3 Teens questioned in surgeon's death

Three teenagers were held for questioning in the death of a cancer surgeon found mortally injured near his house in western England, police said Tuesday. Dr. Anthony Owen, who lived in a neighborhood in Hale in Cheshire known as "Millionaires' Row," died of head injuries Saturday, after six days in a hospital, The Daily Telegraph reported. A motorist who found him said Owen was next to his car with the motor still running and he saw three teenagers speeding off on bicycles. The teens who have been detained are 14, 16 and 17 years old, police said. They come from Widnes, an industrial town about 4 miles from Hale. Neighbors who say teenagers have been a problem in the area, suggested Owen may have been trying to keep his car from being stolen. Owen, 68, was semiretired. Neighbors said he had lived in his thatched eight-bedroom home for more than 40 years, and cared for his mother, Anne, who had also been a doctor, for several years before she died in 2003. John Regan told the Telegraph he and Owen had been neighbors since 1969. "I am absolutely sure that Anthony would have tried to stop anybody who tried to do him harm, whether it was stealing his car or challenging him," Regan said. "It is terribly sad I knew him as a very good friend for 43 years."