A Canterbury woman who murdered her husband and hid his body in their garden has been jailed for life. Jeremy Rickards, who was 65, was found dead behind the property in St Martin’s Road on 11 July 2024.
His wife, Maureen Rickards, 50, was convicted of his murder on Thursday 13 March 2025 following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court.
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On Wednesday 9 April, she was jailed for life at the same court and ordered to serve a minimum prison term of 22 years.
Police launched a search for Jeremy Rickards after he was reported missing by a family member on 5 July 2024. Maureen Rickards claimed he had gone to Saudi Arabia to work and died there, but police found no record of him having left the country. Analysis of his mobile phone showed he had last topped it up on 8 June, which was the last record of him having been alive.
The missing person enquiries also looked into the use of the victim’s bank card, and found CCTV footage of Maureen Rickards using it in shops between 20 and 30 June.
She was arrested for fraud on 11 July and police carried out a search of the property, finding Jeremy Rickards’ body in the garden. He was found to have suffered five stab wounds to his chest, as well as non-fatal injuries sustained around 10 days before his death, and others thought to have been inflicted at least five weeks earlier.
Maureen Rickards was then arrested on suspicion of murder and a homicide investigation was launched, with detectives working to build up a picture of the couple’s relationship in the previous weeks and months.
The investigation found that, on 17 May, Jeremy Rickards had been seen with bruising to his face in a pub in Canterbury and had told a member of staff he had been in a car accident. Video clips found on Maureen Rickards’ phone dating from the end of May and the beginning of June showed her shouting at her husband and recorded the sounds of her beating him.
He had briefly moved out of their home in early June and had been seen with numerous injuries at the property he stayed in.
Based on the information from the pathologist and the last sighting, detectives believe Maureen Rickards murdered her husband on or around 9 June. This was also the date of his death which Maureen Rickards had given in a message to a relative as she attempted to cover up her involvement. Crime scene investigation work suggested the victim’s body had been stored in a cupboard in the flat before being moved to the garden.
Gardeners had visited the property on 26 June and Maureen Rickards had asked them to leave the grass they had cut under some bushes. It was here where Jeremy Rickards’ body was later found.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Colin McKeen said:
‘Maureen Rickards carried out the vicious murder of her husband Jeremy before attempting to hide his body in their garden.
‘She then sought to frustrate the investigation and has repeatedly refused to admit what she did, forcing a trial at which a jury saw through her deception. She will now serve many years in prison.
‘I cannot imagine how difficult this investigation and trial has been for Mr Rickards’ family and I only hope that the conclusion of the case gives them some comfort as they continue to grieve.’