Every third day, in our #EveryThreeDays campaign, I write about a woman killed by a man. Previously this month, we have remembered Rosemary Gill and Laura Davies. Today we remember Lisa Anthony, 47, and her daughter Ava, who was just 14 years old. They lived in a gated mansion valued at £2m in Esher in Surrey, and statements from friends and relatives suggest the family were all happy.
Their stories are somewhat unusual from what I write and research – there is no evidence of controlling behaviour or abuse either. Just two common criteria, they died in their own home and were murdered by a man they knew – Johnathan Anthony, Laura’s husband and Ava’s father.
A double murder – with no apparent reason.
It is known when Johnathan murdered his wife and daughter – June 17th 2015. He left a trail of texts and messages suggesting to the family that he was taking his wife and their daughter away for a surprise trip. The truth was he had murdered them and was intending to take a Eurostar to France, there meeting his mistress Maiva Mace, who he had met two months prior, at a hotel in Lille.
Together, they travelled to Paris and then Nice before Jonathan Anthony messaged his friend Mustafa Kura who lived close to Nice on June 27th, claiming he was in trouble. While then staying with his friend, he confided in him, saying: ” there are two people dead, they are my girls’ – he went on to explain further details and it was agreed that Mustafa would accompany Jonathan to visit a nearby French police station the next day.
That did not happen – instead on June 28th, Jonathan Anthony committed suicide by slitting his own throat with a carving knife in Mustafa’s bathroom.
The coroner reported in November 2015 with the Daily Mail reporting this:
A post mortem examination carried out by Dr Robert Chapman found that Lisa had been strangled to death, as there were notable compressions to the Adam’s apple area of her throat. Ava had died from suffocation.
As the coroner Mr Wickens recorded his verdict of an unlawful death he said:
‘In the Anthony home there was a husband, a father, and a killer – this was all one person. I am satisfied so I am sure that Lisa and Ava were killed unlawfully.’
‘On June 29 2015 Lisa and her daughter Ava were both found dead at their family home in Esher. They were not victims of a car accident. Far from it. They died at the hands of an assailant.’
‘Lisa died as a result of compression of the neck, and Ava died as a result of suffocation. They were both unlawfully killed.
‘They were found in bed and had been placed hand in hand in bedclothes used to cover them.
‘Jonathan was able to convey the exact position they were in because it was he who had placed them there after their death.
‘I offer my sincere condolences to the family and all of those who were touched by Lisa and Ava Anthony.’
Lisa and Ava Anthony.
#EveryThreeDays
Authored By Steph @PlaceSteph
