Channel 5 is airing the chilling true crime documentary The Poisoning: How to Kill Your Husband tonight (July 7) at 10pm, revisiting the case of Heather Mook, who secretly laced her husband's spaghetti with rat poison and antidepressants.
The Conviction and Motive
In 2008, Heather Mook, then 58, was found guilty of two counts of poisoning with intent to endanger life. She had poisoned her husband John Mook's pasta meal in a bid to swindle £43,000 from his mother. The plan was to leave John sufficiently bewildered to carry out the theft.
Prosecutor Adrian Waterman QC stated: "The stealing of the money and the giving of the drugs were linked. She gave him amitriptyline to avoid discovery of her thefts." The jury took just two and a half hours to convict her.
Victim's Reaction and Prior Offence
John Mook, then 60, survived and insisted prison might not be the appropriate place for his wife. On the courthouse steps, he declared: "I think she needs some serious help and I hope she gets it."
It emerged after the trial that this was not Mook's first poisoning incident. In 1982, she had a prior conviction for poisoning her seven-year-old daughter Teresa by crushing an antidepressant tablet into her meal.
Sentencing and Legacy
Throughout the proceedings, Mook was branded a 'menace to friends and strangers alike' for repeatedly deceiving those around her. The judge labelled her a 'dangerous woman' and handed down an indeterminate sentence, meaning no fixed release date but eligibility for parole after five years.
The Poisoning: How to Kill Your Husband airs tonight on Channel 5 at 10pm.
