World | UK
Millionaire 'beaten to death'
A reclusive millionaire was battered to death in his Hampstead home by a conman who raided his bank accounts, the Old Bailey heard on Saturday.
- By Paul Cheston, Evening Standard
- Published: 00:44 February 3, 2008
London: A reclusive millionaire was battered to death in his Hampstead home by a conman who raided his bank accounts, the Old Bailey heard on Saturday.
Allan Chappelow, 86, was a world expert on playwright George Bernard Shaw but had become "rather eccentric" in his old age, the jury was told.
His body lay undiscovered for three weeks beneath papers in his £2.5 million (Dh18.5 million) Georgian home in Downshire Hill. The court was told that his alleged killer, Chinese-born Wang Yam, a British citizen, had stolen his post and impersonated him to ransack his bank account. When Chappelow's body was found, Yam fled on a Eurostar.
Yam, 46, of West Hampstead, has denied murder, burglary, theft, handling stolen goods and obtaining a money transfer by deception in May and June 2006.
Before the case was opened Justice Ouseley told the jury the press and public would be excluded from part of the trial to be heard in camera.
Dilapidated house
Mark Ellison, prosecuting, said Chappelow had been a successful author in the 1980s with his two biographies of Shaw. He added: "But by the time he was murdered he was not only elderly but quite reclusive and was described by one neighbour as rather eccentric.
"His house was severely dilapidated and heavily cluttered with rubbish inside and outside. However, he was regarded by those who knew him as highly intelligent and there was no question that he was able to handle his affairs."
Chappelow travelled to the United States in April 2006 when his house was burgled and his post, revealing his large savings accounts, was stolen. The author reported the theft on his return to Britain and he was concerned he might have lost an Inland Revenue tax rebate sent to his home.
In early May the postman found he was unable to reach Chappelow's front door as a tree had fallen down. Half an hour later "a Chinese-looking man" approached and claimed he was related to the occupant and would clear the tree away. The next day the tree had been shifted, the court heard.
Yam had been made bankrupt in September 2005 with debts of £1.1 million but within months was making offers on £1 million properties in Hampstead, it was alleged.
He used various variations on his name, such as John Wang, and had set up several businesses but after declaring himself bankrupt he was living with his girlfriend Hui Dong a few streets away from the author. The rent had not been paid, cheques had bounced and they were about to be evicted in June. Yet Yam was said to have visited various local estate agents claiming to be worth £39 million.
At one property worth £1.6 million he promised a deposit of £80,000 but a cheque for a survey bounced, said Ellison. "This demonstrates an increasing desperation for the defendant's situation," he added. The jury heard Yam took the first step towards stripping Chappelow's bank accounts by setting up an e-mail address in his victim's name.
Share this article
UK
London Business School honours Mohammad
3-year-old boy stabbed to death by father
Queen gets new dress on birthday card
Commission begins inquiry into Iraq war
Cumbria mops up after severe flooding
Second panel member in expenses controversy
Celebrity diets fuelling obesity
Dead Brazilian's poor family to get reduced pay-out
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
Reader helps police to bust brothel
More than 20 gang members recently arrested from running brothels in Dubai
-
Philippine areas under emergency rule
Toll rises to 46 in brutal kidnap and murder in the south
-
Obama seeks to reassure Singh on ties
Singh is on elaborate state visit that will include talks on US ties with Pakistan
