Couple starved their live-in landlord to death to inherit slice of his £3.5m estate, court hears
A husband and wife starved their live-in landlord to death to inherit a slice of his £3.5m estate, a court has heard.
Lynda and Wayne Rickard are accused of depriving 59-year-old James Anthony Sootheran of food and drink at his Oxford property to kill him out of "brazen" and "opportunistic" greed.
Mr Sootheran, a retired auctioneers' clerk from a wealthy family of Yorkshire landowners, was found dead in his bedroom at High Havens Farm in South Newington on March 18, 2014.
Mrs Rickard, 61, and Mr Rickard, 64, who had rented the "remote" farmhouse since 2006, are on trial at Reading Crown Court accused of murdering their "vulnerable" landlord, who moved into the property with his elderly mother in 2008.
It was agreed that Mrs Rickard would care for Mrs Sootheran, who suffered from dementia, at a rate of £900 per week in exchange for living rent free.
She went on to drain hundreds of thousands of pounds from the pair's bank accounts and forge their wills, the court heard.
Prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC told the jury that the Rickards acted through "casual, opportunistic greed" that developed into "something utterly routine and brazen".
He said Mrs Rickard was "eyeing a windfall" after the death of Mrs Sootheran in August 2012.
"That windfall came to be dependent on Anthony Sootheran's death," said Mr Saxby. "She got impatient, and worried that the windfall might elude her."
Mr Sootheran was reclusive, prone to self-neglect and had "complex" mental health issues, which gave Mrs Rickard "the perfect cover for precipitating his death", the court heard.
"She achieved (this) by isolating him, utterly neglecting him, failing to obtain appropriate medical care for him and ultimately, depriving him of food and drink," said Mr Saxby.
"In the simplest of terms, assisted by her husband, she starved him to death, thereby securing for herself and her family the windfall she craved."
Mrs Rickard admits forging the wills of Mr Sootheran and his mother, entitling her to half of Mrs Sootheran £1.5m estate, and a third of Mr Sootheran's £3.5m estate - including his farm, which sold for £1.8m in 2018.
She has pleaded guilty to four fraud charges, two counts of forgery, two counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, and possession of articles for use in fraud.
In addition to the murder charges they face, Mrs Rickard is accused of the gross negligence manslaughter of Mr Sootheran and Mr Rickard is accused of causing or allowing his death.
Mrs Rickard claims that Mr Sootheran's death was a consequence of his own self-neglect and that her forging of his will around the time he died was coincidental.
The Rickards are being tried alongside Michael Dunkley, 48, Denise Neal, 39, and Shanda Robinson, 50, who are charged with fraud.
Dunkley and Neal are accused of falsely claiming a 2014 will in the name of Mr Sootheran was genuine.
Robinson is alleged to have claimed Mrs Sootheran's will was genuine and had been witnessed in her presence. She is also accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
These three co-defendants deny all the charges against them.
The trial continues.
