EXCLUSIVE: Poisoner dubbed Black Widow could be freed by Parole Board

EXCLUSIVE: Poisoner dubbed the Black Widow who killed her husband with a curry on his 31st birthday could be freed after 19 years by parole board

• EXCLUSIVE
• Dena Thompson was jailed for life for killing husband Julian Webb on birthday
• She hid antidepressants in his favourite meal and gave drinks with aspirin 
• Three-times married Thompson, now 61, a bigamist and fraudster, could go free
• It’s now her first parole hearing after serving 16 year min sentence for murder

A woman dubbed the Black Widow after murdering her husband with a poisoned curry could be freed from jail after being granted a parole hearing.

Ruthless Dena Thompson, from Cullompton, Devon, was jailed for life for the killing of her husband Julian Webb on his 31st birthday.

Three-times married Thompson, now 61, a bigamist and fraudster, will go before the Parole Board later this month.

It is her first parole hearing after serving her minimum sentence of 16 years for the murder in June 1994. A decision is expected in May.

Thompson hid bitter-tasting antidepressants in Julian’s favourite meal and gave him drinks containing ground aspirin.

The truth did not come to light until seven years later, after his body was exhumed following Thompson’s acquittal in 2000 for the attempted murder of her third husband, Richard Thompson.

Ruthless Dena Thompson, from Cullompton, Devon, was jailed for life for the killing of her husband Julian Webb on his 31st birthday (The couple pictured together at their wedding)

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: ‘We can confirm the parole review of Dena Thompson has been referred to the Parole Board by the Secretary of State for Justice and is following standard processes. A hearing is expected to go ahead later this month with a decision in May.

‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

‘A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims. Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.

‘Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.

‘The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’

Thompson was cleared in 2000 of attempting to murder her third husband with a baseball bat during a sex session.

The jury believed she had been acting in self defence – but the case sparked a police investigation into her background and into the sudden death of second husband, Julian Webb, in 1994.

Officers soon discovered that the greedy and sexually voracious Thompson had mercilessly bled money from all three of her husbands and a succession of boyfriends.

She met men through the lonely hearts columns of local newspapers, then lied to them to win sympathy and trust.

Three-times married Thompson, now 61, a bigamist and fraudster, will go before the Parole Board later this month (April). (Thompson, pictured, at the Old Bailey where she was found guilty of the murder of her second husband Julian Webb)

She variously claimed she was dying from cancer, she had just won the lottery and that she had a wealthy benefactor in Florida willing to fund a new life for her and her succession of partners in the US.

Businessmen, teachers, a prison officer and even a convicted rapist all fell for her charms before she dumped them or simply vanished. 

Detectives believe Thompson successfully conned her victims out of £500,000.

But her life of deceit came to an end at the Old Bailey in December 2003 after a month-long trial following a police investigation into Mr Webb’s death.

Jailing her for life, Judge Michael Hyam said: ‘You brought about Julian Webb’s death by poisoning him.

‘What you did was utterly ruthless and without pity. Nothing can excuse you for the wickedness of what you did.’

Thompson met her first husband, fairground attendant Lee Wyatt, in 1982. Their relationship ended in 1991.

Soon after, she met local newspaper executive Mr Webb, marrying him in November 1991. 

He was a healthy, optimistic man, keen on outdoor pursuits. But he had a love of spicy food which was to prove fatal.

Aware that Mr Webb liked to ask Indian restaurateurs to serve him their hottest dishes, she ground up powerful anti-depressants into the curries she made him at home, knowing their bitter taste would be masked by the spices.

Mr Webb died at home in Yapton, West Sussex, the day after his 31st birthday. Thompson had refused to let his mother Rosemary speak to him, saying he was ill but failing to call a doctor.

Within hours of his death, Thompson turned up at Mr Webb’s workplace asking about his death benefits of £36,000.

The money was paid to Mr Webb’s mother after it emerged the marriage had been bigamous, as Thompson had not yet divorced Mr Wyatt.

Thompson claimed Mr Webb had killed himself. An inquest recorded an open verdict.

Further police inquiries revealed that Thompson had stolen £23,000 while working at the Woolwich and she was jailed for 18 months.

Once released, Thompson returned to pursuing vulnerable men and, in 1998, met her third husband Richard, 42.

Thompson hid bitter-tasting antidepressants in Julian’s favourite meal and gave him drinks containing ground aspirin (Thompson pictured as she leaves the Old Bailey in  November 13, 2003)

In 2000, she was cleared of attempting to kill him with a baseball bat and knife after saying she feared for her life during a bondage sex session.

But she was jailed for three years and nine months after admitting stealing £12,000 from Mr Thompson and two former boyfriends.

It was during this investigation that police discovered she had given 13 different accounts of her second husband’s death, and his body was exhumed.

Speaking after the case in 2003, Detective Chief Inspector Martyn Underhill, of Sussex Police, said: ‘This woman is every man’s nightmare. 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.’

Thompson’s third husband Richard said at the time: ‘I got the verdict via a text message in the street and shouted ‘Yes!’ at the top of my voice.’

Mr Thompson also revealed what she might have done with his body had she managed to kill him.

He said that days before his wife tied him up and attacked him, she asked him if their waste disposal unit might be powerful enough to crush bones.

He claimed she then staged a mock attack on him to see how his pet dog reacted and made enquiries about putting their £300,000 home on the market.

She even made up a bogus job for him in America so she could explain his ‘disappearance’.

He added: ‘I have waited a long time to see Dena brought to justice.

‘Now her web of lies, her web of dirty tricks and her capacity for cold-blooded murder can be revealed. I had the luckiest escape of my life.’

Detectives revealed after the case that they are looking into the case of one of Thompson’s former lovers who has since vanished, Bulgarian Stoin Costov.

Mr Underhill, who led the investigation into Mr Webb’s murder, said: ‘We cannot rule out the possibility that other partners have been injured in some way by Thompson.’

Thompson has a grown up son by her first husband.

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