A 23-year-old man has been charged with the murders of a woman and her teenage son, and the attempted murder of the boy’s father.
Aaron Barley, 23, was arrested following an incident in Stourbridge on Thursday, West Midlands Police said. Detectives had earlier confirmed the suspect was known to the family but was not a relative.
Peter Wilkinson, 47, his wife Tracey, 50, and their 13-year-old son Pierce were subjected to the knife attack on Thursday morning.
Tracey, who had worked at a rehab centre supporting people with drug and alcohol problems, was pronounced dead inside the £440,000 detached property in Stourbridge, West Midlands, and Pierce later died in hospital.
Company director Peter remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital. His daughter, Bristol University student Lydia Wilkinson, 18, was not at the property at the time of the attack and is being comforted by relatives.
A Land Drover stolen from outside the home was intercepted by police around half an hour after the attack and a man in his 20s was arrested.
Meanwhile friends have suggested that the family had been taking in “down and outs”.
Regulars at their local pub the New Inn described the couple as “very charitable” and said they had taken in a homeless man in December.
One local, who didn’t want to be named, said: “They were a lovely family, it is just awful what’s happened.
“They had two children who were a credit to them. I’ve seen Peter with Pierce in the Greyhound pub near their house playing pool. But Peter and Tracey also drank at the New Inn.
“They were well known and liked by everyone. No-one had a bad word to say about them. They had taken in a homeless person around Christmas time. They were a very charitable couple, they were Good Samaritans and Tracey had a heart of gold.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that they would open up their home to somebody in need and provide them with a roof over their head. It was just in their nature. They were just so kind.”
On Friday well-wishers continued to leave floral tributes outside the family home.
Friends of Pierce who laid tributes on their way to school with their parents were too upset to comment. One message read: “Rest in peace Tracey and Pierce. Praying for Peter’s recovery. Thoughts with Lydia and the rest of the family. Love Beth and family.”
Another message scrawled in children’s handwriting on a bouquet of flowers said: “To my friend Pierce RIP.”
Another read: “A lovely family, they will be deeply missed. Our thoughts, prayers are with you at this very sad time. Love from Nina and family.”
Local Tory councillor Colin Elcock added “I came down because I heard something terrible had happened from a colleague, but it wasn’t until I got here that I realised how terrible.
“I had only been with Tracey last week at a ward meeting where she was, as always, very supportive of me. They were a lovely couple. Peter was a businessman, and used to travel a lot to the USA and Europe with his job.
“But both he and Tracey helped me deliver pamphlets for the Mayoral elections.”