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Head scratcher! ‘Not guilty does not mean innocent’ – Jury acquits lawyer, 48-year-old attorney Susan Elizabeth Van Note, of murdering her millionaire father and his girlfriend

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Though she was acquitted&comma; Tuesday&comma; still the jury believes Susan Elizabeth Van Note was &&num;8216&semi;involved&&num;8217&semi; in some way in the murder of her millionaire father and his girlfriend  <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Susan &&num;8216&semi;Liz&&num;8217&semi; Van Note&comma; 48&comma; of Lee&&num;8217&semi;s Summit&comma; Mo was facing two counts of first-degree murder in the 2010 deaths of her dad William Van Note&comma; 67&comma; and his 59-year-old fiancée&comma; Sharon Dickson<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Van Note and Sharon Dickson were shot during a home invasion <&sol;strong><&sol;span><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>at the couple&&num;8217&semi;s Lake of the Ozarks vacation house<&sol;strong><&sol;span><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong> <&sol;strong><&sol;span><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>on Oct 2&comma; 2010&comma; <&sol;strong><&sol;span><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Dickson died  after being stabbed and shot<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Critically injured Van Note was recuperating in hospital from the attack until his daughter Liz produced a signature claiming he&&num;8217&semi;d requested to have his medical care terminated<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Elizabeth Van Note was accused of forging her father&&num;8217&semi;s signature leading to first degree murder charges&comma; in Missouri <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>She inherited &dollar;1&period;6million of her father&&num;8217&semi;s estate after Dickson&comma; who was expected to inherit the majority of the estate&comma; was also killed <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Van Note&&num;8217&semi;s alibi for the murders was that she was with her mother&comma; Barbara&comma; <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Barbara herself had served jail time for forging her own mother&&num;8217&semi;s name for power of attorney<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Susan Liz Van Note was acquitted of murder&comma; Tuesday after a jury said there wasn&&num;8217&semi;t enough evidence to convict her <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260202&semi;"><strong>Andrew Dickson&comma; has a wrongful death case pending against Susan Van Note in the death of his mother Sharon Dickson<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mol-img-group floatRHS">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mol-img"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;02&sol;susan-van-note2&period;png" alt&equals;"Susan Van Note2&period;png" &sol;><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>   Susan &&num;8216&semi;Liz&&num;8217&semi; Van Note&comma; faced two counts of first-degree murder in the 2010 home invasion killing of her dad and his fiance<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>A jury have found a Missouri lawyer not guilty of murdering her millionaire father and his girlfriend&comma; even though the entire panel felt she was &&num;8216&semi;involved&&num;8217&semi;&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Susan &&num;8216&semi;Liz&&num;8217&semi; Van Note&comma; 48&comma; of Lee&&num;8217&semi;s Summit&comma; was acquitted Tuesday night of two counts of first-degree murder in the 2010 deaths of 67-year-old William Van Note and 59-year-old Sharon Dickson&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Van Note collected about &dollar;1&period;6 million upon her father&&num;8217&semi;s death&comma; according to a court appointed executor of his will&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Dickson died at the couple&&num;8217&semi;s Lake of the Ozarks vacation house after being stabbed and shot&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;William Van Note&comma; who was also stabbed and shot&comma; was rushed to Columbia hospital where he was being kept alive on a ventilator&period; Prosecutors say his daughter subsequently forged her father&&num;8217&semi;s signature on power of attorney documents so she could pull the plug&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Liz Van Note the prosecution said&comma; enlisted a high school classmate and her husband&comma; Stacey and Desre Dory of Shawnee&comma; Kansas to act as witnesses to the forged documents&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a class&equals;"" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;kansascity&period;com&sol;news&sol;local&sol;crime&sol;article132657859&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow">KansasCity&period;com<&sol;a> reports that Jury foreman Merri Hess said the panel felt Van Note&comma; who specialized in end-of-life matters&comma; was involved but that they couldn&&num;8217&semi;t convict her on the evidence presented&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8221&semi;Not guilty&&num;8217&semi; does not mean innocent&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Hess