Sex attack link to car death man

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A man found dead in a car alongside his wife on Monday had been questioned by police over sex attacks in the 1980s.

The bodies of Christopher and Christine Downes, aged 50 and 51, were found in Andover, Hants. They left notes and the deaths are not suspicious, police said.

Wiltshire Police visited Mr Downes last week as part of an investigation into two sexual assaults in Salisbury.

A reconstruction of the attacks was featured on BBC One's Crimewatch show last month.

Women had been threatened and attacked with a knife during a six-week period in 1984 and 1985, with two sexually assaulted and a third robbed.

Significant leads

Since the assaults, Wiltshire Police kept bodily fluid from the attacker on file and have now been able to get a full DNA profile of the man.

Following the airing of the reconstruction, police officers said they received a number of significant leads after viewers gave names of suspects and tip-offs.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) are now looking into the incident due to the police involvement with the couple prior to their deaths.

Results of a post-mortem examination into the cause of the deaths of the couple, found on Andover's Wherwell Estate, were inconclusive.