Poison in the Curry: The Black Widow Who Killed on His Birthday
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In the quiet English village of Yapton, Sussex, a seemingly perfect marriage hid a web of deception so tangled it would take years—and a mother’s unrelenting grief—to unravel. Dena Thompson, born in 1960, presented herself as charming, ambitious, even glamorous. But beneath the facade lurked a master manipulator, bigamist, and poisoner dubbed “The Black Widow.”
Dena’s first husband, Lee, fell into her schemes after a Florida holiday where she spun tales of a £50 million Disney deal involving soft toys. Money vanished; trust eroded. But it was her second “husband,” Julian Webb—whom she bigamously married in 1991 while still wed to Lee—that met a sinister end.
On Julian’s 31st birthday in June 1994, Dena prepared his favorite: an intensely hot curry. He ate eagerly, unaware the spice masked a lethal cocktail of crushed anti-depressants and aspirin. As he lay dying in agony, his mother phoned to wish him happy birthday—Dena coolly said he was “too unwell” to speak. Julian slipped away, his death ruled natural at first. Dena collected his life insurance, bought a mansion, and moved on.
Years later, Dena wed again—this time to Richard Thompson in 1998. Their marriage dissolved into violence: she attacked him with a baseball bat and knife, claiming self-defense. Astonishingly, a jury acquitted her. But the acquittal raised alarms. Police re-examined Julian’s death. His body was exhumed; toxicology confirmed the massive overdose. A friend came forward: Dena had boasted about the poisoned curry.
In 2003, at the Old Bailey, Dena was convicted of Julian’s murder and sentenced to life (minimum 16 years served before parole). She was released around 2022, her full story still shadowed by suspicion—she’s long been linked to another suspicious death, though never charged.
What remains haunting: the everyday act of cooking dinner turned deadly; a husband dying on his birthday while his killer calmly lied; fortunes built on lies and poison. Dena Thompson didn’t just kill—she wove illusions so convincing that death hid in plain sight, disguised as love and a spicy meal.
Come along as Amy and Mark take a deep dive into the life and crimes of England’s “Black Widow”, Dena Thompson.
Be sure to check out Mark & Amy’s other brand new companion podcast, “The Husband Did It”!!
https://thehusbanddidit.com