The Thief, his wife and the Canoe - ITV

[Happy Lady]

The bit I can't get my head around was that they owed so much money, yet owned twelve houses! So why didn't they sell houses to pay their debts, instead of him going through with his shady pretend death?

 

[DowntoearthDawn]

The bit I can't get my head around was that they owed so much money, yet owned twelve houses! So why didn't they sell houses to pay their debts, instead of him going through with his shady pretend death?

I though that too and when the police searched the house they didn’t spot the secret door?

 

[kev1974]

I though that too and when the police searched the house they didn’t spot the secret door?

re the houses/debt this was the era when banks were throwing money at people to take on mortgages for properties that weren't worth it - the Northern Rock crisis etc that started it all unravelling hadn't happened yet. Also I think they had one big loan across all the properties, or one loan was leveraged against another, either way they couldn't just extract one property and sell it.

As for the secret door one of the police detectives was interviewed in the press somewhere and said yes it's obvious with hindsight but it wasn't at the time, my guess is the secret doors were actually pretty secret and nowhere near as obvious as the drama portrayed them!

 

[ButtonDownTheHutches]

I wonder how long it would have taken for the whole story to unravel without the photo? Do we think the police were on to them already?

From what I’d heard the police were already investigating as John had been spotted by a former tenant & Anne’s colleagues had raised the issue as she was often overheard on the phone to John.

They seemingly weren’t very discreet. Stupidity or arrogance - who knows?

 

[bourb0nbiscuits]

Watched the dramatised programmes and felt quite sorry for Ann, think it was quite a sympathetic portrayal , but in the documentary where the Police, insurance company we’re giving their story , I definitely felt less sympathetic for her .

 

[Chunkeylaydee]

I’m on holiday down in Hartlepool. We took a visit to Seaton Carew to the beach. Their 2 houses appear to be getting done up just now. They are huge houses compared to some along the sea front. Was it a status thing to JD to have such large houses, a Range Rover etc?