Wife ‘knifed husband to death, stuffed remains in bag & buried him in garden after recording her sick abuse against him’

A WIFE stabbed her husband to death and buried him in the garden after recording her abuse against him, a court heard. Maureen Rickards, 50, allegedly knifed husband Jeremy, 65, in the chest and through the heart at home in Canterbury, Kent. She then stuffed Jeremy, who was wearing just his underwear, in a cupboard in their bedroom, it was said. Canterbury Crown Court heard Rickards then wrapped her husband up in bin bags and transferred him to the garden where she buried him under grass cuttings.

Jeremy was reported missing by family and friends after he was last seen alive on June 7. Jurors were told Rickards sent WhatsApp messages to their daughter Chima pretending to be her dad and claimed he was in Saudi Arabia. She later allegedly told Chima that Jeremy had taken his own life on June 9. His body was discovered on July 11 after police investigating his disappearance noticed a "sickly smell" in the garden.

The court was told in the lead-up to his death, Jeremy was seen in a "battered and bruised" state by a taxi driver and staff at his local pub. Prosecutor Nick Corsellis KC said Rickards had subjected her husband to domestic abuse, which became "more severe" in his final days. After her arrest, police found voice recordings on her phone taken as she berated her "frail and vulnerable" husband while he lay confused on the floor, it was said.

The court was told that in one recording, Rickards could be heard "voicing her intent to harm and kill". On June 6, a neighbour saw Jeremy "profoundly" injured with a cut to his forehead and bruises to his eyes and ears. When asked what happened, he allegedly replied: "Maureen was in a bad mood with me and with everyone.". The geologist was reported missing the following day after he was seen returning home from work.

Police visited the home but found "no trace of [his] existence" - with Rickards claiming the pair were separated. Jurors heard she also told them she had not spoken to Jeremy "for weeks" but was arrested for fraud after she used his bank cards. Rickards allegedly purchased alcohol, cigarettes, Doritos, toilet paper, Febreze air freshener, and Vanish carpet shampoo with his money. When she was re-arrested after Jeremy's body was found, she asked officers: "Murder? Murder? Did you say murder? Found what body?".

Police later found Jeremy's DNA on bloodstains on the carpet, the court heard. Rickards' DNA was also discovered on the bin bag where his body had been wrapped up. A post mortem revealed Jeremy had suffered five stab wounds - two 11cm deep - as well as multiple fractured ribs, a fracture to a bone in his neck and a broken nose. There was also a "sharp force" stab wound to his head in which metal fragments were present.

Mr Corsellis said: "The Crown suggest that the number and the extent [of injuries] found rule out any realistic suggestion that Jeremy Rickards had suffered a tragic accident or indeed that these wounds were self-inflicted. "There is [also] evidence of previous injuries consistent with Mr Rickards having been a victim of unlawful attack in the past. "The Crown's case is that Mr Rickards had been the subject of severe domestic abuse at the hands of the defendant in the lead-up to this murder.".