Benjamin Field, a 28-year-old church warden, was found guilty of murdering 69-year-old Peter Farquhar at Oxford Crown Court on Friday. Field had meticulously planned and documented a plot to befriend vulnerable elderly individuals, change their wills, and kill them. While in a police van facing charges including murder, fraud, and attempted murder, Field boasted: 'I think I will get away with most of it.'
Field met Farquhar, a retired university lecturer, at the University of Buckingham and entered into a relationship with him, formalising it with a 'betrothal ceremony'. Over two years, Field drugged Farquhar and encouraged him to drink alcohol, making him believe he was losing his mind. Farquhar feared he had dementia, while friends thought he had become an alcoholic. Prosecutors argued Field killed Farquhar and made it look like he had drunk himself to death, then inherited £20,000 and a life interest in Farquhar's property.
Field then targeted Farquhar's neighbour, 82-year-old Ann Moore-Martin, a retired headmistress. He sent her letters and poems, moved in with her, and began a sexual relationship. Field admitted to gaslighting Moore-Martin, including writing fake biblical messages on her mirrors to make her believe God wanted her to leave her house to him. He also took a photograph of her performing a sexual act without her knowledge, which he considered using for blackmail.
During the trial, Field admitted he had an 'interest with the extremes of death and the idea of killing' and collected books on dying. He listed options for killing Moore-Martin in his journals. His defence relied on admitting to reprehensible acts but denying murder, a strategy that backfired.
