The family of Ann Widdecombe spoke on Friday night of their shock at her brutal murder.They feared the 78-year-old former Tory minister spent her last moments in ‘abject terror’ when an intruder broke into her home.Ms Widdecombe was found covered in blood after being battered to death by a lone male attacker at her remote Devon home, police believe.Detectives were last night questioning a 26-year-old suspect over the killing. The white British man was held a few miles away in Newton Abbot hours after news of the murder investigation was made public.Police launched a manhunt when the former prisons minister was found with ‘serious injuries’ at her Dartmoor home by a gardener on Thursday. Fears for her wellbeing had been raised after she failed to turn up for a TV appearance.The unmarried former MP, who had lived alone since her retirement in 2010, was last seen during an interview on Talk TV at around 8am the previous day. She had been scheduled to appear on Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 show later that morning but failed to appear.Her family became worried when they were unable to raise her on the phone. Police were called around 11.40am on Thursday after the gardener discovered her body in the kitchen of the bungalow in Haytor.Last night, as officers were trying to establish the motive for the murder, a source close to the family said: ‘We’re in total shock and disbelief. It was hard enough to find out we’d lost Ann – but we still have yet to come to terms with the fact that she died in such brutal circumstances. Perhaps we never will. The family of Ann Widdecombe (pictured at her home) spoke on Friday night of their shock at her brutal murder They feared the 78-year-old former Tory minister spent her last moments in ‘abject terror’ when an intruder broke into her home (pictured)