Bodies of Irishwoman and husband left undiscovered for 12 hours in Spanish resort

Gerard Couzens

The bodies of Irish mum-of-two Thomasina Tobin and her husband lay undiscovered for more than 12 hours before their children found them in their holiday villa hot tub.

The teenagers raised the alarm on Tuesday afternoon after conducting a room-by-room search of the large hilltop property in Cullera near the east coast Spanish city of Valencia because they had called out to their parents from upstairs and failed to get any response.

Autopsies which ruled out foul play despite a police homicide unit being put in charge of the investigation are understood to point to their deaths occurring late the previous night or the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The kids aged 14 and 16 spent most of the time sleeping in their top-floor bedrooms unaware of the tragedy that had occurred in the ground-floor jacuzzi.

More tragic details of the “chain-accident” tragedy involving the Trinity College Dublin graduate and her New Zealand-born partner Patrick Tobin emerged overnight as local press reported investigators were focusing on the theory Thomasina fell victim to a hot tub “technical fault” and her husband was electrocuted as he tried to save her.

Sources close to the ongoing probe confirmed yesterday they were not treating the incident as a crime but were still unable to determine exact causes of death pending post-autopsy tests on blood, urine and tissue samples which will be conducted at a specialist laboratory in Barcelona.

The water in the jacuzzi, said to have been cloudy, is also being analysed. The premise Tobin died trying to save his wife was already on the table.

Possible 'technical failure'

Local paper Las Provincias reported overnight Civil Guard specialists now believe the trigger was “a technical failure in the jacuzzi’s suction system” which led to Thomasina becoming “trapped in the water".

It added: “Upon realizing the danger his wife was in, Patrick came to her aid. In that desperate attempt to free her, the second fatality occurred.

“The Civil Guard and forensic experts believe that the man may have suffered a lethal electric shock while handling the defective installation of the hot tub with his wet body, or when he put his hand into the mechanism in an attempt to switch off the motor."

Police and court officials have not commented on the latest reports.

A secrecy order preventing civil servants from making any detailed comment, a tool commonly used in Spain to protect judicial probes especially in their infancy, is believed to be still in place.

Full postmortem results will not be officially released in keeping with normal Spanish practice.

Three relatives of the “traumatised” teenagers flew to Spain after being informed of the jacuzzi tragedy. They were taken to a hotel in Cullera on arrival, although their current whereabouts is unknown.

Only one of the three luxury villas in Colina del Sol, the gated complex forming part of the Cap Blanc residential estate in Cullera where Mr and Mrs Tobin were staying with their kids, openly advertises a private jacuzzi online but it is not yet clear which of the properties the family had opted for.

That villa, Villa Luna or Moon Villa in English, has three bedrooms which can sleep five people and also has its own swimming pool.

An online promotion says of the lower-floor hot tub: “Don't forget the ground floor oasis, where your own private spa area with jacuzzi, TV corner and a shower area built into the rock calls for moments of pure relaxation.”

The property owner alerted police on Tuesday afternoon after being contacted by the couple’s children.

A villa manager said yesterday when asked for comment by email: “We are doing everything in our power to assist investigators in resolving this matter.

“For any further information, please contact the police department handling the case directly as we can not share any details or information.”

Chartered surveyor Tobin, who was 51, was from Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, but had been living in London for around 20 years.

Her father is well-known playwright, actor and producer Tommy McArdle, who spent many years directing RTÉ drama Glenroe.

Spanish police initially described her husband as an Irish passport holder before putting out a clarification on Thursday saying he was born in New Zealand.