John Darwin disappearance case

The John Darwin disappearance case is an investigation into an alleged pseudocide (the act of faking one's own death) in the United Kingdom. The case concerns British former teacher and prison officer John Darwin, who turned up alive in 2007, five years after he was thought to have died in a canoeing accident. He was arrested and charged for fraudulently obtaining a passport, and claiming money by deception. ^[6] His wife - who was also arrested and charged, having claimed the money on his life insurance - alleged he had been secretly living in their house and the house next door,^[7] and that the couple had planned to set up a hotel for canoeing holidays in Panama.^[8]

Biography

John Darwin was born on August 14, 1950 in Hartlepool, County Durham^[2]. He attended St. Francis College, Liverpool and De La Salle College, Manchester where he studied biology and chemistry ^[9]. On December 22, 1973 John Darwin married Anne Stephenson at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, in Blackhall. ^[10]. Darwin then taught science and maths ^[11] at Derwentside for 18 years before leaving to join Barclays Bank. He later became a prison officer^[9]. He and his wife Anne Darwin, a doctor's receptionist, also ran a bedsitting business in County Durham with 12 houses. They ran into debt after purchasing two houses in Seaton Carew in December 2000. The debts, amounting to "tens of thousands of pounds",^[12] caused Darwin to talk about faking his own death to claim the insurance by early 2002.

The disappearance

John Darwin was seen paddling out to sea in his canoe on 21 March 2002 at Seaton Carew, in Hartlepool.^[13] Later the same day he was reported as "missing" after failing to turn up for work. A large-scale sea search took place,^[13] during which 62 square miles of coastline were searched. There was no sign of Darwin,^[13] though a double-ended paddle was retrieved from the sea near North Gare, Seaton Carew, the following day. Several weeks later on May 7 2002, the wreckage of John Darwin's canoe was found.^[14]

The missing years

During the years that Darwin was presumed dead he lived for some time in a bedsit next door to the family home; he then moved back in with his wife Anne in February 2003. A death certificate was issued the following month stating that John Darwin "probably encountered difficulties, as a result of which he died".^[2]. This allowed his wife to claim on his life insurance; £25,000 was paid out from Unat Direct Insurance Management Limited (part of the AIG insurance group) ^[4] as well as a much larger amount which paid off the £130,000 mortgage.".^[15] Sometime that year a tenant of the block of bedsit flats that the Darwins owned, Lee Wadrop, recognized Darwin and asked him "aren't you supposed to be dead" to which Mr Darwin replied "don't tell anyone about this". Mr Wadrop stated he had not told the police because he "did not want to get involved".^[16] In 2004 the couple decided to move abroad, considering Australia, Canada, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands. John Darwin applied for, and obtained a passport using the false name "John Jones" but using his true home address.".^[17] In November 2004 the couple visited Cyprus to investigate buying property. Later in May 2005, an angler called Matt Autie claimed to have met John Darwin at a lake near Penzance, Cornwall going under the name John Williams.^[18] When back at home Darwin is reported to have spent most of his time on the internet where he met a lady from Kansas in the United States whom he flew out to meet. In November, Darwin was back in the U.K. and flew from Newcastle to view a £45,000 60ft Catamaran in Gibraltar which he was considering to purchase from boat dealer Robert Hopkin.^[19] On March 9, 2006 Darwin is reported to have signed a planning objection to a neighbour's plans using a false name. Darwin and his wife begin to consider Panama as a possible destination after researching on the internet. The couple flew from Newcastle to Panama and on July 14, 2006, were photographed by a Panamanian property agent. In February 2007 the couple flew to Panama for a week. "February 2007" was the date on newspapers found in the boarded up gap between the Darwins' house and the bedsit where Mr Darwin had hidden. In March 2007 the couple returned to Panama and formed a company called Jaguar Properties in order to buy a two bedroom apartment in El Dorado for £50,000. The bedsit house next to the family home was sold under the name of the Darwin's son Mark which was transferred to him in 2006. The proceeds from the sale were then transferred to Panama.^[20]. The following month, Anne Darwin returned to the UK to sell her home whilst John Darwin remained in Panama. In May 2007 the couple purchased a £200,000 tropical estate in the village of Escobal, Colón, Panama near the Panama Canal with the intention of building a hotel from where canoing holidays could be run. Anne Darwin returned to Panama in July 2007, staying for 6 weeks. ^[20]. A police investigation was then started in September when a work colleague of Anne Darwin became suspicious when she overheard a phone conversation between the couple.^[21] The Darwin family home was sold for £295,000 in October 2007 and Anne Darwin subsequently returned to Panama. In the third week of November the couple holidayed in Costa Rica before returning to Panama. On November 30, 2007 Mrs Darwin bought an airline ticket for her husband to England because "he was missing his sons". On the same day the son, Mark Darwin, left his property firm after working his notice period. ^[20]

