A church warden who started a sexual relationship with a gay lecturer as part of a gaslighting campaign aimed at being written into his will has been found guilty of his murder.
Benjamin Field, 28, secretly fed Peter Farquhar, 69, a diet of psychedelic drugs in his tea and chocolate in a bid to make him kill himself and get hold of his inheritance.
Oxford Crown Court heard lonely Mr Farquhar had believed the younger man was in love with him and they even exchanged vows during an official betrothal ceremony.
However Field also had a string of girlfriends and was in a sexual relationship with Mr Farquahr’s neighbour, spinster Ann Moore-Martin, who was 57 years his senior.
Field admitted to also gaslighting Miss Moore-Martin, writing messages on her mirrors purporting to be from God, in an attempt to be written into her will.
Prosecutors told Oxford Crown Court that Field targeted Miss Moore-Martin a few months after killing Mr Farquhar, but he was acquitted of her attempted murder.
Church warden Ben Field (right) is pictured at a ‘betrothal ceremony’ to Peter Farquhar (left)
Mr Farquhar, a university lecturer, died in October 2015. An upsetting photo shown to the jury shows him laying, confused, in his bed after he was drugged and ‘gaslighted’ by his killer
Field’s co-accused, magician Martyn Smith, 32, was acquitted by the jury, who found him not guilty.
Over a two-year period, Field drugged the university lecturer and encouraged him to drink alcohol – a deadly combination that made him believe he was losing his mind.
It was all part of his plan to get the lecturer, who lived in the quaint village of Maids Moreton in Buckinghamshire, to commit suicide.
To convince him he was losing his mind, Field admitted perpetrating ‘gaslighting’ on Mr Faruqhar by moving things around in his home.
Field persuaded Mr Farquhar that he was doing ‘strange things’ such as putting a crystal glass in the freezer and deleting all the contacts in his phone.
He also told him he had smashed a prized framed picture, but Field’s diary entries showed he had recorded himself doing these things.
Mr Farquhar sought the help of specialist brain doctors as he thought he was losing his mind – though none of them could find out what was wrong with him.
Field told Mr Farquhar’s friends and neighbours that the retired lecturer had taken to drink, the jury heard.
In August 2015, he spiked him with the powerful psychedelic drug 2CB on the day of his book launch.
As Mr Farquhar prepared for a ceremony to celebrate the release of his third novel, A Wide Wide Sea, he found his head was beginning to swim.
Miss Moore-Martin died of natural causes in May 2017. Field was cleared of conspiring to murder her
The pensioners lived three houses apart in the village of Maids Moreton in Buckinghamshire
Those who met him at the book launch, the jury heard, watched on as he struggling to sign books or string a sentence together.
Field, playing the part of a concerned friend, told attendees that Mr Farquhar was becoming an alcoholic, and he was getting worse.
When he was found dead by his cleaner on October 26, 2016, slumped in a chair next to a bottle of whiskey, his death was put down to acute alcohol intoxication.
Field admitted being in relationships with Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin as part of his plot to get them to change their wills but denied involvement in their deaths.
Mr Farquhar, who was torn about his sexuality because of his religion, died in October 2015, while Miss Moore-Martin died in May 2017 from natural causes.
Prosecutors said Field had a ‘profound fascination in controlling and manipulating and humiliating and killing’.
The PhD student was a prolific writer, documenting his thoughts and activities in diaries and journals.
Field (left) was found guilty at Oxford Crown Court of the murder of Peter Farquhar, 69. His co-accused, magician Martyn Smith (right), was found not guilty
Field had also drawn up a ‘100 clients’ list, including his parents, grandparents and brother, which the prosecution said were future targets.
He denied murdering University of Buckingham lecturer Mr Farquhar and maintained he could have died from taking his usual dose of flurazepam and drinking whisky.
Following his death, Field inherited £20,000 moved his intentions on to Ms Moore-Martin, a devout Catholic who had never lived with a man or had children.
The former headmistress became a gushing schoolgirl when Field wood her with proclamations of love conveyed in letters and poems.
Field moved in with the 83-year-old and they began a sexual relationship, even snapped a picture of her performing a sex act on him as part of a blackmail plot.
The mental torture began when religious Ms Moore-Martin spotted messages, scrawled in felt pen, written on her mirrors which read ‘Ben needs prayer and he loves you’ and ‘All that you give him will be returned tenfold.’
She became full of zeal and excitedly told Field the messages were written by God, the jury heard, a sign she should make him a beneficiary of her will.