said&period;<a class&equals;"" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;kansascity&period;com&sol;news&sol;local&sol;crime&sol;article132657859&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow"><br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;a>Susan Van Note allegedly had filed for bankruptcy and was angry that her father had named Dickson to inherit the bulk of his estate&comma; which had a net worth in 2009 of nearly &dollar;8 million&period; The probate of the estate was roughly &dollar;3 million&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;After his death&comma; his daughter assumed the role of the estate&&num;8217&semi;s executor&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;An appeals court later found Susan Van Note had sold several properties in her father&&num;8217&semi;s estate for her own use&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">&NewLine;<img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-142536" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;02&sol;william-b-van-note-right-with-girlfriend-sharon-dickson1&period;jpg" alt&equals;" William B&period; Van Note &lbrack;right&rsqb; with girlfriend Sharon Dickson&period;jpg" width&equals;"640" height&equals;"416" &sol;><br &sol;>&NewLine;Susan&&num;8217&semi;s dad&comma; <strong>William B&period; Van Note &lbrack;photo Right&rsqb; with girlfriend Sharon Dickson&period; Both were died in the aftermath of a 2010 home invasion robbery<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">After the murders&comma; a court appointed their own executor who estimated she had collected &dollar;1&period;6 million of her father&&num;8217&semi;s estate&period; She eventually agreed to pay back just &dollar;273&comma;000&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Lead prosecutor Kevin Zoellner described Van Note in his closing argument as a &&num;8216&semi;terrible killer&&num;8217&semi; who &&num;8216&semi;used her mouth to tell the hospital to kill&&num;8217&semi; her father&period; He said a call from Van Note&&num;8217&semi;s cellphone to her home pinged a tower near the crime scene minutes after the attack&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Her attorneys pointed to another man&comma; who has since disappeared&comma; as the killer&period; No hair&comma; blood&comma; DNA or fibers linked Van Note to the crime scene&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Susan Van Note&&num;8217&semi;s alibi was her mother&comma; Barbara Van Note&comma; who told investigators that her daughter was home in Lee&&num;8217&semi;s Summit when the killings happened 119 miles away in Sunrise Beach&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;It is noteworthy that Barbara Van Note went to prison in 2005 for forging her own mother&&num;8217&semi;s name to a power of attorney&comma; and she was ordered to repay &dollar;108&comma;000 to a trust fund&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The trial initially was to have been in June 2015&comma; but a mistrial was declared after members of the jury pool reportedly discussed the case during a break&comma; which breaches legal rules&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;A second attempt at the proceedings two months later ended when Susan Van Note&&num;8217&semi;s lawyers challenged the admissibility of cellphone evidence&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Dickson&&num;8217&semi;s son&comma; Andrew Dickson&comma; has a wrongful death case pending against Susan Van Note&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mol-para-with-font"><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-142540" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;02&sol;william-b-van-note-right-with-girlfriend-sharon-dickson2&period;jpg" alt&equals;" William B&period; Van Note &lbrack;right&rsqb; with girlfriend Sharon Dickson2&period;jpg" width&equals;"659" height&equals;"461" &sol;><strong>Dickson &lbrack;Right&rsqb; was going to inherit the bulk of the &dollar;20 million estate<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">After 20 years together&comma;William Van Note and Dickson were getting married&comma; hoping that the union would be a new begining after previous failed marriages&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;They never got the chance&period; On October 2&comma; 2010&comma; an intruder shot the couple in their lake home in Sunrise Beach&period;who was stabbed and shot&comma; died at the scene&comma; leaving Van Note critically wounded with a gunshot wound to the head&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He died four days later&comma; after his daughter told doctors that he would prefer to die rather than be kept alive by medical intervention&period; Liz Van Note showed up with a durable power of attorney for health care and asked that her father&&num;8217&semi;s ventilator be shut off&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mol-para-with-font"><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-142385" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;02&sol;van-notes-lakeside-home&period;png" alt&equals;"Van Note's lakeside home&period;png" width&equals;"636" height&equals;"406" &sol;><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>One of