Van Note posts $1 million cash bond

Van Note posts $1 million cash bond



Email Share PrintOct. 4, 2012 6:26 p.m. ZoomSusan Elizabeth Van Note

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Couple plead not guilty in the murder of... Daughter arrested for 2010 murder of father Van Note pleads not guilty to father's murder

Camden County -- A Kansas City attorney charged with first-degree murder and forgery in the death of her father at his lake home in October 2010 is free after posting a $1 million cash bond.

Late Thursday afternoon, Susan Elizabeth Van Note was released from the Camden County Jail. She was arrested nearly two years after she allegedly masterminded the death of her father, William Van Note.

Susan Elizabeth Van Note, 44, pleaded not guilty in an arraignment hearing last month in Boone County. She was later transferred to Camden County.

Susan Elizabeth Van Note was arrested following a grand jury indictment in Boone County. Her father died in Boone County while undergoing medical treatment after being shot and stabbed at his home in Sunrise Beach. His longtime girlfriend, Sharon Dickson, was also murdered but no charges have been filed in connection with her death.

William B. Van Note, 67 and Sharon L. Dickson, 59 died after suffering from gunshot wounds they received inside of a Sunrise Beach residence in October 2010. Dickson was pronounced dead at the scene. Van Note was transported to a hospital and underwent treatment for his injuries.

Despite multiple gunshot wounds that would claim his life three days later, William B. Van Note had struggled to make a 911 call to report he and his companion has just been shot at his Sunrise Beach home. Investigators who have listened to the tapes trying to piece together the events leading up to the deaths of William Van Note and Dickson, described him as being call when he placed the call.

The 911 call led Camden County deputies to Van Note's home on the lake's westside shortly after 11 p.m. on a Saturday night. Investigators have declined to say what Van Note may have said on the phone.

The body of Sharon L. Dickson was found in the home's upstairs master suite. Van Note was found nearby. It was evident, according to investigators, he had been trying to offer aid to Dickson.

The couple had been seen returning home around 5 p.m. earlier that evening. No one in the neighborhood reported hearing anything prior to be awakened by sirens and dogs barking.

There was evidence that the couple had planned to leave for Florida on Sunday. Neighbors described them as snow birds who generally left the lake area during the winter months.

During the days after the incident, 20 investigators tracked down as many as 100 leads, interviewing people who knew William Van Note and Dickson, canvassing the neighborhood and processing the home and its contents. Divers searched the area in front of the home near the 9-mile mark looking for a weapon or other evidence.

Van Note was an accountant/businesman from the Kansas City area. Dickson had owned a flower shop before retiring. William Van Note and Dickson had been together for years. The home in Sunrise Beach where the attacks took place was one of several he owned.

According to court documents, Susan Van Note is charged with allegedly committing forgery. The court is claiming that on or about October 4, 2010, in Boone County, Van Note "with purpose to defraud, transferred with knowledge or belief that it would be used as genuine a writing, namely a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care of Williams B. Van Note, knowing that it had been authenticated so that it purported to have been made by authority of one who did not give such authority."

Documents also allege that Van Note either acted alone or with others to commit murder in the first degree by "shooting him and by transferring a forged Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care of Williams B. Van Note purported to have been signed and executed by William B. Van Note to deny him life sustaining medical treatment."

Two accomplices, Desre and Stacey Dory, of Johnson County, were also arrested and charged with second degree murder and forgery. The Dorys were referred to as friends of Susan Van Note.

The Dorys' have also pleaded not guilty.






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