A TV personality who was shot dead by her British oil tycoon husband in a murder-suicide loved to ‘party hard’ and seemed ‘happy’ in Turkey before she was killed, shocked friends have revealed.
Singer and comedian Victoria Vera Blyth, 40, was found dead after her husband David Thomas Blyth, 53, killed her before turning the gun on himself at their home in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, while their children were in the house on June 11.
Friends of the couple yesterday claimed that the tragedy may have unfolded because Scottish-born Mr Blyth found out his wife was planning to leave him over his string of affairs.
Meanwhile Sheena Lumsden and her husband Tony, who were friends of the couple when Mr Lumsden worked with Mr Blyth in Korea, were left completely shocked and said they had a ‘sense of disbelief’ when they found out.
Speaking to the Mail at their home in Ayr, Mrs Lumsden, 67, said Mrs Blyth had been ‘like a daughter’ to her and added: ‘It’s a total shock, it really is. I just keep thinking about those children.’
Singer and comedian Victoria Vera Blyth (pictured), 40, was found dead after her Scottish-born husband David Thomas Blyth, 53, killed her before turning the gun on himself
Victoria Vera Blyth, 40, (pictured, left) is understood to have sent texts to friends telling them that she was unhappy with her husband Thomas Blyth, 53, (pictured, right) over his jealousy and ‘constant infidelities’
Ms Blyth was a hugely popular figure in Czech showbiz circles
Mrs Lumsden said she had spoken to someone who had been ‘talking to Victoria and she seemed happy to be out in Turkey’.
She added: ‘It just came completely out of the blue and as far as I can make out from other people that knew them it was total shock – where did that come from?’
Mr Lumsden said: ‘It was a sense of disbelief when I heard the news, considering I’d known the man. I don’t know if he took drugs or whatever but he couldn’t have been in his right mind.’
Mr Blyth was a work colleague of Mr Lumsden when they were based at the Samsung shipyard in Korea in 2010.
He said: ‘Tom and I worked together then we got to be friends socially and then his wife Victoria came out and Sheena came out and we used to socialise as a group.
The former Merchant Navy captain said they worked together for about a year when he was an offshore manager for the rigs, while Mr Blyth had the same role, but more onshore.
He explained four new ships were being built at the shipyard and they were part of the management team.
Mrs Lumsden said she first met Victoria when she went out to see her husband in Korea. She said Victoria was the same age as her eldest daughter when they met and had just had her first child – a boy – at the time.
She added: ‘I kept in contact with her over the years through social media and text messages just because I felt she was like a daughter to me, but still we used to have good fun and go out in the evenings. We were part of the international crowd.’
The TV star leaves behind her three young children (pictured), who are believed to have been at the home when the murder-suicide happened
A friend said the couple had a ‘so-called Italian marriage, in which there was no shortage of tense moments’
Mr Lumsden recalled Mr Blyth’s 40th birthday party in the summer of 2010. ‘That was a big event when everybody did fancy dress at a bar called Bunny Boilers at Okpo on Geoje Island,’ he said.
‘We went our different ways on different projects because he was down in Brazil for a while and she went to Brazil with him.
‘They were a bit younger than us and were very vivacious and larger than life characters. Tom was very intelligent and very good at his job. They were social, young and vivacious and both doing well in their careers.
Mrs Lumsden said: ‘He was a good bit older than her; there’s about 12-13 years between them. She’s just 40 now because she’s the same age as our eldest daughter, and I think he’s 53.
She added: ‘They liked to party hard but she was a lovely person, she really was a good mother but also wanting to do her own thing.’
Mr Lumsden added: ‘Victoria was looking after he own career, she had TV shows and things. Our apartments were in the same tower block.’
Mr Blyth’s remains are said to have been handed back to his family, who are taking them back to Scotland. Ms Blyth’s body, meanwhile, remains in Turkey
The couple found out about the tragedy through social media. Mrs Lumsden went on: ‘It was popping up on Facebook, people were posting on her Facebook page with RIP and I thought, what’s all this about?
‘The links were to a Czech newspaper but I couldn’t translate it. I had a phone call later that night from a friend in New Zealand who’d been in touch with Vicky just a couple of weeks ago because she was doing a marathon or something out in Turkey.
‘She was congratulating her, saying well done because she was able to fit these things in even though she’s got three children to look after.
‘My friend sent me a message asking if I’d heard about Tom and Vicky and then my son in law managed to translate the newspaper report, so it was total shock, like something out of a movie script.
‘You can’t believe that it happened to somebody you know . It’s those children I feel incredibly sad for because we’ve got grandchildren about the same age and I just don’t know how they’re going to get past that and live with that.
‘For Tom to do that to his children, never mind his wife…’
Mr Lumsden added: ‘You can only think that he wasn’t in his right mind at the time.’
Mr and Mrs Blyth married in 2014 and lived together in Prague for several years before moving to Turkey after his work took him to the Middle East
Mr Lumsden went on: ‘I don’t know what the state of his mind or marriage was but again, the fact was that they’d been together so long and had three kids.
‘I was hearing through the grapevine and through Sheena that Vicky was quite happy so yes, it’s like something from the movies.’
Mrs Lumsden recalled the Blyths getting married in about 2012 when their youngest child was around four years old.
She said: ‘I saw similarities with my daughter in Australia living away from her relatives and her man works away sometimes. I very much liked to keep in contact with her because of all these similarities and how well she was doing.
‘But I just keep thinking about those children it’s the bottom line of it and the saddest part.’
The couple said Mrs Blyth spoke Afrikaans from her early life in South Africa and was able to converse with Dutch international workers.
Mr Lumsden said: ‘Tom had been in the drilling business, starting off in the North Sea like myself. He went offshore as a roughneck but then ended up a fairly senior manager at quite a young age.
