Malcolm Anders, a man who faked being wheelchair-bound for years, was jailed for life for the brutal murder of his wife Linda at their Formby home in December 2000. The 46-year-old was convicted by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court in November 2001 after a 16-day trial.
Linda Anders, 44, was found dead in the kitchen of the couple's home on Kent Road on December 19 2000. She had suffered 15 deep stab wounds to her head with an 11-inch knife, and a further 40 injuries, including knife wounds to her arms, showed she had put up a fierce struggle. Her body had been moved, and efforts had been made to clean up the crime scene.
The fake disability
Anders claimed he had lost the use of his legs in 1991 when he was crushed by heavy machinery at Ford Halewood. But during the trial, prosecutor Charles Chruszcz revealed: "Anders is a fake and does not need a wheelchair." Doctors found no muscle wastage in his legs, and video footage shot by a private detective showed Anders walking to his car.
Anders had established himself as a passionate advocate for disabled people, serving as acting chairman of Merseyside Inform, a disability help centre in Bootle. The charity won praise for its work and volunteers acted as disability advisers to Radio Merseyside.
The lies unravel
Anders claimed he was in Crosby Library on the day of the murder, but library staff said his visit was on December 18. A security camera outside the nearby Swiss Life building proved his car did not travel along Crosby Road North that day.
He had also claimed to receive poison pen letters, one reading: "You fool, do you know where your wife is?" But DNA on the stamp matched Anders, and the prosecution argued he had sent the letters to himself to damage his wife's reputation.
Motive and sentence
Linda had recently inherited £17,000 from an elderly couple for whom she had worked as a housekeeper. Det Supt Julianne Wallace-Jones said Linda had kept £9,000 of this secret from her husband, placing it in a new bank account. She said: "Linda appears to have been considering a divorce and he has taken the most drastic action open to anyone and murdered her."
Passing sentence, Judge David Clarke said: "I believe you are a clever and manipulative man who has consistently said whatever you thought would be to your advantage. The jury have convicted you on clear evidence of the brutal murder of your wife. Only you will ever know for sure why you did it." Anders was given a life sentence with a minimum of 15 years. Detectives later told the ECHO the fraudster may have cheated taxpayers out of up to £100,000 by faking his disability for more than a decade.
