A pensioner killed herself just nine days after she changed her will to leave her £250,000 bungalow to her GP's daughter, it has been revealed. Lucie Rose, 87, was found dead at her home on November 27, 2010, 11 days after her husband John died of cancer aged 86. She originally left her entire estate to her two surviving sisters living in Germany. But solicitors acting on behalf of Mrs Rose's estate discovered she cut her siblings out of her will shortly before she died.
Mrs Rose named 23-year-old Sharnika Pillai - the daughter of her doctor Dr Chittaranjan Pillai - as one of two beneficiaries.
Dr Pillai, a GP at the Plains View Surgery in Mapperley, Nottinghamshire, treated Mrs Rose and her husband for many years before her death. A financial advisor was also named in the will.
Mrs Rose's sister Elke Schmaing is understood to have reached an agreement with the financial advisor.
But she is now demanding an investigation into the new will because she believes her sister was not of sound mind when she signed it. She said: 'I just want justice, I can't believe what has happened. I've known my sister for a lifetime and this wasn't like her.'
File notes seen by the Nottingham Post from the solicitors who drew up the new will reveal Mrs Rose wanted to leave her bungalow in Mapperley, to Dr Pillai, 63.
The notes say she wanted to leave her home - worth around £250,000 - 'to her doctor' but the final will left it to his daughter. The notes state: 'She [Mrs Rose] has decided to leave the property and all its contents and her late husband's car to her doctor at Plains View Surgery.'
The file notes also say that Mrs Rose was of 'sound mind', yet they begin with Mrs Rose making reference to her sisters in Germany, and by the end of the notes she is quoted as saying she had 'no living relatives'.
An inquest into Mrs Rose's death also raised concerns over the handling of the case.
Nottinghamshire Coroner Mairin Casey criticised police for losing Mrs Rose's suicide note. A verdict of suicide was recorded but Mrs Casey blasted Nottinghamshire Police for 'shoddiness'.
In her summary at that inquest Ms Casey said: 'There may well have been a suggestion that she and perhaps her husband were vulnerable to influence from an outside third party.'
But she stated that she made 'no finding on this issue' and agreed with the professionals - including Dr Pillai - that Mrs Rose was of sound mind when she made the new will.
Ms Schmaing, 69, said: 'I talked to Lucie the one day before she died and I think someone told her to write the suicide note.
‘She was German and the suicide note was apparently written in English. She would never have written it in English - who would it have been for?
‘When I tell people what happened they can’t believe it.
‘She would have 100 per cent told me if she was going to kill herself. We were like mother and daughter because there were 20 years between us.
‘She was confused before she died.
‘What I would like to know is where she got the tablets, she never wanted to take tablets.
‘She was very reliant on her husband so when he died she was very sad.
‘I got a call from the adviser to tell me she had died and explained the will. It was terrible.
‘She had only changed her will twice in her life and that was to add me and my sister.
‘We were supposed to see each other in the February 2011 for her birthday. She didn’t want to die.
‘I thought she had breast cancer but the post mortem said she didn’t and she was well.
‘I don’t think any more will come of it to pursue through the courts because it will cost a lot of money.
‘I just want to find out the truth because the circumstances of her death and her will just don’t add up.’
Mrs Rose moved to England with her husband in 1949 to start a new life after the war.
Her husband was a car salesman and she worked at Boots.
They never had children and lived in the same house for 40 years.
Mrs Schmaing, a retired office worker, added: ‘They were very much in love, they were always hand in hand.' Plain Views Surgery is currently under investigation by NHS England over 'medicine management' in relation to Mrs Rose.
Dr Doug Black, medical director for NHS England Derby and Nottinghamshire Area Team, said: 'Following the inquest into the death of a patient at Mapperley Plains Surgery, NHS
England Derby and Nottinghamshire Area Team have been undertaking an investigation into the governance of medicines management at this practice.
'As with any investigation we undertake, if evidence demonstrates service standards are not being met, NHS England will take action to determine why. 'If concerns are identified which require external investigation these will be reported and NHS England will lend its full cooperation to any other investigation.'
Nottinghamshire Police have apologised to the family for losing Mrs Rose's suicide note.
Inspector Gail Hart, from Carlton Police Station, said: 'The note left by Lucie Rose was regrettably lost in our systems and we apologise for the distress this may have caused her family.
'We carried out a full investigation into Lucie Rose's death and passed the case file to the coroner.'
In a statement by Plains View Surgery, said: 'Dr Pillai and the doctors and staff at Plains View Surgery would like to take this opportunity to pass on their sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mrs Rose.
posted by Emanto Ngaloru Jan 6, 2014.
This woman is very generous.
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