Peter Farquhar (left), 69, and Ann Moore-Martin, 83, died within a year and a half of each other
Ms Moore-Martin was so taken in by the deception that she contacted her solicitor and asked for her will to be changed to include Field.
The court heard the call set off an alarm bell for solicitor Diana Davis, as this was the second elderly pensioner to contact her asking to make Field a beneficiary.
Following the mental assault, Ms Moore-Martin’s health deteriorated and she was taken to hospital after suffering a seizure.
It was there that she mentioned to a friend that Ben had been giving her a powder to help her sleep, claiming it was ‘better than what the doctors had given me’.
Ms Moore-Martin’s niece, Anne-Marie Blake became aware of this and contacted the police, meaning Field was immediately barred from seeing Ms Moore-Martin.
Away from his toxic influence, Ms Moore-Martin came to realise the deceit which had been carried out on her, cut Field out of her will and gave interviews to the police about what had happened.
Two weeks later she died on May 11, 2017.
Benjamin Field showed no emotion as the jury forewoman returned the verdicts.
When his brother, who was on bail, was released from the dock he hugged his parents.
Mr Justice Sweeney adjourned sentencing against Field until a date to be fixed after ordering a pre-sentence psychiatric report. He was remanded into custody.
How Benjamin Field slowly corrupted the mind of his ‘lonely’ victim before murdering him
Here is a timeline of the investigation into Benjamin Field, Martyn Smith and Tom Field and the deaths of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin in the village of Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire:
April 6, 2011
Benjamin Field and Mr Farquhar first met at the University of Buckingham. Mr Farquhar was a guest lecturer and Field an English undergraduate.
September 2013
Mr Farquhar’s journal makes reference to Field staying at his home. He makes a new will leaving £2,000 and two pictures to Field.
November 24, 2013
Field moves into Mr Farquhar’s home at 3 Manor Park, Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire.
March 2014
Field and Mr Farquhar undergo a ‘betrothal’ ceremony at St Mary’s Church, West Hampstead.
November 2014
Mr Farquhar makes a third will. He leaves Field the freehold to 3 Manor Park, £15,000 and a silver wine holder. Field is also appointed literary agent for any of Mr Farquhar’s books. Smith is allotted £2,000.
June 14, 2015
Field is introduced to Mr Farquhar’s neighbour, Miss Moore-Martin, according to Field’s journal.
September 2015
Field drives Mr Farquhar to an appointment with his solicitor where he makes his final will. Field is made his literary executor and allotted £20,000, a silver bottle holder, a gold ring and the complete works of Charles Dickens. Field is also given a life interest in 3 Manor Park. Smith is left £10,000.
October 3, 2015
Mr Farquhar is admitted to hospital after a suspected overdose, having taken 14 flurazepam tablets and 400ml of gin. He says he cannot remember taking the tablets and said he was not suicidal.
October 5 to 10, 2015
Mr Farquhar receives respite care at the Red House care home in Maids Moreton and his health improves.
October 26, 2015
At around 11.30am Mr Farquhar’s cleaner Jayne Suttill finds him dead on the sofa at his home.
November 3, 2015
An inquest records Mr Farquhar’s death as alcohol-related.
May 2016
Miss Moore-Martin gives Field £4,000 because he says he needs a new car. A week later she gives him a further £400 towards the car.
August to September 2016
Field tells Miss Moore-Martin that his younger brother, Tom, is ill and requires a dialysis machine. She gives Field £27,000 to buy the machine.
November 14, 2016
Mr Farquhar’s home is sold for £290,000 and Field receives half the proceeds – a total of £142,436.75. He also receives £20,000 from the estate.
December 22, 2016
Miss Moore-Martin changes her will to leave Field her home at 6 Manor Park.
February 4, 2017
Miss Moore-Martin is admitted to hospital after suffering a seizure. The hospital cannot explain her condition. She recovers and returns home.
February 7, 2017
Miss Moore-Martin’s niece, Ann-Marie Blake, makes a complaint to Thames Valley Police that her aunt has been manipulated by Field into changing her will. Officers investigate this as a potential fraud and adult protection matter.
February 10, 2017
While giving a statement to police Miss Moore-Martin alleges Field gave her white powder. She also reveals she had given Field £27,000 for a dialysis machine.
February 15, 2017
Miss Moore-Martin tells police she was in a confused state when she changed her will to benefit Field. Detectives identify a link between Field and Mr Farquhar.
February 28, 2017
Miss Moore-Martin changes her will back to benefit her niece.
