SECRET BEHIND LINDA'S DEATH

THE DEATHBED secret of Linda McCartney was revealed today as her family admitted misleading police and the public over her last days.

A spokesman for the family said she had not died at Santa Barbara, as first reported, but at a ranch owned by Sir Paul near Tucson, Arizona.

The public had been deceived, he said, in an attempt to guarantee privacy for the family. California police launched an investigation after the family failed to produce a death certificate and cremation document, as required by law. Sir Paul's friend and aide Geoff Baker spoke out this morning in an attempt to head off the California police probe. He said: "Everyone has always assumed it was Santa Barbara. So, in an effort to allow the family time to get back to England in peace and in private it was stated that she died in Santa Barbara." Mr Baker said she died in a "private place" elsewhere. "When Linda died last Friday with her family around her it was in a place that was private to her and her family." Authorities in Arizona said all formalities relating to the death had been scrupulously followed. News of the deception originally triggered speculation that Linda's death may have been assisted, prompting furious denials from her family and her doctors. The Santa Barbara Sheriff's office was this morning seeking clarification. "The investigation is ongoing and active," Sheriff's spokesman Sgt Jim Peterson said. "She may have died in Arizona. That's part of our investigation. But as yet we're not able to get confirmation of that." The deception has exposed the secret the McCartneys desperately wanted to keep - the existence of their 150-acre ranch east of Tucson. The family in 1979 reportedly paid almost GBP 1.8 million for the property high in foothills, accessible only by a dirt road, where loyal locals protect their privacy. They took main holidays in the ranch's modest five-bedroom house and the ex-Beatle drove himself to the nearest town for takeaway food and supplies. "They were definitely here just six days before Linda died," said a source in Tucson last night. Under Arizona law death certificates are private but her death and cremation there was confirmed by People magazine, in a report to be published today, and by other sources. Last night Sgt Brad Foust said the Pima County Sheriff was not involved in any probe.

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