A MAN launched a "ferocious and sustained attack" on his own mother and her millionaire partner after saying "I want them to suffer", a court heard.
Thomas Schreiber, 35, is accused of the murder of Sir Richard Lexington Sutton and attempted murder of Anne Schreiber at their home in north Dorset on the night of Wednesday, April 7.
Opening the prosecution's case at Winchester Crown Court on Monday, November 29, Adam Feest QC said Sir Richard suffered five stab wounds to an area just under his left armpit.
Mr Feest QC said two of these were deep enough to puncture the lung, with one piercing the main blood vessel which travels away from the heart and the other piercing the heart itself.
The prosecutor said an armed police team smashed through the glass door of the conservatory of Moorhill, near Gillingham, the home of Sir Richard, 83, and Ms Schreiber, 66, shortly before 9pm on April 7.
This was after 999 calls from multiple people to police saying Thomas Schreiber, who was also a resident of Moorhill, was saying he had killed his mother and Sir Richard, the court heard.
Mr Feest QC said the attack left Ms Schreiber barely conscious and dying on the floor of the kitchen. She had suffered stab wounds numbering into double figures.
The court was told it was only through the quick actions of police carrying her out of the house to paramedics and the subsequent treatment she received that she survived, but with "life-changing injuries".
Mr Feest QC said police came across Sir Richard's "motionless and bloodied" body at the end of the upstairs landing, just outside his bedroom.
There was a trail and spots of Sir Richard's blood downstairs in the kitchen, the study and the hallway, the prosecutor said.
The court was told the incident is likely to have started with an initial attack upon Sir Richard in his study, which spilled into the kitchen and also was against Ms Schreiber before the fatal episode took place on the landing.
"There is no dispute in this case that it was the defendant who killed Sir Richard and so seriously injured his mother," said Mr Feest QC.
The defendant was arrested a few hours later after a police chase and a “hard stop” in London, said the prosecutor.
Two knives were found at the property, one with Sir Richard's blood on and another with Ms Schreiber’s blood on, the court was told.
The prosecution said messages from the defendant's devices showed he had been holding feelings of resentment towards his mother and Sir Richard in the weeks prior to the incident.
This had grown by being forced to live at Moorhill due to the pandemic, the court heard.
These feelings led Thomas Schreiber to repeatedly consider "revenge and violence" against his "toxic" and "gold-digging" mother and Sir Richard.
The court heard that in one message to a friend in March, the defendant said: “I’m so sad to report that my mind is consumed with hatred of the very worst kind towards my family.
“They really hurt me, betrayed me and destroyed all trust. Simply put I contemplate murdering them all morning, day and night. It’s not what I want to think about but it’s the truth. I want them to suffer.”
Thomas Schreiber, of Gillingham, Dorset, denies murder and attempted murder.
The trial continues.
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