Murder suspects convinced ex-academic to publish unseen work and flattered him with documentary

Two men suspected of murdering two elderly teachers, including their former university lecturer, allegedly "flattered" one of the victims by planning a documentary film about his life in the months before his death.

In the months before Peter Farquhar's death, as his health continued to decline, two of his former students persuaded the 69-year-old to publish previously unseen work. Ben Field, a 27-year-old church warden, and Martyn Smith, a 31-year-old magician, set up a company with Farquhar called Farquhar Studies.

The pair contacted many of Farquhar's friends, former colleagues and pupils to appear in a documentary, tentatively called The Moral Of The Story: The Literature of Peter Farquhar. Field and Smith listed themselves as directors of the documentary, which they intended to show on television.

In an email to a former pupil in July 2015, Smith wrote: "We are currently developing a documentary about the life and work of Peter Farquhar, and would be deeply grateful for any help that you can offer, most especially if you would be willing to be interviewed on camera."

According to the Pocklington Post, Farquhar also reached out to his friends asking them to participate in the documentary.

"I understand that two of my former students at Buckingham University, Ben Field and Martyn Smith, have already written to you, flattering me immensely by planning to run a short documentary of me on television about my novel writing and as a teacher," he wrote.

A local article reported that the pair discovered the handwritten manuscripts of a novel and persuaded Farquhar to publish them. Farquhar's third novel, A Wide Wide Sea was published through Farquhar Studies in August 2015.

Farquhar dedicated the novel to Field and Smith.

Field, who was Farquhar's lodger, reportedly bought him a dog called Kipling which Farquhar was reportedly fond of. Apart from being Farquhar's former student, Field was also a deputy warden at Stowe Parish Church, where Farquhar was a lay preacher.

The two suspects are believed to have looked after Farquhar in his final months. The two are being held along with a third man in connection to Farquhar's October 2015 death. The suspects are also being questioned over the death of retired teacher Ann Moore-Martin, 83, who lived three doors down from Farquhar in the sleepy village of Maids Moreton.

Moore-Martin died in May 2017. "The causes of death are yet to be determined," a Thames Valley Police spokesman said.