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Maids Moreton: Ben Field jailed for author's murder | |
(32 minutes later) | |
A churchwarden who murdered an author to inherit his estate has been jailed for a minimum of 36 years. | A churchwarden who murdered an author to inherit his estate has been jailed for a minimum of 36 years. |
Benjamin Field, 28, duped 69-year-old Peter Farquhar into a fake relationship to get him to change his will. | Benjamin Field, 28, duped 69-year-old Peter Farquhar into a fake relationship to get him to change his will. |
Mr Farquhar died in the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton in October 2015 and Field tried to make his death look like an accident or suicide. | Mr Farquhar died in the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton in October 2015 and Field tried to make his death look like an accident or suicide. |
The Baptist minister's son was found guilty of murder at Oxford Crown Court in August. | The Baptist minister's son was found guilty of murder at Oxford Crown Court in August. |
He was also accused of plotting to kill Mr Farquhar's neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, 83, but was found not guilty. | |
Field admitted duping both Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin into fake relationships with him as part of a plot to get them to change their wills, but denied any involvement in their deaths. | |
Miss Moore-Martin died of natural causes in May 2017. | |
University lecturer Mr Farquhar and Field had undergone a "betrothal" ceremony while the trial heard Field and retired headmistress Miss Moore-Martin had a sexual relationship. | University lecturer Mr Farquhar and Field had undergone a "betrothal" ceremony while the trial heard Field and retired headmistress Miss Moore-Martin had a sexual relationship. |
Field's trial heard he carried out a sustained "gaslighting" plot aimed at making Mr Farquhar question his sanity. | |
Mr Farquhar's drinks were topped up with bioethanol and poteen, a high strength Irish alcohol, and his food was laced with drugs. | |
Jurors were told Field "suffocated him" when he was too weak to resist, and left a half-empty bottle of whisky in Mr Farquhar's room to create the misconception he had drunk himself to death. | |
In an attempt to get Miss Moore-Martin to change her will, Field would write "messages from God" on mirrors around her home. | |
The deeply religious retired teacher who never married or had children, later changed her will to leave her home to Field. | |
The churchwarden also wrote messages urging her to give him £27,000 towards the cost of a dialysis machine for his seriously ill brother. |