A town councillor has died seven months after he sustained life-threatening injuries and his wife was fatally wounded in an attack at their Derbyshire home.
A concerned neighbour discovered Ken Walker, 88, and his wife, Freda, 86, who was later found to have died from head injuries and airway obstruction, in January.
Vasile Culea, 33, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Freda and attempted murder of Ken.
Derbyshire constabulary said Ken died on Monday at Mansfield’s King’s Mill hospital but a postmortem examination to determine the cause of his death had not yet been carried out.
Further charges have not been brought.
Derbyshire constabulary previously said a “serious level of violence” was used in the attack and one of their leading lines of inquiry was whether the incident was an aggravated burglary.
The couple were found by a neighbour at 9am on 15 January at their home in Langwith Junction, Shirebrook, near Bolsover. Freda was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ken was a member of Shirebrook town council and was previously a councillor on Bolsover district council.
After the news of his death, the Bolsover constituency Labour party paid tribute to “a well-known and well-loved pillar of the Shirebrook community”.
In a statement released shortly after the attack, Bolsover district council’s leader, Steve Fritchley, said: “Ken retired from being a district councillor in 2019 and just when they should both be enjoying their twilight years together, this terrible incident has happened and our thoughts are with Ken and his family.
“We have heard many people say, ‘Oh Ken and Freda, what a lovely couple’, and they really were.”
Culea, who is due to stand trial at Derby crown court on 4 October, was remanded in custody after his last court appearance.
