestic incidents.”
