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Mansfield couple jailed for life for murdering parents
Susan Edwards and her husband Christopher have been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 25 years each at Nottingham Crown Court for murdering her parents, burying the bodies in unmarked graves and stealing £245,000 of their money.
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Judge calls parent-murderer 'liar and a fantasist'
The judge who sentenced a couple convicted of murdering the wife's parents before burying the bodies in their garden and stealing £245,000 of their money to at least 25 years in jail has condemned their crimes as "shocking".
Mrs Justice Thirlwall told Susan Edwards, who sat staring intently from the dock wearing a patterned grey cardigan and glasses, that she was "an accomplished liar and a fantasist".
Mrs Justice Thirlwall added that she was satisfied it was Christopher Edwards "who held the gun" and who shot the pensioners in the back bedroom of their semi-detached home, and not as the couple claimed, Susan Edwards.
"I sentence you on the basis that each of you intended that both Mr and Mrs Wycherley should be shot dead."
She added their sentences had to reflect the serious nature of the double killing, telling them they had planned to shoot their two victims - one of whom was in his 80s - for financial gain.
Mansfield couple jailed for life over parents' murders
Susan Edwards and her husband Christopher have been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 25 years each for murdering her parents, burying their bodies in unmarked graves and stealing £245,000 of their money.
Last week they were found guilty shooting William and Patricia Wycherley dead at the elderly couple's former home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in 1998.
For the next 15 years, the Edwards kept up the elaborate hoax that Mr Wycherley, 85, and his 63-year-old wife were alive - claiming their benefits, pension and even selling their home, before a tip-off led police to the graves in October last year.
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'Garden bodies' killers foiled by 100th birthday request
Susan and Christopher Edwards were both found guilty of the murder of her parents at Nottingham Crown Court today.
The pair buried William and Patricia Wycherley in their own back garden, then pretended they were alive in order to swindle hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Their plan unravelled when an official wanted to meet William Wycherley on what would have been his 100th birthday.
Mansfield couple swindled £245K from murders
After killing "reclusive" William and Patricia Wycherley at Nottingham Crown Court, Susan and Christopher Edwards swindled £245,000 over the next 15 years by pretending they were alive.
They continued to collect their benefits and pension payments, and sold their home with the bodies buried under the back garden, in August 2005.
The couple,who had been in "severe financial difficulties" for much of their relationship, were more than £160,000 in debt when they were arrested last October.
Despite their debts, they spent thousands on film memorabilia including signed photos and autographs of Gary Cooper and Frank Sinatra.
Couple said they buried parents after Eurovision
During the trial, Susan Edwards admitted the manslaughter of her mother but claimed she had been provoked. She claimed her mother had shot her father while she was staying with them, and during an argument afterwards said she shot her mother.
Christopher Edwards, who held a firearms certificate, told the court his wife only told him what she had done after they travelled to Mansfield by coach a week later.
He claimed they buried the bodies early on a Sunday morning after watching the Eurovision Song Contest on TV on May 9.
But prosecutors said the Wycherleys were gunned down for their money and buried the weekend before by both defendants.
The jury in the trial of Susan and Christopher Edwards took just six hours to convict them of murder.
Police say Mansfield couple 'have shown no remorse'
Detective Chief Inspector Rob Griffin, from the East Midlands Major Crime Unit, has told ITV News Central Susan and Christopher Edwards displayed a heartless attitude from the moment they were arrested.
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Couple sent cards on behalf of murdered parents
Susan Edwards sent Christmas cards to relatives of her parents in order to convince people they were still alive.
The cards described how the couple were enjoying travelling around Ireland, when in fact they have been shot dead and buried under the garden of their home.
Susan Edwards, 56, and her husband Christopher, 56, were found guilty of murdering Patricia and William Wycherley at Nottingham Crown Court.
The bodies of the Wycherleys were unearthed from the back garden of their home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, last October.
Mansfield couple told they will receive a life sentence
Susan and Christopher Edwards have been told they will each receive a life sentence for the murder of Susan's parents.
Read: Couple found guilty of murdering parents in Mansfield
ITV News Reporter Ben Chapman is in court.
Mansfield couple found guilty of murdering parents
Susan and Christopher Edwards have been convicted of murdering her parents. The bodies of William and Patricia Wycherley were discovered in the back garden of a house on Blenheim Close at Forest Town in Mansfield last October.
They were murdered 15 years before, in May 1998. Susan Edwards had admitted manslaughter but denied murder. More to follow.