A pub landlady who inherited the entire £2.5million estate of notorious burglar killer Tony Martin had 'no idea' she stood to land the fortune.
Farmer Martin, who died last year aged 80, was initially jailed for the murder of 16-year-old Fred Barras and for seriously injuring accomplice Brendon Fearon after they broke into his isolated farmhouse, near Wisbech, in 1999.
But the murder conviction was later quashed on appeal, and Martin instead spent three years in prison for manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility, after he was diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder. He was released in July 2003.
He left his entire fortune to a pub landlady he met after his release from prison when his conviction for murdering a burglar at his home was overturned.
Jacqueline Wadsley, from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, has revealed that the bequest – which consists of the infamous Bleak House farmhouse, 350 acres of prime agricultural land and property in Australia – came as a complete surprise.
Martin was released following a public outcry that led the Court of Appeal to downgrade his murder conviction to manslaughter for killing Mr Barras and wounding his accomplice, Mr Fearon.
But he was left lonely and would go to the Hare and Hounds pub in Wisbech, a short drive from the village of Emneth Hungate, where he lived.
Friend and neighbour Richard Allen told the Daily Mail: 'When he came out of prison Tony didn't have anybody.
'But Jacqui is a very kind lady, she took pity on him and took him into her home.
Jacqui Wadsley, 52, with husband David, inherited the entire £2.5million estate of notorious burglar killer Tony Martin
The Hare and Hounds pub in Wisbech, where Martin would go after his release from prison and where Ms Wadsley was the landlord
Tony Martin outside his farmhouse called Bleak House near Wisbech, Norfolk, shortly after his release in August 2003
Bleak House (pictured), which Martin never fully returned to after his prison sentence
'However, she and her husband David had no idea that he would leave everything to them.
'When he was released, Tony moved to a village a few miles outside Wisbech.
'But he used to go to her pub and she befriended him and she invited him to her house where she and her husband David looked after him.
'He was often round for Sunday lunches and he used to work in their garden. He used to wash their cars and do odd jobs to keep himself busy.
'They were very kind to him even though he was a bit of a strange chap.
'He was quite a mess. He didn't look after himself very well.
'After everything that happened, he didn't really used to wash, and he was quite a sight. But Jacqui and David didn't seem to mind.
'They had no idea that he would leave them millions in his will. It came as a complete surprise.'
Martin's only living relatives – his older brother Robin and his daughter, the farmer's niece, did not get anything from his will.
The barmaid of another pub in Wisbech told how Jacqui took isolated Martin 'under her wing' when he came out of prison.
Katie Jolly, who has worked at the Red Lion pub for over 20 years, said: 'When Tony came out of prison people were very wary of him.
Martin left all of his considerable fortune to pub landlady Ms Wadsley (pictured)
Martin before his death at the age of 80, in February last year
'He used to go into the Hare and Hounds where Jacqui was the landlady, and she took him under her wing. She was kind to him when no one wanted to know him.
'Be honest Tony Martin was an odd fellow and could be very awkward. And he was very smelly – that was the worst thing about him.
'He used to drink here [in the Red Lion] too and no one wanted to be anywhere near him because he smelt.'
She added: 'After Tony died I heard on the grapevine that he had left Jacqui something – but I had no idea he had left his whole estate to her.
'Jacqui's from Ireland you know, so I suppose she has the luck of the Irish!'
Another neighbour, cafe owner Fernando Civia, added: 'Jacqui is a lovely lady.
'Tony Martin used to come here too. But he was a strange man. He would order his food, pay and then go. He didn't want to talk.'
A top-of-the-range Land Rover Discovery with personalised number plates was parked on the drive of the Wadsleys' smart semi-detached home today in an historic part of Wisbech.
The Hare and Hound pub closed down last year.
The Wadsleys didn't respond to request for comment.
They are said to have become 'like father and daughter', with Ms Wadsley and her husband David, 45, with whom she shares three children, now in line to receive all of Martin's assets.
David Wadsley previously told the Mirror that they had first met Martin over 20 years ago.
'It was a slow burner but Jacqui, by her nature, she's a very, very caring person so the friendship just grew,' he said.
'It became something much stronger and ended up being more like a father and a daughter relationship to be honest at the end.'
Martin shot dead burglar Fred Barras (pictured), 16, at his farm near Emneth, Norfolk, in 1999
Brendon Fearon (pictured in December 1999) broke into Martin's Norfolk home with fellow burglar Mr Barras
Mr Wadsley added his wife had been 'very surprised' at Martin's decision to leave them his estate.
'It was just her caring nature that was just to look after him and then it just grew from there. It was a shock to find out we had been named in his will. We're still trying to take it all in really', he said.
Earlier this month the crumbling remains of Bleak House were seen being cleared out.
Martin never returned to the property after his release from prison and it was left relatively untouched.
The house was already in a dilapidated state before the killing and today it is crumbling into the ground.
Martin's friend, Malcolm Starr, told the BBC he believed Ms Wadsley 'deserved every penny', as she had been a 'very loyal friend'.
'She was very generous with her time, which he appreciated, because often if you had a phone call with him it could last three hours,' he said.
He said Martin and Wadsley had 'become friends very slowly' after his release from prison, when she was the landlady of the Hare and Hounds pub in Wisbech.
She had found him accommodation and ran errands for him, he added.
He said Martin had accrued his wealth through inheritance but had lived very frugally.
'Tony left all his money to Jacqui because after a while he found out she was the most genuine person he had within his friendship [group]. She deserved the money because she was so loyal to him,' he added.
According to Tony Martin's will, signed on January 28, 2013 and seen by the BBC, the farmer made the Wadsleys his executors and trustees, leaving his estate to them in the event of his death.
A probate document, dated February 14, 2026, named the couple as beneficiaries and placed the net value of Martin's estate at £2,567,795.
