Court hears that wife allegedly killed her husband, concealed his body in a bag in their garden for weeks after abusing him.

A wife allegedly murdered her husband then hid his body in a bag in their garden for weeks, a court has heard.

Maureen Rickards, aged 50, was taken into custody in July on suspicion of the murder of Jeremy Rickards, aged 65, following the discovery of his decomposed remains by law enforcement officials at their residence in Canterbury, Kent.

Allegations suggest that she is accused of fatally stabbing her husband multiple times in the chest, piercing his heart, and subsequently storing his body temporarily in a closet located in their shared bedroom.

It is alleged that she then wrapped Mr Rickards, dressed in his underwear in a bin bag.

Following this, it is claimed that she then put his body into a large, durable bag made of canvas and transported it down two sets of stairs to the rear of their garden, which was overgrown. Here, she allegedly buried him beneath layers of grass clippings.

Mrs Rickards denies murder.

The 65-year-old had been reported missing by his family at the beginning of June – with his last sighting said to be on June 7.

His body was only found on July 11 after a police officer recognised a distinctive ‘sickly smell’ in the garden of the Rickards’ home.

Mrs Rickards, pictured, is accused of repeatedly stabbing her husband in the chest and through the heart before temporarily storing his body – dressed in his underwear – in a cupboard in their bedroom

Maureen Rickards, 50, was arrested in July on suspicion of murdering Jeremy Rickards, 65, pictured,  after his decomposing body at their home in Canterbury, Kent 

Mr Rickards was last seen on June 7 arriving at his home in Canterbury

Canterbury Crown Court was told how in the lead up to Mr Rickards’ body being found, Mrs Rickards is believed to have sent WhatsApp messages to their daughter, Chima Rickards. 

The messages were purporting to be her father and claiming he was in Saudi Arabia.

It is also alleged that Mrs Rickards later told Chima that her father had taken his own life – giving the date of his death as June 9.

As he opened the case, prosecutor Nick Corsellis KC told the court that the date of death ‘may well be, in fact, true’.

It was these messages, and in particular their style of writing, which triggered Chima’s suspicions and prompted her to alert police, Mr Corsellis added.

Jurors also heard that in the leadup to his alleged killing, Mr Rickards had been in a ‘battered and bruised’ state – as seen by a taxi driver and staff at the nearby Thomas Ingoldsby pub where he was a regular.

The prosecution argues that this evidence showed the 50-year-old had been subjecting her husband to domestic abuse – which allegedly became ‘more severe’ in his final days.

Mr Rickards’ physical state had been described as ‘frail and vulnerable’ – and that following Mrs Rickards’ arrest, Kent Police found several voice recordings on her phone in which she berated her husband as he lay confused on the floor.

In one recording, she could also be heard ‘voicing her intent to harm and kill’, the court heard.

Mr Corsellis told the court that pathologists had found the man suffered five stab wounds, two of which were 11cm deep, as well as multiple fractured ribs, a fracture to a bone in his neck, and a broken nose.

His body was only found on July 11 after a police officer recognised a distinctive ‘sickly smell’ in the garden of the Rickards’ home

There was also a ‘sharp force’ stab wound to his head in which metal fragments were present.

‘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,’ Mr Corsellis told jurors.

‘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.’

Mr Rickards was last seen on June 7 arriving at his home in Canterbury.

The geologist, who would often travel for work, had been staying at an Airbnb in the city – but later returned to the property he shared with Mrs Rickards on St Martin’s Road.

One tenant of the house said they saw Mr Rickards ‘profoundly’ injured on June 6 – with a cut to his forehead and bruises to his eyes and ears.

The human remains were found at the property in Canterbury, Kent, pictured

When asked what had happened to his face, he allegedly replied: ‘Maureen was in a bad mood with me and with everyone.’

Meanwhile, a taxi driver who had driven Mr Rickards to the address later alleged to police that he had been so frail he neither had the strength to carry his bags nor knock on the front door.

Four days earlier, Mr Rickards had phoned his brother in Middlesbrough and asked if he could stay with him for a few weeks as he was ‘having problems with Maureen again’.

However, his sibling never heard from him again.

Mr Rickards was reported missing at the beginning of June and police officers visited his and Mrs Rickards’ home in Canterbury on July 7.

However, officers found ‘no trace of existence’ of the geologist.

Mrs Rickards told officers at the time that although she and her husband were separated, he would occasionally stay with her.

She added however that she had not spoken to him ‘for weeks’, and said he had possibly taken a job in Saudi Arabia or gone to see his brother.

She was initially arrested on suspicion of fraud after officers found she had been using her husband’s bank card in various shops in Canterbury between June 20 and June 30.

Among her purchases were alcohol, cigarettes, Doritos, toilet paper, Febreze air freshener, and Vanish carpet shampoo.

However after his body was found she was re-arrested on suspicion of murder – to which she replied: ‘Murder? Murder? Did you say murder? Found what body?’

Police later found DNA matching Mr Rickards on the bloodstains on the carpet, the court heard, as well as Mrs Rickards’ DNA on the bin bag in which Mr Rickards’ body was discovered.

Mrs Rickards, of St Martin’s Road, denies murder between June 7 and July 11 last year.

The trial continues.