Hollywood-obsessed killer portrayed on TV by Olivia Colman after she murdered her parents and blew £250 on celebrity memorabilia hopes ‘new information’ will free her
Susan Edwards, whose case inspired the TV drama Landscapers starring Olivia Colman, is seeking a fresh appeal against her 2014 conviction for murdering her elderly parents. Edwards, now 67, shot William and Patricia Wycherley in May 1998 with the help of her husband Christopher, then buried them in the garden of their Mansfield, Nottinghamshire home and maintained the pretence they were alive for 15 years while siphoning their money to fund an extensive Hollywood memorabilia collection. Her solicitor has said the legal team is "seriously considering" submitting grounds of appeal to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in light of "newly obtained information", reviving public interest in a case notable for its bizarre and elaborate deception.
The couple, given life sentences with a 25-year minimum term, diverted more than £245,000 (later revised to over £286,000) from the Wycherleys' accounts, pensions and the sale of their house, while forging letters and Christmas cards to convince family, friends and officials the pair had simply moved away. Susan Edwards has always denied primary responsibility, claiming her mother shot her father and provoked her into shooting her mother, though a judge ruled Christopher Edwards fired the fatal shots with a Second World War revolver. The deaths only came to light when inquiries were made about William's upcoming 100th birthday, ending a cover-up so convincing that neighbours believed the couple had emigrated or gone on holiday.
- Susan Edwards, of Landscapers fame, seeks appeal against parents' murder conviction
- She and husband Christopher hid the killings for 15 years, faking letters
- Couple diverted over £245,000 to fund a Hollywood memorabilia obsession
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Susan Edwards was convicted in 2014 of murdering her parents, William and Patricia Wycherley, at their home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in May 1998. She and her husband, Christopher, shot the couple and buried them in the back garden, then spent 15 years pretending they were still alive while taking control of their money. Their story became widely known through the BBC drama Landscapers, in which Edwards was played by Olivia Colman.
Both Susan and Christopher Edwards received life sentences with a minimum term of 25 years. The case attracted attention partly because of the scale of the deception involved, including forged letters and cards, and partly because Susan Edwards used much of the diverted funds to build up a large collection of Hollywood memorabilia. The killings only came to light when relatives made enquiries ahead of William Wycherley's 100th birthday.
Edwards has consistently disputed that she was primarily responsible for the deaths, and her case is now the subject of a potential fresh legal challenge. Any such move would go through the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body that examines possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and can refer cases back to the Court of Appeal if it finds grounds to do so.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A fair-minded advocate for reopening the case would stress that the criminal justice system must allow genuinely new evidence to be tested regardless of how notorious or unsympathetic a defendant is, since the principle that convictions can be revisited protects everyone, including the innocent. They would note that Susan Edwards has consistently maintained her account of the events on the night of the killings, and that a functioning appeals process exists precisely to examine claims like hers rather than dismiss them because of public revulsion or media caricature. Insisting on proper scrutiny of any newly obtained information is, on this view, a matter of legal principle rather than sympathy for the individual.
The case against
Those sceptical of a fresh appeal would point out that Edwards was convicted after a full trial that considered her claims about her mother's role and rejected them, and that the deliberate, 15-year concealment of her parents' deaths for financial gain speaks to sustained, calculated conduct rather than a single lapse in judgement. They would argue that the Criminal Cases Review Commission exists for cases with substantive new evidence, not as a route to relitigate settled facts, and that repeated appeals risk causing further distress to the victims' surviving relatives and undermining public confidence that serious crimes carry finality once fairly tried. On this view, sympathy for reconsideration should not override the weight already given to the evidence at trial.