TAIYUAN - The apparent murder of a married couple who were both police officers in North China's Shanxi province has sparked controversy, with some media outlets hinting that the pair may have been corrupt and with the local authorities appearing to want to ride out the storm by staying silent.

Following the discovery of the bodies of Wang Jianxiong and his wife Han Huifang on Nov 12, some media outlets have carried stories reporting that they owned a massive portfolio of property and questioning how they managed to do so on police officers' salaries of 2,000 yuan ($301) a month.

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The pair were found dead in their home in a building called Guhuai Mansion in downtown Hongtong county, Linfen city, in southwestern Shanxi, Beijing News reported on Monday.

The 24-floor building is the tallest in the county.

They had both worked in Hongtong county's public security bureau.

Wang, 52, was the former head of the bureau's highway patrol before he retired two years ago, the newspaper said, quoting an unnamed insider.

The pair reportedly paid for their three children - two daughters and a son - to study in the United States.

The bodies of Wang and Han were found after the couple's children failed to reach them on the evening of Nov 11 on the telephone. The children called the couple's driver, who discovered their bodies on Nov 12.

Wang had been strangled with a thin wire after sustaining knife wounds to his face and back. His wife had been suffocated.

Wang's white BMW sedan was still in the underground parking lot, the Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald reported on Friday, quoting an anonymous source with knowledge of the case.

The newspaper said the couple had made their fortune of 300 million yuan from an iron factory and coal mine.

Wang, a 20-year veteran in the department, was born into a poor farmer's family along with eight siblings.

The newspaper said Wang had sold the coal mine in 2005 and the purchaser still owed him 70 million yuan from that transaction.

The report also cited local rumors that the couple had been engaged in loan sharking and had lent out tens of millions of yuan at exorbitant rates of interest.

The couple reportedly owned several properties in the county as well as Beijing and Hainan province.

Many netizens complained about the couple's apparent shady dealings and the slowness of the local government to respond to the rumors.

A commentary by Xinhua News Agency on Thursday asked: "How can a couple of police officers afford to buy a BMW sedan, go against the family planning policy and afford to support their three children's studies abroad? Why did the local authorities refuse to be interviewed by reporters and why could they not even provide the couple's resumes?"

Police meanwhile believe they are closer to solving the killings. Officers rounded up three suspects on Friday, China News Service reported.

Public security authorities at the provincial and city levels are participating in the investigation, said Zhang Lei, a publicity officer with Shanxi provincial public security bureau.