A WOMAN has been convicted of the murder and defrauding of her live-in landlord. Lynda Rickard, aged 62, of Edinburgh Close, Banbury, was today convicted of the murder of James Anthony Sootheran, known as Anthony, in South Newington, near Banbury. Mr Sootheran was controlled, isolated, and defrauded before he died at High Havens Farm, South Newington, with Rickard’s intention being to inherit Mr Sootheran’s estate which was valued at approximately £3.5 million. Rickard was on trial with her husband Wayne at Reading Crown Court, both accused of Mr Sootheran’s murder. Following the seven-week trial, Lynda Rickard was found guilty of murder.
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A carer who deliberately starved her live-in landlord to death to inherit a slice of his multimillion-pound estate was convicted of murder today after his skeletal body was found next to a plate of McDonald s.
Lynda Rickard and her husband Wayne moved into a Oxfordshire farmhouse set on 60 acres of land owned by James Anthony Sootheran in 2006.
The 62-year-old cared for his aging mother Joy Sootheran, but despite receiving £47,000 a year in her role, she soon started using the woman s money as her own.
Mother-of-three Lynda had previously admitted forging the will of Ms Sootheran, in an attempt to gain half of her £1.5million estate.