Police charge church warden and magician over sleepy village murder of 69-year-old teacher
Alleged victim Peter Farquhar was 69 when he died in October 2015 while his neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, aged 83, died in May last year
A MAGICIAN and a church warden have been charged over the deaths of a retired English teacher and an ex-headmistress.
Villagers in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire were shocked when cops suddenly announced that the deaths of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin were being treated as murder - even though they had died years apart.
Mr Farquhar's lodger, Ben Field, 27, a church warden, and Martyn Smith, 31, were originally arrested in January this year as suspects involved in both deaths.
But Thames Valley Police last night confirmed they had been charged over the alleged murder of Peter Farquhar, as well as on two counts of conspiracy to murder Ann Moore Martin.
The probe into Mr Farquhar's death started after the 2017 death of his elderly neighbour, Ann.
The 83-year-old, who was a former headmistress at a Catholic primary school, had lived on the same road where Farquhar died two years earlier.
Suspicions were immediately aroused in Maids Moreton as villagers knew that Ben Field lodged with Farquhar at the time of his death and moved in with Moore-Martin shortly after.
An original inquest into his death ruled that Farquhar died from drinking too much and there was no mention of any suspicion of foul play.
It was later reported at the time of their arrests that church warden Ben Field had been written into Farquhar's £500,000 will and been given the right to live in the vacant £300,000 home.
Peter Farquhar died on 26 October 2015, aged 69, and Ann Moore-Martin died on 12 May 2017, aged 83.
A Thames Valley Police spokesperson confirmed Benjamin Field, aged 28, of Olney, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to murder Ann Moore Martin and Peter Farquhar, one count of murder of Peter Farquhar, one count of attempted murder of Ann Moore Martin, two counts of fraud and three counts of burglary.
Martyn Smith, aged 32, of Redruth, Cornwall, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to murder Ann Moore Martin and Peter Farquhar, one count of murder of Peter Farquhar, one count of attempted murder of Ann Moore Martin, one count of fraud, and two counts of burglary.
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A spokesperson said: "They were originally arrested in connection with the investigation on 16 January, 2017."
Both men will appear at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
A 22-year-old man from Olney was also arrested on suspicion of one count of conspiracy to defraud, one count conspiring to commit fraud by false representation and one count of suspicion of fraud by false representation. He has been released under investigation.
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