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Dena Thompson
Born1960 (age 63–64)
Hendon, London, England
Other names'The Black Widow'
Occupation(s)Confidence trickster and fraudster
Criminal statusReleased in June 2022
Conviction(s)Murder, theft, fraud, deception
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment with a 16-year minimum tariff for murder (2003), 3 years and 9 months for deception (2000), 18 months for theft (1995)
Details
Victims1–2 murder victims, several others robbed or defrauded, attacked third husband but acquitted of attempted murder on grounds of self-defence
Span of crimes
1980s–2000
CountryUnited Kingdom
Date apprehended
2 January 2000

Dena Thompson (born 1960),[1] commonly known as The Black Widow,[2] is a British convicted murderer, confidence trickster[3] and bigamist who is also suspected of having killed a second individual.[4] She habitually met men through lonely hearts columns and stole their money.[5] She was imprisoned for murdering former media manager Julian Webb, her second husband (though she was still married to her first). She had previously been acquitted of the attempted murder of her next husband Richard Thompson (who she married in 1998 after her divorce), having attacked him with a baseball bat and a knife but being cleared on the grounds of self-defence. Despite her acquittal for the attempted murder of Thompson, police became suspicious of the circumstances in which previous husband Webb had died, and after Webb's remains were exhumed and analyzed she was convicted of murder and sentenced to life.[6] A High Court ruling in 2007 determined she would serve 16 years, meaning she would not be eligible for release until 2019.[7] She was also convicted of theft and defrauding former lovers.

Following her 2003 conviction, Detective Chief Inspector Martyn Underhill stated: "This woman is every man's nightmare, the most dangerous woman I have ever met. For a decade, she has targeted men sexually, financially and physically. The men of Britain can sleep safe tonight knowing she has been taken off the streets."[8] A judge described her as: "one of the most fluent liars I have come across."[9] Detective Chief Inspector Martyn Underhill observed Thompson was a misandrist: "I think the events of her childhood have made her hate men. If you look at her life, it is always men she has targeted."[1] After her murder conviction it was revealed that police were investigating the suspicious disappearance of a previous partner she had in Bulgaria, who has never been found.

As of May 2022, Thompson was being held in an open prison with day release provisions (either HM Prison Askham Grange or HM Prison East Sutton Park as these are the only two open prisons for women in England). Thompson was granted release on parole in May 2022, and was released in June.[10]

Early life

Thompson was born Dena Holmes in 1960 in Hendon, North London. She worked for a building society.[11] Her father was described in 2000 as a retired prison warder.[12] She moved to Sussex in the 1980s with her first husband.[12] At the time of her arrest Thompson was living at an address in Cullompton, Devon.

Lee Wyatt

Thompson married Lee Wyatt in 1984, having met two years previously.[13] She convinced Wyatt he had received £50 million for a toy he had patented and was wanted by the mafia. He was forced to live homeless for years in order to 'escape' the mafia.[14] The defence described Wyatt as a "fantasist".[15] She had previously secured an injunction against Wyatt after making false claims of being assaulted by him.[16]

During their marriage, she stole £23,000 from the building society in which she worked then attempted to blame it on Wyatt.[2] She was jailed for 18 months in 1995 for this crime.[2] They divorced in 1997.[14]

Julian Webb

Thompson bigamously married Julian Webb in 1991.[17] She murdered him on his 31st birthday in June 1994 by poisoning a curry. Webb had a penchant for very hot curry and it is speculated that this would have masked the taste of the anti-depressants. He died of an overdose of anti-depressants and ground aspirin in a drink.[18][19] As he lay dying in bed, his mother had called to speak to him on his birthday, but she was told by Thompson that he was too unwell.[20] His mother told her to call a doctor but she did not.[20]

The inquest into his death recorded an open verdict. Thompson unsuccessfully attempted to have his body cremated.[17] The very next morning after Webb died she had tried to collect money amounting to £35,000, which would be released from his pension plan, in the event of his death[21][22] but Webb's mother was able to establish that Thompson was not his next of kin, as she was still married to her first husband.[23] Webb's mother later testified that she had warned her son about marrying a woman whom he had known for only three months.[24]

Richard Thompson

Dena Holmes married Richard Thompson, her third husband, in 1998.[1] They lived together in Rustington near Brighton, Sussex.[12] Soon after they married, on 1 January 2000, she attempted to kill her bound and gagged husband with a baseball bat.[20] She had asked him if she could tie him up and blindfold him for a sexual game, but once she did so she returned to the room with the bat and a knife and attacked him.[20] He managed to free his hands and fight back against her, and despite bleeding profusely from the head managed to force her to drop the knife.[20] After this she broke down, saying "It's all been a lie. I've spent all your money".[20] Richard later recounted his subsequent feelings on an episode of Crimewatch Solved in 2009:

I cannot believe what has just happened. This woman has turned into some kind of monster. There was no indication whatsoever till a few minutes previously.[20]

