Joanna Dennehy

Dennehy, born August 1982 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, grew up in nearby Harpenden, and was an absent mother of two young children at the time of the killings.

She specifically targeted men during her killing spree, telling her acquaintance Lloyd that she did not wish to kill a woman and especially not a woman with children.

Lloyd stated Dennehy had wanted to kill nine men in total, seeking to be like Bonnie and Clyde.

Dennehy stabbed men for the purpose of "entertainment", telling Stretch, "I want my fun. I need you to get my fun."

She later told a psychiatrist that she had found murder to be "moreish" and that after the first killing she "got a taste for it."

The Peterborough ditch murders were a series of murders which took place in Cambridgeshire, England, in March 2013.

All three victims were male and died from stab wounds.

Their bodies were discovered dumped in ditches outside Peterborough.

In Hereford, two other men were stabbed but survived.

The perpetrator was Joanna Christine Dennehy, a Cambridgeshire woman, who was later sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order.

Kevin Lee was a property developer, landlord and lover of Dennehy.

Lukasz Slaboszewski, a Polish national, met Dennehy through a shared interest in drink and drugs, and John Chapman was a housemate of Dennehy.

Slaboszewski was killed at some point between 19 and 29 March 2013.

Both Lee and Chapman were killed on 29 March.

Lee's body was found the next day near Newborough; Dennehy had dressed his body in a black sequined dress before dumping the corpse.

The bodies of Slaboszewski and Chapman were found on 3 April near Thorney with stab wounds.

After the killings, Dennehy was driven by her friend Gary Stretch (formerly known as Gary Richards) to Hereford where she stabbed two men, chosen separately and at random, both of whom survived.

Both men were dog walkers; she stole the second man's dog.

Another man, travelling in the car unwillingly, was later cleared of criminal involvement in the attacks.

In November 2013, Dennehy pleaded guilty to all three murders and two further attempted murders.

Her sister Maria was unsurprised by the guilty plea and said, "I think she did that to control the situation. She likes people to know she's the boss."

Dennehy was held on remand at HM Prison Bronzefield.

Assessing psychiatrists later diagnosed Dennehy with psychopathic, anti-social and borderline personality disorders.

The trial began at the Old Bailey in London where Dennehy could be seen laughing during proceedings, stating, "I have pleaded guilty, and that's that" when questioned about her decision.

At one point during her trial, Dennehy stood up and told presiding Mr. Justice Spencer "I don't wanna be controlled by anybody. I don't want to be controlled by my lawyers, by the police, by anybody."

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On 28 February 2014, Mr. Justice Spencer called Dennehy a "cruel, calculating, selfish and manipulative serial killer" and sentenced her to life imprisonment with an additional order that she should never be released due to the premeditation of each murder.

Spencer said further that Dennehy was sadomasochistic and lacked the normal range of human emotions.

Dennehy was the third woman in the UK to be given a whole life tariff, after Myra Hindley and Rosemary West.

Two men, Richards, 47, and Leslie Layton, 36, stood trial charged with a range of crimes relating to assisting Dennehy.

Both decided not to give evidence in their defence.

The jury began deliberation on 4 February 2014.

On 10 February, Richards was found guilty of attempted murder, and Layton was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

On 12 February, Layton and Richards were convicted of all other charges.

Richards was sentenced at the Old Bailey alongside Dennehy to life imprisonment, with a recommended minimum term of 19 years.

Layton was sentenced to a total of 14 years, and Robert Moore, 55, who admitted to assisting an offender, received a three-year prison sentence.

After the trial it emerged that the Probation Service was supervising Dennehy at the time of the murders as she had been convicted of assault and owning a dangerous dog.

It was later concluded that the staff dealing with her were inexperienced.

Whilst she was on remand before the trial, Dennehy was housed in segregation at HM Prison Bronzefield, a Category A prison in Surrey.

Prison staff found an escape plot in her diary which involved killing or seriously injuring a prison officer, cutting off one of the officer's fingers and using the amputated finger to fool the biometric system in the prison.