A sponging son was today convicted of murdering millionaire hotelier Sir Richard Sutton in an attack that paralysed his own mother.
A court heard how Thomas Schreiber fatally attacked Sir Richard Sutton, 83, and attempted to murder his mother Anne Schreiber, 63, following years of hatred and resentment which led to an "explosion of violence" in Sir Richard's £2m mansion.
Thomas Schreiber, 35, from Gillingham, Dorset, previously admitted the manslaughter of his mum's partner Sir Richard - who as one of Britain's richest men was worth £300million - and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.
Today at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, a jury dismissed Schreiber's defence that he was suffering from a mental disorder which meant he was not in control on the night of the killing. Judge Neil Garnham QC told Schreiber he faced life behind bars when he is sentenced on Monday.
The brutal attack took place on April 7 2021 at Sir Richard’s estate which he shared with the Schreiber family, with Thomas living rent-free in the annexe.
Using a kitchen knife he plunged a knife 12cm into Sir Richard's heart, stabbing him to death, before using another knife to attack his mother. Mrs Schreiber was stabbed so many times during the "vicious assault" by her own son she was left paralysed from the neck down and breathing through a ventilator.
The Moorhill estate in the hamlet of Higher Langham near Gillingham, Dorset, was left covered in blood and looking like a "warzone" following the murderous rampage on April 7 this year, the eighth anniversary of Schreiber's father's death.
Meanwhile, Thomas fled the scene in Sir Richard's Range Rover before officers descended on the estate. He was caught hours later by following a 135mph police chase.
Today at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, a jury dismissed Schreiber's defence that he was suffering from a mental disorder which meant he was not in control on the night of the killing.
The killer, wearing a blue suit and pink shirt, stared down at the ground in the dock, as the verdicts were read out.
A whispered cry of "yes" was heard from the public gallery above, where Sir Richard's children Caroline and David Sutton, as well as other members of the family, were sat.
Thomas was said to have become unhappy with his mother becoming the partner of Sir Richard and resented the family for abandoning his alcoholic father, who died in 2013.
He toldthe court he had felt a “loss of control” and that he was unable to “physically stop” the knife attack on his mother and Sir Richard.
Following the conviction, the family of Sir Richard said in a statement: "How could any family recover from such a sudden and devastating loss.
"We can never bring back Sir Richard but his spirit will very much live on, alongside the very happy memories we have of our incredible father, brother and grandfather.
"His values of being warm, generous and compassionate to everyone he met will be carried forward by future generations, and will never be extinguished."
Sir Richard had two children by his first wife Fiamma, and five grandchildren.
The court had previously been told how Thomas was "consumed with hatred and contemplated murder morning, day and night".
In a text sent around a month before the murder, Thomas told a friend "I contemplate murdering them all morning, day and night" the court heard.
Thomas was said to have became "incensed and fixated" after the millionaire hotelier failed to apologise for caning him with his walking stick, his sister Rose McCarthy earlier told his trial.
Rose said the atmosphere at Moorhill had become a "vicious triangle", and added: "He said he wanted an apology, he became quite fixated on getting an apology from Sir Richard, then in the following weeks it hadn't materialised, he was incensed by it, it consumed him."
Mrs Schreiber, the only living witness of the attack, is a Danish-born physiotherapist who runs a practice in Milborne Port, Dorset, and has three grown-up children including son Thomas.
Recalling the attack, which has left her paralysed and suffering from poor memory, she said she was in a "good mood" and was cooking in the kitchen when she heard a "kerfuffle". At this point she turned around to see her son walk in and pick up the knife from a block on the kitchen island.
Speaking from Salisbury Hospital's spinal unit after the attack, she told police: "I think I'm just cooking quite happily, might even be singing a little although I don't really have any voice to sing with. But I'm in a good mood.
"I'm standing with my back to the door... when Thomas comes in to the kitchen where we have a big island.
"Thomas looked unusual... His eyes were quite weird... I would say almost frightening to look at because they looked terribly, terribly determined.
