THORNBURY, England, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The body of a Church of England priest was discovered Tuesday morning inside his vicarage in a market town in western England, authorities said.
Police said the death of the Rev. John Suddards is considered "suspicious," The Guardian reported. His home on Castle Street in Thornbury was locked when two workers entered it just after 10 a.m. and discovered him dead.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Crisp of the Somerset and Avon Police said the body had stab wounds but the cause of death had not been determined.
"A full search and examination of the property will take place, and we're determined to find the cause of the death," Crisp told the BBC.
Suddards moved to Thornbury, a town of about 12,000 people 18 miles north of Bristol, last summer, The Guardian said. He previously served a parish in Essex.
After training as an attorney, Suddards decided to become a priest when he was involved in a car crash at age 31. He had been in the church for the past 22 years.
"Lawyers can do two things: they can separate people and they can transfer money, but not much more than that, and I felt I would like to do much more than that," he said in an interview last year.
