He was the very last person you would suspect of preying on the vulnerable.
But the supposed devotee Christian Benjamin Field mercilessly targeted two pensioners in the quaint Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton, murdering one and defrauding both as part of a plot to get them to change their wills.
The horrifying story of how 69-year-old retired English teacher Peter Farquhar and his neighbor Anne-Moore Martin, 83, were trapped shocked the nation when full details emerged in 2019.
Mr Farquhar endured a campaign of gaslighting and physical and mental torture at the hands of 32-year-old churchwarden Field, who is serving a minimum 36-year sentence for his murder.
Now the first footage of a four-part BBC drama documenting Field’s crimes has been released. Timothy Spall, 66, plays Farquhar, while Anne Reid, 88, plays Mrs. Moore-Martin in The Sixth Commandment.
Retired English teacher Peter Farquhar (left) was killed in 2019 by Benjamin Field in a case that shocked the nation. In the new BBC drama The Sixth Commandment, Timothy Spall (right, in character) plays him out. The first images were released this week
Field is played by 26-year-old Irish star Éanna Hardwicke, while Sheila Hancock, 90, portrays retired secretary Liz Zettl, who was Field’s third intended target before being caught.
The Sixth Commandment is directed by Saul Dibb and produced by Frances du Pille. A release date has not yet been announced.
Field was a 20-year-old college student when he first met Mr. Farquhar.
When he discovered that both he and his neighbor were rich, he decided to seduce them to get their hands on their money.
He pretended to be in love first with Mr. Farquhar and then with Miss Moore-Martin, and was sexually intimate with both, despite dismissing his male partner as a “faggot” and having feelings of “indifference” towards his female victim.
Once he gained their trust, Field performed sinister mind games and used the pair with alcohol and drugs.
Mr. Farquhar’s health deteriorated to the point where he was incoherent and incoherent at times and suffered from hallucinations.
In the mornings he was often covered in bruises and his precious belongings were gone, without remembering what had happened.
Mr Farquhar endured a campaign of gaslighting and physical and mental torture at the hands of 32-year-old Field (left), who is serving a minimum 36-year sentence for his murder. Field is played by 26-year-old Irish star Éanna Hardwicke (right)
“I find more joy in life now than ever before in my fast 23 years,” Field wrote as he began his campaign of abuse.
After his arrest, police discovered a list of possible future victims, including his own parents and grandparents.
He also fantasized in notebooks about a nighttime killing spree, predicting that he could kill up to 50 people in one go.
When Mr Farquhar was found dead by his cleaner in October 2015, the first person she called after emergency services was Field, who everyone believed was his faithful partner.
In March last year, the couple had pledged themselves to each other during a church service in London.
The day was especially special for Mr Farquhar, who wrote in his diary, ‘It is one of the happiest moments of my life. Gone are the fears of dying alone.’
Mr. Farquhar, who had struggled with his sexuality for years, had taught English at the private Manchester Grammar School before moving to prestigious Stowe in 1983.
He was Head of English there for 21 years before deciding to retire in 2004 to write novels.
Field described his first meeting with Mr Farquhar, who was a visiting lecturer at his university, and bragged about the pair’s “vulgarly commercial” relationship.
“He gives me things, and he gets me for a long time,” he wrote.
He explained the relationship in even cruder terms to a friend, writing:
“He and I made a deal, which is that I will pay for nothing and deal with him until his eventual death win/win… I am p [pretty] comfortable with death.’
Field and a college friend moved into Mr Farquhar’s house as boarders in 2013.
He then worked in the bakery department of Tesco and as a carer in a nearby nursing home.
There he filmed himself tormenting a resident, telling her that she “had no friends and you never married.”
Anne Moore-Martin, 83, was Field’s second victim. She too was seduced by the criminal. She is played in the upcoming drama by Anne Reid, 88
He scribbled messages in white marker on mirrors in her house. One read: ‘Pray for Ben, Ben loves you
In 2014, the same month as his and Mr. Farquhar’s church ceremony, Field began a relationship with another woman, Setara Pracha, an admissions teacher at Buckingham University where he was a student.
He later became deputy church warden at St. Mary’s Church in Stowe and boasted to a friend that he would become a minister.
The abuse he subjected Mr Farquhar to included torturing a pet chihuahua he gave him and tricking him into believing he had dementia.
After his will was changed in Field’s favour, Mr. Farquhar was killed. He was found to have taken sedatives and alcohol, and police believe he may have also been suffocated with a pillow.
Field initially avoided suspicion and put £20,000 out of his victim’s will. When Mr Farquhar’s house was sold by his brother, Field was paid a further £142,000.
He then moved on to his second victim, Mrs. Moore-Martin, to whom he had been introduced by Mr. Farquhar.
The retired teacher and devout Catholic soon fell under his spell, gave him a key to her house and told friends she loved him.
She even hung a framed photo of him above her dressing table that read, “I’m always with you.”
In 2016, she gave him £4,000 to buy a car. Since she had no intention of actually buying a vehicle with the money, Field rented a car for the day to trick her.
He then cheated the woman out of £27,000, saying she didn’t need the money to help his brother, who he claimed was desperately ill.
He scribbled messages in white marker on mirrors in her house. One read: “Ben makes you whole, give him the whole.”
Another said, “Whatever you give him you get back tenfold.”
Convinced by his act, Mrs. Moore-Martin changed her will in Field’s favor in late 2016.
Retired secretary Liz Zettl, who was Field’s third intended target before being caught, is played by Sheila Hancock, 90. Above left: Ms Zettl arrives to testify at Field’s trial in 2019
Mr. Farquhar, who had struggled with his sexuality for years, had taught English at the private Manchester Grammar School before moving to prestigious Stowe in 1983. novels. Right: Spall as an English teacher
Undated handout photo issued by Thames Valley Police of Peter Farqhuar (right) and Benjamin Field
In February 2017, she suffered a seizure and ended up in hospital.
It remains unclear what caused the decline, but she did tell friends days earlier that Field gave her “some powder” that helped her sleep.
However, Field was acquitted of attempting to kill her.
Once his victim was in hospital, Field was denied access to her and the pensioner’s niece, Anne-Marie Blake, grew suspicious.
When the police began an investigation, Mrs. Blake changed her aunt’s will to write Field out.
Field was first arrested in March 2017, but two months later, Ms Moore-Martin died of a massive stroke.
Her niece said in evidence to the jury at Field’s trial, “She was tortured by it and found it very difficult to get her head around the betrayal.”
“She said to me, ‘I’m such an intelligent woman. How could I let this happen to myself?’
Field was acquitted of conspiracy to kill Ann-Moore Martin (pictured)
Éanna Hardwicke and Anne Reid play Field and Mrs. Moore-Martin
At his trial, former Stowe School secretary Mrs. Zettl, then 101, became the oldest witness in a British murder trial.
Field’s co-defendant, Martyn Smith, who was cleared of involvement in the deaths of both Mr Farquhar and Mrs Moore-Martin, lived as a lodger with Mrs Zettl.
In January 2022, Field began a second bid to have his conviction overturned. The Court of Appeal rejected an earlier challenge in 2021.