For decades, one half of Britain’s most infamous criminal duo lived a life shrouded in darkness, hiding unspeakable crimes behind the facade of a family home.
Together with her husband, this woman participated in a string of murders and sexual assaults that shook the nation, targeting young women — and even their own children.
Over a span of more than 20 years, the pair committed acts so brutal that they remain difficult to comprehend.
So, what turned seemingly normal young woman into one of history’s most notorious killers? Was she ever truly “ordinary” at all? To understand how she became a mass murderer, we need to start at the very beginning — her childhood.
Looked picture-perfect
Born in North Devon in 1953, this woman was raised by her parents alongside six siblings. Even before birth, her mother underwent electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, which some believe influenced the child’s early development.Her family looked picture-perfect from the outside. Her father, Bill Letts, had served on aircraft carriers during the war and was polite and charming. Her mother, Daisy, petite and dark-haired, was considered a local beauty — shy, soft-spoken, and seemingly content with her life.
But behind that calm façade, things were far from ordinary. And there were already serious worries even before the girl who would grow up to become one of the world’s most notorious killers was born.
In 1950, the family moved into a new council house in Northam. Daisy already had three children, and Bill was often away, still serving in the Navy.
Alone at home, Daisy’s struggles began to surface. She sank into bouts of depression and became obsessed with keeping the house spotless, scrubbing herself and her children into an unnatural level of cleanliness. Her behavior became increasingly erratic, teetering on the edge of neurotic.
Electroconvulsive therapy
By 1953, Daisy suffered a breakdown and was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Bideford, where she underwent electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This involved shaving her head, attaching large electrodes, and sending surges of electricity through her brain — causing blackouts and violent convulsions.
Even though she was pregnant with her fifth child, the treatment continued, sending shocks through her body and through the child in her womb, right up until days before the baby’s birth.
When the baby finally arrived, everyone commented on her beauty, but something was off. She would rock her head for hours, and her older siblings often complained about her banging her head rhythmically against the cot at night.
As she grew, these strange habits persisted; she would swing her head back and forth in long trance-like motions, lost in her own world. It was the first sign that life for this little girl would be anything but normal.
Also, her father reportedly struggled with psychiatric issues, including paranoid schizophrenia. According to author Jane Carter-Woodrow, she was groomed and sexually abused by her father and may also have suffered abuse from her grandfather.
Meeting her future husband
The young woman in our story met her future husband at just 15 while waiting at a bus stop. He was 12 years her senior, divorced, and already a father.
Their connection quickly turned romantic, and she became the nanny to his daughters, a seemingly innocent role that would soon set the stage for a partnership in horror.
Her husband’s past was equally troubled. He claimed to have suffered abuse as a child and endured multiple traumatic head injuries, which reportedly altered his personality.