The golden years were shaping up nicely for accountant William Van Note.
The 67-year-old retiree had several boats and a waterfront vacation home at central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks. He could jet off to a winter getaway on Florida's Gulf coast, and had plenty of money in the bank after a career preparing taxes and renting out downtown office space in Liberty, a country town 15 miles north of Kansas City.
And soon, after 20 years together, he and longtime companion Sharon Dickson were going to wed, hoping that the union would be a new start after previous failed marriages.
They never got the chance. In October 2010, an intruder shot the couple in their lake home, killing Dickson and leaving Van Note critically wounded with a gunshot wound to the head. He died four days later, after his daughter told doctors that he would prefer to die rather than be kept alive by medical intervention.
What happened next set the stage for a unique legal case: Van Note's daughter, Susan, was accused by prosecutors of pulling the trigger and forging her father's signature on the document doctors relied on to end his medical treatment. The case, which essentially accuses her of "death by forgery," has captivated the small Missouri community since her September arrest. Legal experts say it's a case with little, if any, precedent.
AP
This photo provided by the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff's Department shows, from left: Susan Van Note; Desre Dory and Stacey Dory. Susan Van Note is facing charges of felony forgery and first-degree murder and the Dorys with felony forgery and second-degree murder in connection with the death of William Van Note, Susan's father. All have pleaded not guilty. (AP Photo/Boone County Sheriff's Department)
Close "He died as a result of them removing life support, not as a result of the gunshot," Camden County prosecutor Brian Keedy said. "If you commit a felony, and somebody dies as a result, there is a criminal responsibility for that death."
Susan Elizabeth Van Note, who goes by Liz, is a 44-year-old attorney who specializes in end-of-life issues, and advertised herself for offering "compassionate representation of clients." She's jailed on a $1 million cash bond, facing charges of felony forgery and first-degree murder.
She has pleaded not guilty, and if convicted could face a lengthy jail sentence or the death penalty. She has not been charged in the death of her father's girlfriend; prosecutors say they are pursuing the cases separately.
Friends of both victims and the suspect describe a troubled father-daughter relationship weakened by the divorce of Susan Van Note's parents three decades ago. The couple had two children, but William Van Note's only son and namesake died as a teenager. They are now buried next to each other.
But the relationship appeared to have recovered somewhat, at least enough that Van Note felt comfortable letting his daughter handle some of his affairs. Liz Van Note, who lived with her mother and teenage son in the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit after a 2006 divorce, helped her father manage his commercial rental properties on Liberty's historic downtown square, said floral shop owner Brenda Toates, a Van Note tenant.
Van Note built his payroll and accounting businesses from modest beginnings, said Joseph Frederick, a retired airline mechanic in Kansas City who first started getting his taxes done by Van Note more than four decades ago, when Van Note's office was in a basement. Van Note's jovial demeanor didn't fit his profession's buttoned-down stereotype, according to Frederick.
"Income tax season isn't always the happiest time of the year," he said. "But he'd always make you feel better when you walked out of his office. He was just an all-around, good-natured guy. I've never seen him down. He was always upbeat."
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