"I received some stabs from him and I remember looking at the knife in me and being surprised that it didn't hurt more."
Mrs Schreiber was found barely breathing in the kitchen by armed police but Sir Richard had managed to limp upstairs, trying to set off an alarm and call the police along the way, before Schreiber picked up a second knife, hunted him down and stabbed him a further five times.
His body was found on the upstairs landing, with blood splashed across the wall in front of him.
When Thomas was caught fleeing from the property and police forced him to stop, he began to stab himself with a third knife he had grabbed from the mansion before his escape. However, he was stunned by a taser to prevent him from killing himself.
The fatal attack happened on the eighth anniversary of the death of the father of the siblings, David Schreiber, who suffered from depression and a drinking problem and separated from their mother in about 2003.
The defendant had accused his mother and sisters of being "gold-diggers" after the family moved in with Sir Richard, while their father lived alone in a bungalow on the estate.
Ms McCarthy said her brother was "controlling" of their mother and added: "Tom was very protective of our father and felt very responsible to look after him during that period of time.
"Dad was drinking and was not always of a stable mind and as loving as he was, he could be toxic and a lot of that toxicity was fed into Tom about mum and Sir Richard and Louisa and I.
"We all knew how hard dad's death would be on Tom because of their close relationship, so we did the best we could while grieving ourselves."
She said Sir Richard became concerned at the defendant, who was an aspiring painter, becoming reliant on this.
She said: "It came from a place of concern for Richard, he could understand Tom not working if he needed help, he was consumed with the need to help Tom, what he couldn't understand was the audacity of Tom to help himself to everything in the house.
"He could behave as if everything was his when he hadn't contributed and all he could do was criticise.
"It became obvious to the family that it was becoming a vicious triangle, the three of them living at Moorhill."
The jury heard how Sir Richard became "consumed" with trying to get rid of the aspiring painter.
His daughter Caroline Sutton even revealed the hotelier paid Schreiber £100,000 for a house deposit in a desperate attempt to get him to leave his home.
The court was shown a text message sent by the defendant to Ms McCarthy on the day before the killing in which he wrote, having mistaken the date: "Raising a glass to dad who passed away eight years ago today. RIP. You remember right? Your real father David, not the one who "bought you" who you call your father... cupboard love."
Ms McCarthy said: "Sir Richard was a great father figure to me, I was proud to call him my stepfather but I was not bought, as implied by this message."
She said Sir Richard had offered to pay for her father to undergo rehabilitation for his drinking.
The court heard that without the Covid lockdowns the attack “wouldn’t have happened”.
Defence witness, consultant psychiatrist Dr Tim Roger, told the court that Thomas’ history of mental health had contributed to the murder.
He said Thomas has a “major depressive disorder” which was worsened by family arguments and the Covid lockdowns.
Dr Rogers said: "He was using coping mechanisms like meeting friends, then (because of) the effects of the pandemic those coping mechanisms were no longer there.
"He was isolated and essentially locked in this annexe in the middle of these family problems, it's reasonable this had an effect on his mental health."
The attack also happened on the anniversary of Thomas’ father’s death, which the doctor said could have been a contributing factor.
During the trial, Thomas said he had heard a voice in his head saying: “attack, attack, attack”.
Dr Rogers added that the defendant had not described experiencing hallucinations or paranoia and did not have symptoms of bipolar disorder.
Psychiatrist Dr John Sandford, called by the prosecution, said he did not think that Thomas had a major depressive disorder.
He said that the defendant had been given anti-depressants while living in Australia in 2017 but he had never been referred to a secondary service such as a consultant or a community mental health nurse.
He added that the defendant had visited his GP in March 2021 showing symptoms of "mixed anxiety".
Dr Sandford said: "My headline conclusion is he doesn't suffer from a mental disorder, there is no evidence that he has a severe mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, there is no evidence of that at all.
"He was a little bit of a lost soul, he had anger and resentment about his childhood that had never been resolved - he was unhappy but he didn't have a mental disorder.
"He has a history of poor anger control and aggression within his family, it's a possibility drink is a significant factor in this."
