An 86-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering Harry and Megan Tooze, more than 32 years after the married couple were shot dead at their remote farmhouse in Llanharry, south Wales.
South Wales Police confirmed the arrest was made in the early hours of Wednesday, 17 December, following a two-and-a-half-year forensic review of the historic case. The suspect remains in police custody and is being questioned by detectives. No further details have been released.
The killings, which took place on 26 July 1993, are among the most infamous unsolved crimes in Welsh history and were later overshadowed by a high-profile miscarriage of justice.
Harry and Megan Tooze, both in their mid-60s, were killed after returning home from collecting their pensions in the village shortly before midday. Neighbours later reported hearing two shotgun blasts at around 1.30pm, though gunfire was not considered unusual in the rural area.
Police were alerted when a routine phone call from the couple’s daughter went unanswered. Officers attended the farm and discovered the couple’s bodies inside a cow shed.
Four months later, the boyfriend of their daughter was charged with the double murder. Jonathan Jones was convicted at Newport Crown Court in 1995 and sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released a year later after the Court of Appeal ruled the conviction unsafe.
Throughout the ordeal, Cheryl Tooze supported Jones and campaigned for his release, even offering a £25,000 reward for information. Following his acquittal, the couple married and later had a son. Jones has spent the last three decades seeking to clear his name.
The case has been reviewed multiple times without success, until the launch of Operation Vega—a renewed investigation led by Superintendent Mark Lewis to mark the 30th anniversary of the murders.
Superintendent Lewis said the arrest represents a “significant development” but stressed enquiries are ongoing.
“This case has affected many people over the years,” he said. “Our aim is to answer the questions that remain unanswered more than 30 years on. I urge anyone with information to come forward.”
Operation Vega is a thematic forensic review overseen by renowned forensic scientist Professor Angela Gallop, whose work has helped solve some of the UK’s most complex murder cases. Advances in DNA technology have allowed investigators to re-examine retained exhibits from the original scene, extracting evidence that was previously impossible to detect.
News of the arrest has sent shockwaves through the Llanharry community, where many believed the case had been consigned to history.
Cheryl and Jonathan Jones have declined to comment.