Van Note&&num;8217&semi;s lavish lakeside homes is seen with the accountant leaving behind a &dollar;1&period;6 million estate that would have benefited his long-time girlfriend if she had survived<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter">&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">Van Note&&num;8217&semi;s daughter&comma; Susan&comma; was accused by prosecutors of pulling the trigger and forging her father&&num;8217&semi;s signature on the document doctors relied on to end his medical treatment&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;He died as a result of them removing life support&comma; not as a result of the gunshot&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Camden County prosecutor Brian Keedy said&period; &&num;8216&semi;If you commit a felony&comma; and somebody dies as a result&comma; there is a criminal responsibility for that death&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;By all accounts they had a troubled father-daughter relationship excercebated by the divorce of  William Van Note from Liz&&num;8217&semi;s  mother Barbara&comma; three decades earlier&period; Susan was the one surviving child&comma; her brother having died as a teenager&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;But the relationship appeared to have recovered somewhat&comma; at least enough that Van Note felt comfortable letting his daughter handle some of his affairs&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Liz Van Note&comma; who lived with her mother and teenage son in the Kansas City suburb of Lee&&num;8217&semi;s Summit after a 2006 divorce&comma; helped her father manage his commercial rental properties on Liberty&&num;8217&semi;s historic downtown square&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mol-para-with-font"><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-142383" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;02&sol;susan-van-note-2012-photo&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Susan Van Note &lpar; 2012 photo&rpar; &period;jpg" width&equals;"782" height&equals;"438" &sol;>Liz <strong>Van Note&comma; &lpar;orange suit&rpar; was accused of forging her critically injured father&&num;8217&semi;s signature to make herself a durable power of attorney so she could pull the plug on him&comma; days after surviving the shooting<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter"> Van Note who had built his payroll and accounting businesses from modest beginnings<br &sol;>&NewLine;had sold several of his businesses years ago&comma; but continued to work during tax season when not vacationing at the lake or his home in Port Charlotte&comma; Fla&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;His daughter&comma; meanwhile&comma; was struggling to make ends meet&period; Records show that Liz Van Note filed for bankruptcy in federal court in September 2009&period; She listed &dollar;254&comma; 938 in assets and &dollar;374&comma;072&period;86 in debt owed to 10 creditors&comma; including American Express&comma; Wells Fargo Bank and a children&&num;8217&semi;s hospital&period; She&&num;8217&semi;d previously worked for Merrill Lynch before attending law school&comma; and listed a monthly income around &dollar;3&comma;300&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;When the shooting happened&comma; fearful friends and neighbors initially wondered whether the crime was committed by a pro&period; The crime scene was clean and there were no signs of forced entry into the home&period; Some whispered that the assailant might have gotten away by boat&period;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter mol-img-group">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"imageCaption">&NewLine;<img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-142532" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;02&sol;van-note-is-pictured-left-of-desre-dory-and-stacey-dory1&period;png" alt&equals;"Van Note is pictured left of Desre Dory and Stacey Dory1&period;png" width&equals;"693" height&equals;"466" &sol;>Susan Van Note is pictured left of Desre Dory and Stacey Dory&comma; who prosecutors say aided in the killing of William Van Note and Sharon Dickson<&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"imageCaption">Van Note &lpar;in 2012&rpar; was acquitted Tuesday night although the jury foreman said that while they found her not guilty that did not mean they thought she was innocent<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">Dickson was slated to inherit Van Note&&num;8217&semi;s cash and several homes&period; But her death would have likely meant that Van Note&&num;8217&semi;s daughter would get most of the estate&&num;8217&semi;s proceeds&comma; which were likely worth millions of dollars more than the partial estimate on file&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Four months after her father&&num;8217&semi;s death&comma; the Florida home was sold by Liz Van Note for &dollar;238&comma;000&comma; records show&period; Three days after her arrest&comma; Dickson&&num;8217&semi;s adult son filed a court petition to remove Liz Van Note as the principal beneficiary and will executor&comma; citing the criminal cases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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