Return and arrest

On 1 December 2007 Darwin walked into West End Central police station in London, claiming to have no memory of the past five years. His wife Anne, who had sold up her properties in England and moved to Panama three months before his re-appearance, expressed surprise, joy and elation at the return of her missing husband. The story deepened on 5 December 2007 when the Daily Mirror published a photo of John and Anne Darwin taken in Panama in 2006. Anne reportedly confirmed that the photograph was of John, saying "Yes, that's him. My sons will never forgive me".^[22] The photograph was discovered when a member of the public typed the words "John", "Anne" and "Panama" into Google Images. The photo was featured on the website movetopanama.com and brought to the attention of the Daily Mirror and Cleveland Police.^[23] The police then arrested Darwin. Police had begun inquiries into the financial circumstances of the case three months before Darwin's reappearance, following a report made by one of Anne Darwin's work colleagues who had overheard a heated conversation that Mrs Darwin was having with a person who appeared to be her "dead" husband. Mrs Darwin was known to have claimed on her husband's life insurance and then emigrated to Panama, so the possibility that she knew him to be alive suggested an irregularity. John Darwin's two sons initially expressed elation at the return of their father but, as the story unfolded, they issued a joint statement stating that they felt they had been victims of a scam, and implying that they wished to have no further contact with their parents.^[20] Both sons were reported to have changed their jobs prior to their father's re-appearance. On 6 December one of John Darwin's sons allegedly disappeared after clearing out his North London flat and leaving a notebook supposedly containing coded messages for his girlfriend together with instructions for her on how to get to London City Airport. Police have emphasized that he is not suspected of any crime.^[24] John Darwin had been using the name "John Jones" in a false passport and other documentation.^[25]. Police examined the passport in order to piece together Darwin's movements in the previous five years; it reportedly showed several trips to Panama. It has been reported that Darwin used the identity of a dead baby to obtain a false passport. John Jones was born in Sunderland in March 1950 but died a few weeks later.^[26] On 8 December the Daily Mail quoted Anne Darwin as saying that, although she initially thought her husband was dead, he turned up at their home in 2003 and lived secretly there and in an adjacent bedsit that she owned for about three years. He entered the home from the bedsit through a secret hole in the wall hidden behind a wardrobe with a false back. The article states that, two months after he had moved back in with Anne, she was persuaded to attend an inquest into his death so that she could claim the life insurance. John was pronounced dead, and the life insurance company paid only half of the £50,000 policy total because no body had been found. Anne said he had faked his death to escape financial difficulties arising from properties they owned. She claimed that he had decided to return publicly because he missed his sons (who had not been aware he was still alive).^[1] Mr. Darwin was charged, later that day, with obtaining life insurance money by deception and making an untrue statement to get a passport.^[27] On 9 December Anne Darwin was arrested at Manchester Airport, on her arrival back in the UK. She was detained in connection with allegations of fraud.^[28] She appeared in court on 11 December in Hartlepool to face two charges of fraud - obtaining £25,000 and £137,000 by deception, and is remanded in custody until 14 December.^[29] Darwin appeared at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court on 10 December where he was remanded in custody until Friday 14 December 2007.^[4] On 14 December Anne and John Darwin appeared separately before Hartlepool's Magistrates court and were remanded in custody to appear again on 11 January 2008.^[30]

See also

• List of premature obituaries

References