A woman accused of murdering her mother-in-law for inheritance had significant secret debts, according to statements read at her trial.
Elizabeth Vamplew, 77, known as Anne, died in hospital from burns and smoke inhalation, after being pulled from a fire at her bungalow in Eton Court, Newark, on December 15, 2021.
Her daughter-in-law, Karen Vamplew, 43, of King Street, Newark, is on trial at Leicester Crown Court accused of murder. It’s alleged that she started the fire deliberately to obtain money from her inheritance.
Karen, however, claims the fire was caused by a lit cigarette, which ignited the bed in which Elizabeth Vamplew was sleeping.
Transcripts of interviews after her initial arrest in December 2021 have been read out in court over the past two days (May 2 and May 3) — and they revealed Karen had significant debts which she failed to disclose in her first interview.
In her first interview, on December 17, 2021, Karen said she and her husband Mark Vamplew had no credit cards, no mortgage as they rented and no other debts.
However when questioned on the topic again in her third interview, on December 18, 2021, she admitted she did have debts totalling “a few thousand, less than five”.
She also told officers she planned to apply for bankruptcy after Christmas and that she had not told Mark or Anne about the debts.
Karen said she had not mentioned the debts previously because “in [her] mind [she’ll] sort it” and that she hadn’t thought about them for a while as she had been busy.
She further revealed that gas bills in her and Mark’s previous house had been in Anne’s name and £700 was still left to pay. She claimed Anne “knew there was a bill in her name, but not how much”.
Anne’s name had been used as the company was going to cut Karen and Mark off, she had told officers.
When asked if there were any other bills in Anne’s name, she said: “Maybe the electricity at the house.”
The interviewer also questioned a letter addressed to ‘Elizabeth Deg’ found at Karen’s home. Karen explained that “when the company came around” she had said she didn’t live there, but Elizabeth Deg did.
She affirmed that it was a blend of hers and Anne’s names.
She added: “They were going to cut us off.”
Throughout the interviews Karen agreed that she knew Anne was financially well off.
She owned her bungalow, paid for her Helping Hands carers, a gardener, cleaner and often helped Karen and Mark out by giving them money for bills or other expenses — including giving £50 to Karen to buy her daughters onesies.
Anne also paid for Karen and Mark’s wedding and honeymoon, and had previously paid for her daughter Rachel’s wedding.
Karen had also assisted Anne in transferring £10,000 from her ISA to her current account shortly before her death.
Karen confirmed in the interview she had handed the property over to the insurers on the same day as the fire — and Anne’s death — which she said was on the advice of the fire service and she had visited the bungalow in the late afternoon to see if it was secure.
The interviews also covered Karen’s movements on the night of the fire, between December 14 and 15.
She made two visits to the property on Eton Court overnight — something she explained was due to her worry Anne had had a fall, which she was prone to.
This was because she had not made her usual bedtime call or text, and had had an early visit from the carer, meaning she was more likely to be up in the night.
She explained she couldn’t call as Anne would not have her hearing aids in.
The first visit was at about 12.30am, during which she claimed she attempted to open the key safe but had forgotten the code and did not have her key with her as she usually came in the day when the door was unlocked. She shouted and looked through the letterbox.
She said she could see into the kitchen — where Anne had previously been after night-time falls — and could see a light in the bedroom, but no evidence of a fire at that time.
In her first interview she estimated she had spent about 10 minutes at the property — but CCTV presented to her in a later interview confirmed she had been there for half an hour. She said that was “shocking”.
CCTV footage also captured her running back to her car, which she said she had parked over the road from Eton Court rather than near Anne’s house as she didn’t want to reverse at night.
Karen said this was because she heard a car coming, so ran over the road.
She explained she had returned home to Kings Road briefly to find the key to Anne’s house, where she also “stripped off” the black hoodie and dark joggers she was wearing for the first visit as it was “boiling” in her house.
She returned to Eton Court in her pyjamas, and parked closer to the house this time — because she’d “like to get back to bed at some point”.
Karen told the interviewer in her first interview that she had used the key and opened the door to “really black and billowing smoke”. She maintained that this had been the case in subsequent interviews.
The court has previously heard evidence from the lead fire officer who attended the scene, crew manager Christopher Barber about the events which unfolded that night.
She said she had entered the property and pressed the lifeline alarm before calling 999. Karen also said she had shouted for Anne, and heard her shouting back “help me”, but was not able to get to her.
When questioned about the 999 call she’d made, Karen said in her second interview: “I don’t even remember making that call… I don’t know why I said I had a missed call.”
She also suggested she was panicked at the time.
In a snippet shared of an interview transcript, from an interview carried out upon her re-arrest in 2023, she had agreed that she remembered the night well.
In her third interview of 2021, when asked directly if she started the fire, Karen said: “No, no.
“I thought the fire people said it was smoking materials.”
The trial at Leicester Crown Court is scheduled to continue next week.
