One of Britain's most notorious female serial killers has finally admitted the chilling motive behind her brutal 2013 murder spree, revealing she developed a 'taste' for killing men for her own entertainment.
The Peterborough Ditch Murders
In March 2013, Joanne Dennehy carried out a series of horrific attacks that became known as the Peterborough ditch murders. Her victims were three men she knew: her landlord and lover Kevin Lee; her housemate John Chapman; and Lukasz Slaboszewski, a man she met through drugs and alcohol.
Lee and Chapman were both brutally stabbed to death on 29 March 2013. Slaboszewski was murdered sometime between 19 and 29 March. Dennehy then callously dumped their bodies in ditches on the outskirts of Peterborough. In a final act of humiliation, she dressed one victim in a black sequined dress before disposal.
A Spree of Violence and a Chilling Admission
Dennehy's killing spree did not end there. With the help of accomplice Gary Stretch, who drove her to Hereford, she randomly targeted and stabbed two dog walkers. Both men survived the attacks.
When arrested, Dennehy displayed a shocking lack of remorse, even laughing in custody. She later confessed to a psychiatrist that after the first murder, she had 'got a taste for it'. She told her friend, Mark Lloyd, that her aim was to kill nine men in total, stating it was 'entertainment' and that she wanted her 'fun'.
'I don't want to be controlled by anybody,' she explained. 'I don't want to be controlled by my lawyers, by the police, or by anybody.' The estranged mother of two was adamant she would only target men, sparing women, particularly those with daughters.
Diagnosis and a Rare Whole Life Sentence
In court, Dennehy pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and two of attempted murder. A psychiatric assessment diagnosed her as a psychopath with borderline personality disorder.
Mr Justice Spencer, sentencing, described the then 43-year-old as a 'cruel, calculating, selfish and manipulative serial killer'. In a rare move, she was given a whole life order, meaning she will never be released from prison. This made her only the third woman in UK legal history to receive such a tariff, after Myra Hindley and Rosemary West.
Her sister suggested the guilty plea was another act of control, claiming: 'I think she did that to control the situation. She likes people to know she's the boss.' The case remains a stark reminder of the depths of human depravity.