March 12, 2017
Miss Moore-Martin suffers a further seizure and following this she alleges to police that Field had poisoned her.
March 13, 2017
Field is arrested by police. The following day Smith is arrested. Both are released on bail.
March 27, 2017
Mr Farquhar’s death is now being treated as murder.
May 12, 2017
Miss Moore-Martin dies.
November 6, 2018
Field and Smith are re-arrested and charged with murder and conspiracy to murder. Tom Field is sent a postal requisition charged with fraud by false representation.
April 30, 2019
The trial of the three defendants gets under way at Oxford Crown Court before Mr Justice Sweeney.
August 9, 2019
Field was convicted by a jury after 77 hours of the murder of Mr Farquhar. He was cleared of conspiracy to murder and attempted murder of Miss Moore-Martin.
Mr Smith was cleared of the murder of Mr Farquhar and conspiracy to murder Miss Moore-Martin, while Field’s brother Tom, 24, a Cambridge University graduate, was cleared of a single charge of fraud.
Sadistic murderer who admitted ‘interest in the extremes of death’: How Ben Field had all the makings of a serial killer
Cold and calculating Ben Field had all the makings of a serial killer, taking a sadistic pleasure in torturing his victim.
He was just 22 when he first targeted the 69-year-old Peter Farquhar for his money.
Over a two-year period Field drugged the university lecturer and encouraged him to drink alcohol – a deadly combination that made him believe he was losing his mind. It was all part of Field’s plan to drive him to suicide.
And when that failed, Field killed him, shrewdly making it look like he had drunk himself to death.
By then Field had already moved onto his next victim, Mr Farquhar’s neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, a retired headmistress, spinster and deeply committed Roman Catholic, who Field later admitted fraudulently being in relationship with as part of a plot to get her to change her will.
Peter Farquhar and Benjamin Field are pictured during a trip to Dunkerry Beacon together
Like her neighbour, she was gaslighted – psychologically manipulated – and made to believe she was in a relationship with the much younger Field.
But while professing his love for his two victims, the promiscuous Field maintained relationships with long-term girlfriends who he cheated on with other women.
He also hooked up for ‘edgy and dirty’ sexual encounters with men he met on Grindr, having earlier been paid by men who answered his advert on Craigslist.
Asked to explain why he did it, he said: ‘Having done something I had not done before and try to do something I found transgressive and test myself.’
To the outside world he was caring and trustworthy but hidden from public view was a much darker personality.
A priest he knew described him as ‘well respected and caring’, while a former partner said ‘love thy neighbour’ is the best way to describe how he is to other people’.
University lecturer Peter Farquhar
Field meticulously documented his depravity in his journals, poetry and videos – leaving it all for the police to find.
He admitted he had an ‘interest with the extremes of death and the idea of killing’ and collected books and essays about dying, including the Five Last Acts, Easing The Passing and The Savage God.
Field later got a job in a local nursing home, providing end of life care for dementia sufferers, where he filmed himself taunting an elderly woman about loneliness, pain and death.
He was born in 1990 and grew up in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. He has an older sister, Hannah, and a younger brother, Tom.
Their mother Beverley served as a Liberal Democrat councillor on the district council for several years, and their father Ian is a Baptist minister.
Field went to Bishop Stopford School in nearby Kettering, leaving in 2009 with two grade A A-levels in music and English literature and a C in economics.
He had earlier achieved four A*s, four As and two Bs in his GCSEs at the school.
Field told jurors that he had bunked off a lot of his secondary schooling and would go the library and read.
The family then moved to the village of Olney, near Milton Keynes, where Rev Field became the minister at Olney Baptist Church.
Field started at the private University of Buckingham in 2011 studying for a Bachelor of Arts (hons) degree in English literature, achieving a 2:1.
In 2013 he completed a Master of Arts in literature, gaining a distinction before beginning in January 2015 a Doctorate of Philosophy in literature.
Field told the jury he had considered taking his own life in 2013 as he was feeling ‘depressed and alienated’ having finished his master’s degree earlier that year and been unable to secure a full-time job.
He was cautioned by the police in 2011 for shoplifting t-shirts and also admitted to frequently trespassing – a precursor to burgling homes of the elderly.
Field also used cocaine once in 2010, later taking benzodiazepines to help him sleep while at university.
After he was arrested, he boasted: ‘I think I will get away with most of it.
‘The two major charges I am not worried about even slightly … they don’t have any evidence … also, if I’m wrong and they have evidence, I’m going to beat that and I’m going to distance myself…’
