By Beth Hardie
Dennehy, notorious for her killing spree in March 2013, is serving a life sentence for the brutal murders of three men, a case that has come to be known as the Peterborough Ditch Murders. The victims—Lukasz Slaboszewski, Kevin Lee, and John Chapman—were all stabbed to death and left in ditches outside Peterborough. Her story is featured in Channel 5’s new documentary, The Killing Spree: Hunting Joanna Dennehy.
Lukasz met Dennehy shortly before his murder, bonding over drugs and alcohol. Kevin, a married father with whom she was having an affair, and John, a housemate, were killed on the same day, March 29. Disturbingly, Dennehy dressed Kevin’s body in a black sequinned dress and posed it in a sexual manner before disposal.
Following the discovery of the bodies, Dennehy drove 140 miles to Hereford, where she randomly attacked two dog walkers, Robin Bereza and John Rogers, both of whom survived. The court described Dennehy’s actions as driven by a “thirst for blood.” She reportedly told her accomplices that she wanted to “have fun” and expressed a desire for more victims, likening herself to Bonnie and Clyde.
Arrested while sitting in a car, Dennehy was later placed in segregation at HM Prison Bronzefield. Staff discovered a diary detailing her escape plan, which involved injuring a guard to steal their fingerprint for bypassing the prison’s biometric security. This led to a two-year stint in solitary confinement, which Dennehy claimed violated her human rights.
During her trial in November 2013, she pleaded guilty to all charges and was diagnosed with psychopathic, antisocial, and borderline personality disorders. On February 28, 2014, she was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, becoming one of only three women in the UK to receive such a sentence.
Judge Mr. Justice Spencer condemned her actions, stating, “You are a cruel, calculating, selfish, and manipulative serial killer.” Dennehy later admitted to a psychiatrist that her motive for killing was to see how she would feel, describing the act as “moreish.” Other individuals who assisted her during her killing spree also faced sentencing.