Daughter arraigned in lake slaying of KC accountant

A Kansas City law firm owner charged in the 2010 deadly shooting of her father used a forged legal document to deny him life-sustaining medical treatment, according to a court document released Monday.

The indictment was returned Friday by grand jurors in Boone County and released the same day Susan Elizabeth Van Note, 44, of Lee's Summit, was arraigned on charges of forgery and first-degree murder.

During Monday's arraignment, her attorney, Tom Bath, waived the reading of formal charges and entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, said Camden County Prosecutor Brian Keedy. Van Note, who goes by the first name of Liz, was jailed on $1 million cash-only bond.

Van Note has a law office near Red Bridge and Holmes roads in south Kansas City. Among her law specialties is planning for end-of-life issues and advanced medical directives.

Two other people, Desre Dory, 42, and his wife, Stacey, 43, of Shawnee, Kan., were indicted Friday on second-degree murder and forgery counts. Those indictments won't be unsealed until they are arraigned in Boone County, and authorities have not yet said what their alleged role was.

Van Note's father, 67-year-old accountant William Van Note, of Liberty, was shot in October 2010 along with his longtime partner, Sharon Dickson, 59, at their Lake of the Ozarks vacation home. Keedy said charges haven't yet been filed in Dickson's killing.

Dickson died at the home in the Camden County town of Sunrise Beach. Van Note managed to call 911 and was flown to a Boone County hospital, where he died four days later. His estate remains in probate court in Clay County, court records show.

In a phone interview Monday, Bath said his client was the sole heir of her father's estate.

"Liz very much loved her father and wouldn't do anything to hurt him," Bath said. "It will be interesting to see why it took two years to file this case. I am confident that Liz is not guilty."

Keedy, the Camden County prosecutor, has been appointed by the state attorney general to assist the Boone County prosecutor. He said Liz Van Note had been a person of interest since a few days after the killings.

According to the indictment, Van Note acted alone or with others to shoot her father. The indictment also said a forged durable power of attorney for William Van Note was presented to the hospital "with the purpose to defraud." People can use a power of attorney to dictate whom they want making medical decisions for them in emergencies or if they are near death and unable to speak for themselves.

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Daughter arraigned in lake slaying of KC accountant