Thompson left the house and the next day an estate agent turned up unexpectedly, explaining that he had been told by Thompson that he was to sell the house and stating he expected Richard would be in Florida.[20] It emerged that Thompson had planned to kill her husband and then sell their house while he was on a long-planned trip to Florida, as no one would be suspicious of his disappearance since they would have thought he was away in America.[20]

Richard contacted the police and his wife was soon arrested.[20] Police interviewed her former partners and found that she had stolen money from all of them and emptied their bank accounts of funds.[20] Richard Thompson's accounts were likewise discovered to have been emptied.[20] She admitted to police to conning money from men but denied trying to kill her husband.[20] She claimed that he had attacked her following the revelation that she had defrauded him and had retaliated in self-defence.[7][25] At the trial, the jury acquitted her of attempted murder charges,[2][20] but she was convicted on 15 counts of deception, which she had admitted before the trial, and sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment for the money she stole from Thompson and two other lovers.[26][27] Richard Thompson later described Dena as "pure evil'.[28]

Murder inquiry

Despite her acquittal for attempted murder, investigating officers had grown suspicious of the circumstances of the death of Thompson's second husband, Julian Webb, 6 years previously.[20] They announced that they would be exhuming Webb's body, which was done in October 2001.[20][7] A friend of Thompson's came forward to tell police that she had indicated to him that she had given the overdose of drugs to her husband in a hot curry.[20]

Conviction for murder

In 2003, Thompson was convicted of Webb's murder after a trial at the Old Bailey and sentenced to life.[6] She was told her sentence would run to 16 years at a 2007 High Court ruling, meaning she would not be eligible for release until 2019.[7][29] The judge at her 2003 trial described her as "utterly ruthless and without pity".[2] Wyatt, her first husband had contacted her at the home she shared with Webb, and the motive for murder, according to the prosecution, was her fear the two men would meet and her double life would be exposed. Webb was also unaware of her attempts to try and implicate Wyatt for her thefts from the building society.[16]

She was dubbed "The Black Widow" in the press, as a black widow spider will kill their male counterparts after mating with them.[20]

As of 2016, Thompson was imprisoned in HM Prison Send, but she became eligible for parole in 2019.[30][31][32]

Additional suspected victim

Following her 2003 conviction, it was reported that Thompson was being investigated about the disappearance of another of her previous partners, Stoyan Kostov.[13] Investigators had tried to trace all of Thompson's former lovers in order to establish if she had committed potentially criminal acts against further victims, stating "we cannot rule out the possibility that other partners have been injured in some way".[13] It was discovered that Kostov, who she dated in the 1970s and 1980s, had been missing since he had dated Thompson while she was training as a gymnast in Bulgaria.[26][13] In 2010, media interest was renewed in the disappearance after a new probe was launched, with investigators stating that "some sort of incident seems to have happened in Bulgaria but we don't know what it was".[26][33][34] As of 2021, Kostov had never been found.[35][36][26]

Release

In April 2022, the parole board announced that they would consider Thompson’s case for release and publish their decision in May.[37][38] It was revealed that Thompson was already being held in an open prison with day release provisions (either HM Prison Askham Grange in York or HM Prison East Sutton Park in Kent, as these are the only open prisons for women in England).[39] Sean McDonald, the officer who led the investigation into Thompson, expressed his concern at her potential release, stating: "I believe she will reoffend, she won’t be able to stop herself. She has no remorse but will be the model prisoner and say all the right things. Her potential release concerns me and everybody who has been involved with her."[39] Richard Thompson, the former husband of Thompson, also stated that he hoped Thompson would stay in prison, saying: "She definitely tried to kill me, and they proved that she murdered her second husband. So, she would have been a serial killer if she had been successful. And God knows what else she has done."[40] He also complained he had not been notified of the parole hearing.[40]

On 23 May, it was announced that Thompson's release on parole had been granted and she would be released in early June.[41] In a document setting out their decision, the Parole Board stated that they were satisfied from her progress in prison that she was suitable for release, although it was also noted that Thompson had previously been a "deceptive" individual that "could hold grudges" and did not always have "control of her temper".[41]

In August 2022 it was reported that Thompson had been seen out shopping having been released.[42]

Documentaries

Thompson's case has featured in multiple documentaries:

