MANSFIELD COUPLE 'SPUN WEB OF LIES' AFTER 1998 MURDERS
Susan and Christopher Edwards murdered her parents, buried their bodies in the garden and then spent 15 years looting their bank accounts to spend on Hollywood memorabilia.How did no-one notice what they were doing?
Patricia and William Wycherley were shot dead at their home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, on the May Day Bank Holiday weekend in 1998.
The next working day, Susan, 56, cleared £40,000 from their account.
By chance in 2005, a driver veered off the road and crashed a car through the garden fence.
Fearing the bodies may be discovered, the Edwardses quickly sold the property, again forging the Wycherleys' signatures.
Neighbours said the Wycherleys had "kept themselves to themselves", described them as "eccentric" and some thought they were brother and sister, rather than husband and wife.
They traveled from their home in Dagenham to check on the house in Forest Town, cancelling hospital appointments and sending letters to ensure their pensions continued.
They forged signatures and sent forged Christmas cards claiming the couple were still alive.
Police later found the Wycherleys' remains in the garden, with one body having a bullet lodged in the spine.
Christopher had experience with guns and is believed to have shot both victims with a World War Two .38 revolver.
Neighbours saw him digging in the garden, later admitting he was digging a grave, hitting a cable first.
They awoke one night to carry the wrapped bodies to the garden.
The couple had planned for years to take revenge for the inheritance allegedly owed to Susan from her step-grandmother, and the motivation was money.
The police believe they spent the loot on Hollywood memorabilia, autographs, and autographed items of actors like Gary Cooper, whom Susan was fascinated with.
Christopher and Susan fled to France when authorities started investigating, but police discovered their involvement and the bodies in 2012.
A jury at Nottingham Crown Court convicted them of murder just over 16 years after the crime.
Christopher likely shot the victims using a WWII revolver, showing a calculated plan for revenge and financial gain, as police described their actions as "pretty cold."
