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Adviser guilty of killing author | Adviser guilty of killing author |
(20 minutes later) | |
A financial adviser has been found guilty of murdering 86-year-old author Allan Chappelow. | A financial adviser has been found guilty of murdering 86-year-old author Allan Chappelow. |
The author was found dead, hidden under a pile of papers and manuscripts, at his home in Hampstead, north London, in June 2006. He had severe head injuries. | |
Wang Yam, 46, of Denning Road, Hampstead, was accused of killing Mr Chappelow to steal his identity. | |
All the defence was held "in camera" with the press and public excluded for unspecified national security reasons. | |
Mr Chappelow became a successful author in the 1960s as an expert on playwright George Bernard Shaw. | |
Prosecutor Mark Ellison told the Old Bailey: "Mr Chappelow was not only elderly but reclusive. He was described by a neighbour as quite eccentric." | |
Impersonated author | |
He was battered several times over the head at his Manor House home on Downshire Hill in May 2006. | |
The court heard Yam, who was born in China, was bankrupt with debts of £1.1m at the time of Mr Chappelow's death. | |
Yam then manipulated the author's bank and credit card accounts to get money, impersonating the author over the internet or telephone. | |
But bank staff alerted police when Yam contacted them pretending to be the "English gentleman" author. | |
Mr Chappelow's body was discovered in June 2006 and Yam fled to Switzerland before being extradited. | |
His defence team earlier claimed an Albanian gang was responsible for Mr Chappelow's killing. | |
Last year Yam was convicted of dishonestly obtaining two bank transfers for £20,000, and dishonestly handling four stolen cheques. | |
He will be sentenced on Monday. |