Ben Field. Charming, religious — and yet, a fraud and a killer. The Sixth Commandment is a BBC TV drama that tells the harrowing story of how a seemingly pious man had so much evil hiding beneath the surface. And the story is one that will keep you on your toes.
Field lived in Buckinghamshire village. He often gave sermons at his father's church and seemed to be quite the religious man.
But there was more to Field, a chilling side that no one knew of. In 2015, he murdered Peter Farquhar and went on to defraud Ann Moore-Martin, who lived just down the street from his first victim.
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Both victims were elderly churchgoers, single, and without kids. Farquhar was guest lecturing at the University of Buckingham in 2011, where he met Field, who was a student at the time. The elderly man, who had struggled with his sexuality for quite some time, fell in love. Eventually, Field moved in with him and the pair went on to have a "betrothal" ceremony in 2014.
But over the course of the next year, Farquhar was repeatedly drugged by Field, who was then the churchwarden, and made to believe he was losing his mind. Field convinced the elderly man to make him the beneficiary of his will, hoping to provoke Farquhar to kill himself so that he would gain the inheritance. When the old man didn't take his own life, Field murdered him in 2015.
But Farquhar wasn't his only victim. Field had also developed a sexual relationship with Miss Moore-Martin, an elderly lady who lived just down the street. She gave him the equivalent of $5,500 when he lied to her about needing a new car and also $34,000 that he said was for a dialysis machine, claiming his younger brother had a serious kidney condition.
Field would write messages on the mirror in Moore-Martin's bathroom, which he wanted her to believe were messages from God. That eventually convinced her to change her will and name him as the beneficiary.
In 2017, the elderly woman suffered a seizure. During her time in the hospital, Moore-Martin confided in her niece (who was already suspicious of Field) about her relationship with Field and the writings on the mirror. The police then became involved.
Moore-Martin luckily reversed her will before dying of natural causes in 2017. Police were able to link the elderly woman, Farquhar, and Field. A year and a half after Moore-Martin's death, they exhumed Farquhar's body. After a second postmortem examination, Field was arrested and he admitted to duping both the elderly people.
Field was convicted of Farquhar's murder in 2019. He had also previously pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud in relation to the fake relationships and defrauding Moore-Martin. He also admitted two counts of burglary. He is now serving out a life sentence with a minimum term of 36 years.
