Hotelier left part of £34m fortune to stepson who murdered him
A BARONET who was murdered by his stepson had planned to leave part of his £34million fortune to the killer, it was revealed yesterday.
Sir Richard Sutton, 83, had named Thomas Schreiber as a beneficiary alongside other family members, legal documents show.
But inheritance rules mean the killer will get nothing.
Hotelier Sir Richard had given Schreiber – his partner Anne’s son – a £1,000 monthly allowance and £100,000 for a house, it was said.
But the aspiring artist stabbed his stepfather to death and left his mother confined to a wheelchair after a drunken attack at their country mansion in April last year.
Traced
Winchester Crown Court was later told that Schreiber, 35, hated Sir Richard and “gold digger” Anne for supposedly abandoning his father after they split.
Under the Forfeiture Act 1982, Schreiber, who is serving life with a minimum of 36 years for the attacks, will not be allowed to inherit anything.
But Sir Richard’s estate, published yesterday, shows he wanted to leave an unspecified portion of his £34million to Schreiber.
He left Anne, 66, a Danish-born physiotherapist, the Moorhill estate in Gillingham, Dorset, where the attack took place.
The Sutton family can be traced back to William the Conqueror, and Sir Richard was the ninth baronet. He inherited the title in 1981. His
company owned London hotels the Sheraton Grand Park Lane and the Athenaeum.
In the run-up to his murderous attack last year, Schreiber told a friend he “couldn’t stand” his mother and stepfather.
He added: “My mind is consumed
with hatred of the worst kind. I contemplate murdering them. I want them to suffer.”
Schreiber launched the attack on the eighth anniversary of his father’s death, leaving Sir Richard dead and his mother unconscious with life-changing injuries.