Gunman's tax evasion fears at heart of massacre inquiry

Detectives confirmed they were looking into the taxi driver's financial affairs after it emerged that he feared being jailed for tax evasion.

A friend of Bird's said he was being investigated by the Inland Revenue after being caught with a mystery 60,000 in his bank account.

Another theory being investigated is that he resented the fact his twin brother, David, was given 25,000 by their late father more than a decade ago.

David Bird is thought to have been the first victim of his brother's killing spree, which brought terror to rural towns and villages across west Cumbria on Wednesday.

After killing his brother, Bird is believed to have travelled to the Frizington home of the family's Yorkshire-born solicitor, Kevin Commons, 60, and shot him dead on the driveway.

The 52-year-old then went on to murder fellow taxi driver Darren Rewcastle, 43; former Sellafield workers Isaac Dixon, 65, and Michael Pike, 64; pensioner James Jackson, 67, and his wife Jennifer, 68; animal lover Jane Robinson, 66; retired soldier Kenneth Fishburn, 71; farmer and rugby league player Garry Purdham, 31; estate agent Jamie Clark, 23; and mother-of two Susan Hughes, 57, before taking his own life.

Another 11 people were wounded, of whom five had gunshot wounds to the face. The others were shot in the chest, back and arm.

Seven of the wounded victims were still in hospital last night.

Cumbria Police's deputy chief constable Stuart Hyde said Bird's financial situation was "one of the aspects" of the investigation, "as well as looking at relationships within the family, relationships within work, a whole menu".

Detectives believe he may have snapped and killed because of grudges against some of his victims and simply murdered others at random. They are trying to establish which of the 12 victims were on Bird's hit-list and which were in the wrong place at the wrong time.