A woman found guilty of murdering her frail husband and hiding his dismembered body in their garden after claiming to family and friends he had gone abroad has been sentenced to life in prison.
Maureen Rickards claimed husband Jeremy had gone to Saudi Arabia to work and died there, however after an investigation Kent Police officers searched their Canterbury home. He was found dead in their garden in a bag under leaves with five stab wounds to his chest, as well as injuries suffered around 10 days before his death. After stabbing her husband in the chest and heart, Rickards took off his clothes, leaving him in his underwear and storing the body inside a cupboard before moving him downstairs.
Rickards, 50, was convicted on March 13 at Canterbury Crown Court and has now been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 22 years.
She was arrested after she messaged the couple’s daughter, Chima Rickards, using her dead husband’s phone to say he had arrived in Saudi Arabia, where he was working. The evil wife then messaged her daughter to say her father had taken his own life and Chima reported Mr Rickards as missing.
Kent Police said analysis of Mr Rickards’ phone showed he had last topped it up on June 8, 2024, which was the last record of him having been alive. While working to build up a picture of the couple’s relationship in the previous weeks and months, police discovered the victim had been seen with bruising to his face in a pub in Canterbury and had told a member of staff he had been in a car accident.
Video clips found on the woman’s phone dating from the end of May and the beginning of June showed her shouting at her husband and recorded the sounds of her beating him, Kent Police said.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Colin McKeen said at the time: “This was a horrific murder of a man who we believe had been a supportive husband to his wife, despite her violence towards him.
“Sadly, our investigation suggests that, rather than being a one-off incident, Maureen Rickards had attacked her husband on a number of occasions before this fatal assault. She has never expressed any remorse for what she did and has repeatedly sought to frustrate the investigation and push blame onto others, including the victim himself.
“The jury has seen through her lies and she will now spend many years in prison. This case shows domestic abuse, whether committed by a man or a woman, can escalate and become fatal and I urge anyone who is experiencing violence at the hands of their partner to report it to the police.
“We will listen to you, support you, and take action to protect you from harm.”
For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk . If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit ** www.aafda.org.uk**
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