But prosecutors urged detectives to investigate after Lynda Rickard, 62, was found to have used his bank account after he died. (Image: PA)She had been paid £47,000-a-year to care for his elderly mother Mary Sootheran, known as Joy, until her death, aged 92, in 2012. She also accepted forging the mother and son's wills, which would have entitled her to half of Mrs Sootheran's £1.5 million estate and a third of Mr Sootheran's £3.5 million fortune. Her American-born husband was acquitted of murder but found guilty of the lesser charge of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult. "We were able to prove that Lynda Rickard deliberately starved Anthony to death in order to inherit from his £3.5 million estate, having forged his will."

Source: Daily Mirror May 28, 2021 13:57 UTC