Lawyer accused of forgery in death
LIBERTY, Mo. — The golden years were shaping up nicely for accountant William Van Note.
The 67-year-old retiree had several boats, a waterfront vacation home on central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks, and plenty of money in the bank after a career preparing taxes and renting out office space in Liberty, 15 miles north of Kansas City.
And soon, after 20 years together, he and longtime companion Sharon Dickson were going to wed.
They never got the chance. In October 2010, an intruder shot the couple in their lake home, killing Dickson and leaving Van Note wounded. He died four days later, after his daughter told doctors that he would prefer to die rather than be kept alive by medical intervention.
Multiple charges
What happened next set the stage for a unique legal case: Van Note’s daughter, Susan, was accused by prosecutors of pulling the trigger and forging her father’s signature on the document doctors relied on to end his medical treatment.
“He died as a result of them removing life support, not as a result of the gunshot,” Camden County prosecutor Brian Keedy said. “If you commit a felony, and somebody dies as a result, there is a criminal responsibility for that death.”
Susan Elizabeth Van Note, who goes by Liz, is a 44-year-old attorney who specializes in end-of-life issues — and advertised herself as offering “compassionate representation of clients.” She was arrested in September and has been jailed on a $1 million cash bond, facing charges of felony forgery and first-degree murder.
She has pleaded not guilty, and if convicted, she could face a lengthy jail sentence or the death penalty. She has not been charged in the death of her father’s girlfriend; prosecutors say they are pursuing the cases separately.
Financial struggles, strained ties
Friends of both victims and the suspect describe a troubled father-daughter relationship weakened by the divorce of Susan Van Note’s parents three decades ago. The couple had two children, but William Van Note’s only son and namesake died as a teenager.
But the relationship appeared to have recovered somewhat. Liz Van Note, who lived with her mother and teenage son in the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit after a 2006 divorce, helped her father manage his commercial rental properties on Liberty’s historic downtown square, said floral shop owner Brenda Toates, a Van Note tenant.
His daughter, meanwhile, was struggling to make ends meet. Records reviewed by The Associated Press show that Liz Van Note filed for bankruptcy in federal court in September 2009.
A clean crime scene
When the shooting happened, fearful friends and neighbors initially wondered whether the crime was committed by a pro. The crime scene was clean, and there were no signs of forced entry.
Keedy, who is prosecuting the case, declined to discuss whether Liz Van Note’s alleged forgery was premeditated, or a response to her father’s unexpected survival from the attack. Prosecutors also have declined to discuss specific evidence about the shooting. But they have said that Liz Van Note enlisted a high school classmate and her spouse, Stacey and Desre Dory of Shawnee, Kan., to act as witnesses to the forged documents. The Dorys were indicted on felony forgery and second-degree murder charges; they have pleaded not guilty, and their attorney, Milt Harper, says they are “going to be vindicated.”
The document she’s accused of forging is known as a durable power of attorney. People can use a power of attorney to dictate whom they want making medical decisions for them in emergencies or if they are near death and unable to speak for themselves.
Cash, homes went to girlfriend
Dickson was slated to inherit Van Note’s cash and several homes. The will leaves Van Note’s personal property to his daughter, along with life insurance proceeds and the three rental properties in Liberty.