Books

A book was published about Thompson in 2010 by Adrian Gatton. It was titled Black Widow: The True Story of How Dena Thompson Lured Men into a Twisted Web of Sex, Lies and Murder.[47]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Black Widow: Inside the mind of a predator (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e Cowan, Rosie (16 December 2003). "'Black widow' jailed for life for killing husband". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Mystery over tragedy of a salesman (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. 12 October 2001. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Bigamist tells of first husband's abuse (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Deadly Women: Insatiable Greed". YouTube. 22 July 2014. Archived from the original on 7 December 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  6. ^ a b Bird, Steve (16 December 2003). "'This woman is every man's nightmare . . . They can sleep safe tonight knowing she has been taken off the streets'". The Times. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d "Curry killer must serve 16 years". BBC News. 17 December 2007. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  8. ^ "'Curry killing' wife jailed". BBC News. 15 December 2003. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Dena Thompson, The Black Widow by Guy Toyn". Courtnewsuk.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  10. ^ Peacock, Alice (1 August 2022). "Black widow killer who fed husband poisoned curry freed after 19 years in prison". mirror. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Dena Thompson:THE BLACK WIDOW AND THE POISONED VINDALOO – Court News UK". courtnewsuk.co.uk. 13 December 2003. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  12. ^ a b c "Bondage case wife is jailed". The Argus. 18 August 2000. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d Pook, Sally (18 December 2003). "Black Widow Gets Life for Murder as Police Launch Hunt for 'victim No 3'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Accused wife 'spun web of lies'". BBC News. 20 November 2003. Archived from the original on 20 December 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  15. ^ "Jury told of witness's 'fantasy life' (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. 21 November 2003. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  16. ^ a b Pook, Sally (12 November 2003). "Bigamous wife 'killed husband by poisoning his curry'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  17. ^ a b "Favourite curry hid wife's poison". BBC News. 15 December 2003. Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  18. ^ Raif, Shenai (15 December 2003). "'Black Widow' guilty of poisoning second husband". The Independent. PA News. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  19. ^ "'Wife hid poison in hot curry'". The Guardian. 12 November 2003. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Crimewatch (6 January 2009). Crimewatch Solved: Tuesday 6th January 2009 (TV documentary). Crimewatch Solved: BBC.
  21. ^ "Husband 'killed by curry treat' (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  22. ^ Discovery Channel (31 August 2012). Deadly Women: Insatiable Greed (TV documentary). Deadly Women, season 6.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  23. ^ Cowan, Rosie (16 December 2003). "'Black widow' jailed for life for killing husband". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  24. ^ "Overdose victim 'warned about wife'". BBC News. 13 November 2003. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  25. ^ "Bondage case wife is jailed (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  26. ^ a b c d Walker, Emily (15 March 2010). "Interpol hunt for missing lover of Sussex's black widow". The Argus. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  27. ^ "Fraudster faces death inquiry: Police to reopen investigations after wife is cleared of bondage attack". The Herald. Glasgow. 18 August 2000. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  28. ^ "'I hope she just rots in prison'. – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 16 December 2003. Archived from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  29. ^ "Black Widow to serve 16 years for murdering husband". The Argus. 17 December 2007. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  30. ^ Koestler Trust (2008). "The UK's annual national show of Art by Offenders" (Art exhibition of art by offenders programme). Southbank Centre. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  31. ^ The Ingram Collection. "The Break Up, 2012 – The Ingram Collection". Inside Out collection. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  32. ^ "SWEET SENDSATION, 2016 – The Ingram Collection". The Ingram Collection. Inside Out Collection. 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  33. ^ This is Cornwall (15 March 2010). "'Black Widow' | poisoned curry | Dena Thompson | Julian Webb| Cullompton, Devon | Stoyan Kostov missing | Western Morning News". West Briton. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  34. ^ This is Exeter (15 March 2010). "Hunt is on for another possible victim of the 'Black Widow'". Exeter Express and Echo. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  35. ^ De Luca, Ruben (2 September 2021). "25: La donna serial killer". Serial killer (in Italian). Italy: Newton Compton. p. 390. ISBN 978-8822752949.
  36. ^ Mußhoff, Frank; Heß, Cornelius (18 July 2014). Murder poisons (in German). Germany: Bastei Entertainment. p. 112. ISBN 978-3838753454.
  37. ^ "Poisoner Dena Thompson Called The Black Widow Could Be Freed By Parole Board". Nix Olympia. 9 April 2022. Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  38. ^ Big City Radio (7 April 2022). "Poisoner Dena Thompson dubbed the Black Widow could be freed by Parole Board". Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  39. ^ a b "EXCLUSIVE: Fears 'Black Widow' murderer 'may strike again' as she's prepared for release". Daily Mirror. 15 May 2022. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  40. ^ a b "Surviving husband of bigamist 'Black Widow' murderer says she must not be freed". Daily Mirror. 10 May 2022. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  41. ^ a b Thompson, Flora (23 May 2022). "'Black Widow' killer to be released from jail, Parole Board rules". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  42. ^ "Black Widow enjoys shopping trip after being freed from prison". Leicester Mercury. 1 August 2022. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  43. ^ "Black Widow traps 4.5m for Channel 4". The Guardian. 30 June 2005. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  44. ^ "Crimewatch Solved: BBC One: Tue 6th Jan 2009, 21:00 on BBC One London". BBC Programme Index. The BBC. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  45. ^ Deadly Women (31 August 2012). Insatiable Greed (TV documentary). Investigation Discovery.
  46. ^ Discovery Channel (British and Irish TV channel) (3 October 2013). Britain's Deadly Women: Killer at Home (TV documentary). Series 1.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  47. ^ Gatton, Adrian (2010). Black Widow: The True Story of How Dena Thompson Lured Men into a Twisted Web of Sex, Lies and Murder. London: John Blake. ISBN 978-1844549931.

Further reading

  • Gatton, Adrian (2010). Black Widow: The True Story of How Dena Thompson Lured Men into a Twisted Web of Sex, Lies and Murder. London: John Blake. ISBN 978-1844549931.
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