‘By the time he was 40 he was onshore installation manager with quite big responsibilities.’
‘He was intelligent and fairly eloquent. He wasn’t rough or ready.’
Those who knew her in the Czech Republic have remembered her always having a smile on her face and calling them ‘Darling’
Mrs Lumsden added: ‘I’ve had a couple of sleepless nights, not just trying to get my head around it but I’ve been contacted by people late at night in the Philippines or New Zealand.
‘It’s just one of these times when you’ve got to speak to other people who knew them because you’re thinking, has this really happened? Is this really true?
Yesterday, friends of the couple also said they believe the TV star may have been shot dead because he found out she was thinking about leaving him.
Ms Blyth is understood to have sent texts to friends telling them that she was unhappy with her husband over his jealousy and ‘constant infidelities’ and return to her Czech Republic homeland.
Her friends believe that the celebrity couple who were married for ten years could have had a furious row at their luxury villa in the Turkish capital Ankara after he translated her text messages showing her discussing her plans with her Czech friends.
It was also claimed that controlling Blyth had allegedly become fed up with his ‘vivacious’ wife posting glamorous pictures of herself on Instagram, and had told her that it was unbecoming behaviour for the spouse of a senior executive.
A Czech friend of Ms Blyth, who had three children with her husband and was known as Viky said: ‘Everyone was following her on Instagram, but a few months ago her profile suddenly disappeared. So I contacted Viky to find out what was going on.
She presented the Morning Show on Europe 2 alongside Czech broadcaster Leo¿ Mare¿
‘She told me that the husband did not want the wife of an influential businessman to present herself in this way. So, she complied and created a new profile, which she already had locked to the public, and stopped sharing her sexy photos.’
In an interview with Czech newspaper Blesk, the friend added: ‘From that moment on, we started writing a lot and it took a long time before she revealed to me that she was dealing with her husband’s constant infidelities. She herself said that she was jealous’
Fighting back tears, the friend added that Ms Blyth has threatened her husband in the past that she would leave him if he did not stop his philandering.
She said: ‘Viky had southern blood and was vivacious. They led a so-called Italian marriage, in which there was no shortage of tense moments.
‘Viky even jokingly said that she loves drama and it is the spice of their relationship.’
Ms Blyth was reported to have been due to head to the Czech Republic to spend the summer with her Czech family.
The friend added: ‘Yes, she wrote to me. Unfortunately she also wrote to me that she would not be returning to Ankara afterwards and would stay here in the Czech Republic.
‘That she was leaving her husband and children, that she wanted a life without infidelity and stress for the children… Who could have guessed that this decision would cost her her life and make three children orphans.’
Ms Blyth was a hugely popular figure in Czech showbiz circles, and presented the Morning Show on Europe 2 alongside Czech broadcaster Leo Mare.
Those who knew her in the Czech Republic have remembered her always having a smile on her face and calling them ‘Darling’.
Blyth and her husband left three children behind
Oil tycoon David Thomas Blyth (pictured, right) killed them both with a gun in their home in Turkey’s capital, Ankara
The friend added: ‘After what I’ve read, I’m convinced they started fighting over the texts Viky wrote to her friends. That he translated them and hurt her.’
The couple’s three children, aged four, ten and 14, were placed in the care of their mother’s family who travelled to Turkey following Ms Blyth’s suspected murder on June 11, according to local media.
Mr and Mrs Blyth married in 2014 and lived together in Prague for several years before moving to Turkey after his work took him to the Middle East.
She was born in South Africa and moved to the Czech Republic as a young woman with her family. She studied music at university and became famous after releasing her first album in 2004.
Ms Blyth also dedicated much of her time to charity, working with the Czech organisation Velvet Smile, which helps ‘improve the quality of life for families of sick and disabled children, and victims of domestic abuse, according to its website.
She also founded DazSpor, the organisers of running races across Turkey, including a half-marathon in the country’s capital.
The charity said in a social media post: ‘We are deeply saddened by the passing of founder of DazSpor Mrs. Victoria Blyth.’
The murder-suicide reportedly stemmed from a heated argument over the presenter’s texts
Victoria was born in South Africa and moved to the Czech Republic as a young woman with her family
She also dedicated much of her time to charity work
Her sister, Alexandra, wrote a tribute to her sister on Instagram, and revealed her family had only recently buried their father.
The post read: ‘It is with deep sadness and pain that I have to announce that my beloved and beautiful sister, the sunshine of our lives who brought us so much joy, with her laughter, positive spirit, drive and energy, has left us forever.
‘Please, I’m begging you all, give us time for the sake of the children.
‘My family is going through a very difficult time because they lost both parents. We recently buried our father and now our sister and brother-in-law and we need time to recover, but most of all we need to be here for the children.
‘We really appreciate your beautiful messages, but in these difficult times we need time to breathe.’
Just months before her husband brutally murdered her, the TV presenter said in her final interview that she had a lot of ideas for future projects
But she added poignantly: ‘I don’t like to plan completely into the future, because you never know what can happen.’
Blyth was an oil tycoon, owning and running the international firm ASG Inspection, and had three children with his wife
Victoria studied music at university and rose to fame after releasing her first album in 2004
A friend told Blesk.cz that Ms Blyth planned on buying a ranch and returning to her music
Mr Blyth’s remains are said to have been handed back to his family, who are taking them back to Scotland. Ms Blyth’s body, meanwhile, remains in Turkey.
Turkish police are still investigating the tragic incident.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Turkey and are in contact with the local authorities.’
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic added: ‘I can confirm that a Czech citizen died a violent death in Türkiye.
‘Our embassy in Ankara is in contact with her family and is providing consular assistance. With regard to the survivors, we will not provide any further information.’
