Joanna Dennehy Victims

Case background and investigation

Three men were killed in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in March 2013: Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, a Polish national; John Chapman, 56; and Kevin Lee, 48, a property developer and landlord. All three died of stab wounds, and their bodies were left in ditches in the countryside outside the city. The case became known as the Peterborough ditch murders.

According to Wikipedia's account, Slaboszewski was killed between March 19 and March 29, and Chapman and Lee were both killed on March 29. Lee's body was found on March 30 near Newborough. The bodies of Slaboszewski and Chapman were found on April 3 near Thorney. Heart radio's summary of the case describes Chapman as a Falklands veteran who shared a house with Joanna Dennehy, and says Slaboszewski had met her only days before he died.

After the killings, Dennehy travelled to Hereford, about 140 miles away, with Gary Stretch, also known as Gary Richards. There she stabbed two men who were out walking their dogs, Robin Bereza and John Rogers. Both survived. Wikinews reported that the second attack came within minutes of the first. Dennehy and Stretch were arrested shortly afterwards.

On November 18, 2013, Dennehy pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in London to three counts of murder and two of attempted murder. NBC News reported that the plea surprised her own lawyers and that she refused their request for time to discuss it. Stretch, Leslie Layton and Robert Moore faced related charges. According to Wikipedia, a jury convicted Stretch of attempted murder and Layton of perverting the course of justice in February 2014, and Moore admitted assisting an offender.

All four were sentenced on February 28, 2014. Mr Justice Spencer gave Dennehy a life sentence with a whole-life order, meaning she is never to be released. Reports at the time said she was the third woman in the United Kingdom to be given such a term, after Myra Hindley and Rosemary West. Stretch received life with a minimum of 19 years, Layton 14 years and Moore three years, Wikinews reported. The judge said the murders were premeditated and referred to psychiatric evidence of a psychopathic personality disorder.

Wikipedia reports that a later review found Dennehy had been under probation supervision at the time of the killings. It also reports that she was held in segregation after an escape plan was discovered at HMP Bronzefield, and that the High Court rejected her legal challenge to that segregation.