KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Lee’s Summit attorney appeared in a Boone County courtroom on Monday to face first degree murder and forgery charges in connection with the death of her father.
Susan Van Note, 44, is accused of shooting her father, William B. Van Note, 67, and Sharon Dickson, 59, his longtime girlfriend in Sunrise Beach, Mo., in 2010. Dickson was pronounced dead immediately, but Van Note survived for four days after he was flown to a hospital in Columbia.
Prosecutors believe Susan “Liz” Van Note forged her father’s signature to make herself a durable power of attorney so she could make decisions about her father’s health care in his last days. The indictment says Liz Van Note used the forged document to deny her father life-sustaining medical treatment after he was shot.
Van Note is an attorney that specializes in estate planning. Although Van Note has been charged with her father’s murder, Van Note has not been charged with the murder of his longtime girlfriend, Dickson. She is being held on $1 million bond and could face the death penalty or life without parole
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office worked with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in investigating Van Note, who works at Van Note Law Offices.
Two other people were arrested in connection with the crime. The Johnson County, Kansas Sheriff’s Office and Shawnee Police Department also assisted Camden County. Desre and Stacey Dory of Shawnee, Kan., were arrested and face second degree murder and forgery charges. Authorities would not say how the Dorys and Susan Van Note know each other.
