The wife of murder suspect Anxiang Du fled their home in a mysterious midnight flit, neighbours revealed today.
Police are hunting Chinese-born Du who is believed to have slaughtered a family of four over a business deal which went sour.
Today neighbours of Du, who ran a herbal remedy shop in Birmingham, said his wife fled their home in Coventry after dark on Tuesday.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: ”I did knock on their front late door last night and shouted through the letter box to see if his wife was all right but I didn’t get any answer.
”I spoke to a few other neighbours and they said they saw Mrs Du coming out the house carrying suitcases.
”I would imagine she has gone to stay with family for support.
”It was so dreadful round here. There were cameras and reporters everywhere. And I just felt so sorry for her.
”They’ve been such lovely neighbours to me. They are really nice people. They always say hello in a very courteous way.
”You wouldn’t think Anxiang would hurt a fly and yet now he’s a murder suspect. The whole thing is bizarre.
”I just so shocked about it. Anxiang is such a polite, quiet and unassuming man.”
Terry Sharpe, 36, a builder who was re-roofing a neighbouring property, said: ”I see the couple every so often out walking their dog.
”He [Du] doesn’t strike you as the murdering kind.
”There has been all this talk that the murder was related to the triads but I seriously doubt it.
”People always assume it’s the triads when there’s a Chinese murder story.
”But this bloke runs a herbal shop for goodness sake.
”Who knows where he’s hiding but I bet that suicide note was just to cover his tracks. His whole family have fled.”
Neighbour Ashok Gupta, 47, added: ”They are just a very quiet, very normal family.
”The couple have a son who is a young man, but he doesn’t live with them anymore. It’s just the two of them.
”Our children are so shocked, it’s hard to explain to them what has happened.
”We have only recently moved here. We’re beginning to think we moved to the wrong place.”