Nurse, 37, strangled to death by intruder who broke in and set her house on fire
Lisa Skidmore was pronounced dead at the scene following a blaze
A NURSE was strangled to death after her house was broken in to and set on fire, police said.
Lisa Skidmore, who worked at Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, was pronounced dead at the scene following a blaze at a property in Bilston, West Mildands.
However a post mortem confirmed that the 37-year-old died of strangulation.
Police have now launched a murder investigation following the fire, which took place on Thursday.
Her 80-year-old mum was also in the house, on Mill Croft, and was taken to hospital with severe facial injuries.
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The mum told cops she had disturbed an intruder, who then assaulted her before she passed out.
Detective Superintendent Mark Payne said: "This is a very complex enquiry and it has taken us some time to establish what has happened at the address.
"We believe that the offender assaulted Miss Skidmore before setting fire to the bedroom.
"He was then disturbed by Lisa's mother and assaulted her before making his escape.
"We have a team of detectives working around the clock to trace the person responsible so I would urge anyone who saw someone acting suspiciously around the property on Thursday morning to contact us urgently on 101."
The suspect is described as a black man in his 20s, around 5ft 6ins tall with a medium build and afro hair.
Cops said he was wearing a dark coloured long sleeved jacket, dark trousers and black thick leather gloves.
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