Elderly woman found 'murdered' in home named locally with 'constant police presence' at scene

An elderly woman who was allegedly murdered in her own home has been named locally as 'Esther'. Police were called an address on Denver Road in Liverpool on Friday night.

Officers attended and a woman, believed to be in her mid-seventies, was found dead within. A 78-year-old man has since been arrested on suspicion of murder.

He has been detained under the mental health act. Meanwhile, Esther's was known by many of her neighbours in the local area.

One woman who had known her since moving into the street around three decades ago, said she was "close friends" with Esther and said the two would "do the knitting together".

She told the Liverpool Echo: "We watched the children grow up together. We were all in bed [at the time it happened]. We didn't find out until the next day. We went to my daughter's about 10am. We didn't think it was anything as bad as it was. I've been here over 30 years."

Police at the scene on Denver Road in Kirkby (Image: Liverpool Echo)

Another neighbour living opposite said she came home late on Friday evening to find police on the street and said from then on there had been a "constant police presence", with a cordon and van still in place on Sunday evening. And another woman said she arrived home at around 1.30am Saturday morning to find police carrying out an investigation at the property in question.

She woman said: "All the lights were on and the front door was wide open, and we saw all the tape."

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The neighbour said she would occasionally see Esther in the street and would say hello. She said: "It's a quiet street usually. I've lived here for 23 years myself. Nothing like this has ever happened before, not at all."

Others told how they saw officers in white suits arrive at the property. Another woman said: "There's been police constantly and loads of forensics. It was at midnight I noticed there was police outside."

Detective Chief Inspector Cath Cox said: “Our thoughts are with the woman’s family during this tragic time and specialist officers are currently supporting them. An investigation is underway as we try to establish what has happened.

“Although we have made an arrest, we are still carrying out forensic examinations at the scene and will continue to review any CCTV footage in the area. If you have any information about this incident, then please get in touch with us so we can continue our enquiries.”