LONDON - Police and prison authorities say a Lithuanian man charged with bludgeoning a British couple to death has been found dead in prison.

Rimvydas Liorancas was charged with killing 62-year-old Avtar Kolar and his 58-year-old wife Carole, whose bodies were found by their son in a quiet neighborhood of Birmingham, central England, on January 11.

Postmortem examinations showed that the couple died from repeated blows to the head.

West Midlands Police yesterday said the 37-year-old suspect was found dead at Woodhill Prison in southern England on Saturday.

The prison service said he was found hanging in his cell.

The case made headlines when two of the couple's four children made emotional television appeals for help finding the killer.