COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Investigators believe an attorney from Lee’s Summit used a forged legal document to deny her father life-sustaining medical treatment after he was shot at his home on the Lake of the Ozarks two years ago.  The indictment against Susan “Liz” Van Note, 44, was unsealed on Monday, the same day that she made her first court appearance on charges of forgery and first-degree murder.  

Van Note's father, William Van Note, 67, was shot in October 2010 along with his companion, Sharon Dickson, 59.  Dickson died in the shooting at their home near Sunrise Beach in Camden County.  Van Note died four days later at a hospital in Columbia.

Because Van Note died in Boone County, a grand jury here was able to consider the case, even though Van Note and Dickson were shot in Camden County.  Camden County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Keedy was appointed a special assistant attorney general so he could help Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight present the case to the grand jury.

The indictment says the grand jury believes Liz Van Note forged her father’s signature on a durable power of attorney for health care decisions for her father.  It also says she, “after deliberation, knowingly caused the death of William B. Van Note by shooting him” and used the forged document “to deny him life sustaining medical treatment.”

Two other people, Desre Dory and Stacey Dory of Shawnee, Kan., are charged with second-degree murder and forgery in the case.  Law enforcement officers arrested all three people last Friday in the Kansas City area.

A judge set Liz Van Note’s bond at $1 million.  If she's convicted, she could get a death penalty or a life prison sentence with no chance of parole.  Because a grand jury issued an indictment, the case goes directly to circuit court, denying Van Note and her attorneys the chance to challenge the charge at a preliminary hearing in associate circuit court.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.