Here’s some irony of Olivia Colman playing murderer Susan Edwards.
The woman who was so driven by her obsession with fame that she murdered her own parents is brought to the screen by an Oscar winner.
Images have emerged from Olivia’s filming scenes for new four-part drama on Sky TV[/caption]
Images emerged of Olivia filming scenes for a new four-part drama on Sky TV – putting the killer a touching distance from the fame and fortune she was so passionate about.
Olivia, 47, and actor David Thewlis, 58, play married killers Susan and Christopher Edwards in Landscapers.
The couple gunned down Susan’s parents, Patricia and William Wycherley, over the weekend of May 1, 1998.
Burying the bodies in a shallow grave in the retirees’ backyard, where they remained unknown for 15 years, the killers then emphatically looted the old couple’s bank accounts and retirement jars, splurging thousands of people. on celebrity autographs.
Obsessed with Hollywood stars, Susan paid large sums for the handwritten notes of actor Gary Cooper and singer Frank Sinatra.
During her trial, it was revealed that she had faked a 14-year-old correspondence with French actor Gérard Depardieu, telling her husband that she was pen pals with him.
Christopher Edwards, 57, and Susan Edwards, 56[/caption]
Susan, 56, and Christopher, 57, managed to cover up their crime for so long by forging letters and documents to make it look like the Wycherleys were still alive.
The couple’s dark plot began with Christopher shooting Patricia and William twice with a WWII revolver in the back bedroom of the victims’ semi-detached house in Forest Town, Notts.
Neighbors later said they saw Christopher “to his waist” digging in the garden that day – but they didn’t know it was a grave.
Locals said Patricia, 63, and William, 85, “stood for themselves” and some called them “eccentric”. Others thought they were brother and sister rather than husband and wife.
Since they had no friends and little contact with their own family, Christopher and Susan knew the couple would not be missed.
After killing the retirees, the murderers wrapped the bodies of the retirees in a quilt and carried them downstairs to the garden under the cover of darkness, burying them just steps from the back door of the house.
With the Wycherleys gone, the two began to cover up their crime in cold blood.
They regularly traveled from their own home in Dagenham, east London, to the house to mow the lawn and clean the windows.
Olivia, 47, plays married killer Susan in Landscapers[/caption]
Impersonating the Wycherleys’ nephew, Christopher, along with his conspiratorial wife, told neighbors and relatives that their victims had moved away to various places, including Ireland, for the ‘fresh air’.
They also wrote letters and cards masquerading as the Wycherleys to roll the ruse.
A 2005 letter purportedly from Patricia refusing an appointment at a chest clinic said she “was feeling better” and was staying with relatives.
And in a 2011 Christmas card sent to relatives about her parents’ trips to Ireland, Susan said “it’s good to see them with so much enthusiasm.”
The murderous couple got a clean shave in 2005 when a car crashed through the fence of the house.
Locals who believed the elderly couple had left the area noticed that the broken fence was repaired within days.
Neighbor John Ward said: “I told [my wife] Lesley, “It was fixed quickly.” Now we know why – they didn’t want anyone to sniff because the car was too close to the grave.
Investigators would later argue that the Edwards’ motivation was money and revenge. The Wycherleys are believed to have carried on an inheritance from Susan’s step-grandmother that was intended for Susan.
William Wycherley was shot dead along with his wife, Patricia Wycherley[/caption]
On the first working day after the murders, Susan withdrew £ 40,000 from her parents’ accounts.
The couple would end up stealing a total of £ 286,285 by embezzling the Wycherleys’ pensions and benefits.
They pocketed £ 66,000 from the sale of the house where the Wycherleys were secretly buried and even applied for loans and credit cards on behalf of the deceased couple.
Despite the cash seizure, they ended up owing £ 160,000 to creditors upon their arrest through spending thousands on odd items.
A bank form authorizing a broker to sell shares signed by Gary Cooper gave Susan and Christopher £ 3,000.
They paid an additional £ 2,000 for a two-sentence typed letter from Cooper thanking a woman for her fan mail. Some of their other purchases included expensive books on war and military costumes – Susan is said to be obsessed with WWII leaders, including Charles de Gaulle.
Chief Detective Inspector Rob Griffin of the East Midlands Major Crime Unit told the BBC: “They didn’t lead a particularly lavish lifestyle.
“It looks like the vast majority of their money was spent on authenticated autographed items. It’s amazing to think that’s what they spent their money on.
David Thewlis, 58, plays Christopher Edwards in Landscapers[/caption]
David Thewlis pictured on set[/caption]
Eventually the money ran out – and their lies fell apart as they asked another relative for money.
As Mr Wycherley’s 100th birthday approached, the Department for Work and Pensions wrote to him requesting a face-to-face interview. They wanted to review the benefits he was receiving and organize the Queen’s usual telegram sent to all British centenarians.
Susan and Christopher found the letter and panicked, fleeing London for Lille in northern France – de Gaulle’s birthplace.
They quickly ran out of money, despite having thousands of pounds of memorabilia.
Rather than parting with their beloved collectibles, Christopher called his elderly mother-in-law, Elizabeth, to ask for money and tell a savage story about why they had fled.
He said Mrs Wycherley shot her own husband, then Susan shot Mrs Wycherley after being provoked. Instead of accepting it, Elizabeth called the police, who found the bodies buried.
The gruesome find horrified tenant Sue Bramley, who had lived in the House of Horrors since 2006. She had wondered why flowers weren’t growing in a small patch of her garden near the back door.
Obsessed with Hollywood stars, Susan paid large sums for actor Gary Cooper’s handwritten notes[/caption]
Sue said at the time: “I fell apart after seeing them carried in body bags. I was so upset to think that these two poor old men had been buried in my garden all this time.
A month after the murder investigation began in 2013, Inspector Griffin received a startling email of high importance.
Sent by Christopher, he said: “Later today we will surrender to the British border forces authorities at the Eurostar terminal at Lille Europe station.
“My wife is scared enough already. Could you advise the British border forces in Lille Europe so that they can wait for us. “
When they surrendered, all the couple had on them was a euro, clothes, and a suitcase filled with their beloved memories.
At their trial in Britain, they admitted obstructing a coroner in the line of duty and pleaded guilty to theft of a credit balance in a bank account.
They admitted manslaughter but denied the double murder, Susan sticking to her bizarre story. She claimed that Patricia shot William during an argument, then Patricia taunted Susan by pretending to have an affair with Christopher.
The killer was also obsessed with Frank Sinatra[/caption]
Susan also claimed to have been sexually abused by her father until the age of 11, and that Patricia taunted her about the abuse until Susan returned the gun to her.
In court, she said, “She said I was an unwanted child – she wanted an abortion, they both wanted an abortion.”
Susan said she didn’t tell Christopher about her parents’ deaths until a week later.
At that point, she claims, they drove home, ate a dinner of fish and chips, and buried the bodies after watching the Eurovision Song Contest.
The couple were convicted in 2014, with the judge calling Susan “an accomplished liar and fantasist.”
The Edwards were sentenced to life with a minimum of 25 years each.
“I think the cold word is the word,” DCI Griffin said of the couple.
“Being ready to sit down, husband and wife, and plan the murder of parents or in-laws for money, for greed, and because your expenses are out of hand, is cold and calculating.”
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