A woman from Canterbury has been convicted of murdering her husband and hiding his body in their garden.
Jeremy Rickards, 65, was found dead behind the family property on St Martin’s Road in Canterbury on 11 July 2024.
Crime scene investigation analysis suggests his body had been stored in a cupboard in their flat – before being moved to the garden.
His wife, Maureen Rickards, had told their daughter that Mr Rickards had travelled to Saudi Arabia for work.
Their daughter, however, was concerned by the style of the written messages and asked her mother if she had taken over her father’s phone.
Rickards claimed that Mr Rickards died by suicide in Saudi Arabia – but police had no record of him leaving the country.
Kent Police subsequently launched a search operation after Mr Rickards was reported missing by his step-daughter on 5 July.
Rickards was arrested six days later – after police searched the family home.
Mr Rickards was found with a catalogue of injuries, including five stab wounds to his chest, non-fatal injuries sustained about 10 days before his death, and other injuries thought to have been inflicted weeks earlier.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Colin McKeen said that Rickards’s violence towards her husband was not a “one-off incident”.
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He said: “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.”
Based on a pathologist’s findings and Mr Rickards’s last known sighting, police believe Rickards killed her husband on or around 9 June.
Gardeners had visited their family home on 26 June last year – and Rickards had asked them to leave the grass they had cut under some bushes.
This was where Mr Rickards’s body was later discovered.
James Fisher, from the Crown Prosecution Service South East, said: “As we built the case against Maureen Rickards, we were able to unpick her web of lies, using forensic evidence and her actions before and after the murder, to paint the picture of a callous abuser, who subjected Jeremy to unimaginable pain and suffering.
“The attacks on Jeremy became more severe in the run-up to his murder, leaving him frail, battered and bruised, with everyone who came into contact with him concerned for his wellbeing.
“Maureen lied about the cruelty and violence she inflicted on Jeremy and was quick to dismiss any concerns, even claiming the injuries had come from a car accident.”
Rickards will be sentenced next month.
