What happened to the serial killer who murdered three men?

A new documentary about one of the few women in British judicial history to be sentenced to life imprisonment is set to air on Channel 5.

The shooting spree: The hunt for Joanna Dennehy tells the story of the Cambridgeshire woman who was found guilty of a series of murders in Peterborough in 2013.

The unique 90-minute documentary will be broadcast on Tuesday, June 18, 10:00 p.m.

What did Joanna Dennehy do?

Joanna Dennehy was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1982. She grew up in nearby Harpenden, where her parents paid her school fees in the hope that she would go to university and train as a lawyer.

In her mid-teens, she began skipping school and hanging out with older boys. At 15, she got involved with a man five years her senior, John Treanor, and ran off with him.

By that time, she had already begun abusing drugs and alcohol and left home for good at the age of 16.

Dennehy moved to Luton with her partner and later to Milton Keynes. She and her partner had two children while they were teenagers. According to one report, she became permanently estranged from her parents after the birth of her first child, after telling them they would have to pay to see her grandchild.

Her relationship with Treanor was extremely turbulent. Dennehy cheated on him with men and women. She told friends that she never wanted children and often left the house for days or weeks at a time.

Dennehy and Treanor moved to East Anglia again, but her drinking worsened and she began to self-harm. She was frequently violent and would often physically attack Treanor when drunk. She began carrying a dagger in her boot and often told friends that she wanted to kill someone. In 2009, Treanor left the country, taking the children with him, fearing that her violence would escalate.

By this time, she had already been in contact with the justice system and mental health services. In February 2012, she was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. She was also examined by a forensic psychiatrist, who found that she suffered from paraphilia (sadomasochism): sexual arousal from inflicting pain or humiliation on others.

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Kevin Lee was a property developer and lover of Dennehy. Lukasz Slaboszewski, a Polish national, met Dennehy through a shared interest in drugs and alcohol. And John Chapman was a roommate of Dennehy.

Sometime between March 19 and March 29, 2013, Dennehy killed Slaboszewski. Lee and Chapman were both killed on March 29. Lee's body was found near Newborough the following day, while Chapman and Slaboszewski's bodies were found near Thorney on April 3.

After the murders, Dennehy was driven to Hereford by her boyfriend Gary “Stretch” Richards, where she stabbed two random men who were walking their dogs. Both men survived.

Dennehy specifically targeted men. She told an acquaintance that she wanted to kill nine men in total and that she stabbed men for “entertainment.” She later told a psychiatrist that she found murder “sweeter” and that she had “got a taste for it” after the first murder.

Arrest and trial

Dennehy was arrested on April 2, 2013.

In November 2013, Dennehy pleaded guilty to all three murders and two further attempted murders. While on remand at HMP Bronzefield, psychiatrists diagnosed Dennehy with psychopathic, antisocial and borderline personality disorders.

During the trial at the Old Bailey in London, Dennehy was seen laughing. When questioned about the offences, she said: “I pleaded guilty and that's it.” At one point she stood up and told presiding judge Spencer: “I don't want to be controlled by anyone. I don't want to be controlled by my lawyers, by the police, by anyone.”

On February 28, 2014, Dennehy was sentenced to life imprisonment with an additional order that she should never be released due to the premeditated nature of each murder. Judge Spencer described her as a “cruel, calculating, selfish and manipulative serial killer,” adding that she was sadomasochistic and lacked the normal range of human emotions.

Dennehy was the third woman in Britain to receive a life sentence, after Myra Hindley and Rosemary West.

Where is Joanna Dennehy now?

After her trial, Dennehy was returned to Bronzefield Prison. In 2018, she reportedly applied for permission to marry her cellmate. That same year, the two were found with their throats and wrists slit after making a suicide pact.

In 2019, she was transferred to Low Newton Prison in County Durham.

In 2017, Dennehy's mother Kathleen spoke about her daughter's crime.

She said: “The girl who killed those people is not my daughter. My daughter is the nice 16-year-old who never came home.”

Speaking about the moment she learned of her daughter's crimes, Kathleen said: “When I saw those pictures of Jo, she seemed like someone I didn't know. She's standing there, being accused, smiling and laughing. This is not the kind, loving Jo that was our baby.”

“For me, she no longer exists. I don't want her to ever get out of prison. The world is safer without Joanna.”