JOANNA Dennehy is one of the most dangerous women in the UK and 13 years ago, she was Dani Hitchcock’s evil stepmother.
Now, Dani, who is from Peterborough and works in childcare, has bravely opened up on what it was really like to have a triple murderer in her life.
Dani was just 13-years-old when she first met her father’s girlfriend at the time, Joanna Dennehy, 42, who then went on to murder three men and dump their bodies in ditches in Cambridgeshire in 2013.
Dani described Joanna as an “evil stepmum,” who was far worse than ones you see “in films.”
She claimed that when she first met Joanna, the family went on a trip to the cinema, but Dani acknowledged that her new stepmum barely said a word to her or her brothers.
Dani stressed she had a “gut feeling straight away” that Joanna was “not a very nice person,” as she voiced: “That good impression was never set – [she was a] very cold person, didn’t speak to us, didn’t smile.”
Shortly after her breakup with Dani’s dad in 2012, Joanna, from St Albans, Herts., murdered three men – Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, John Chapman, 56, and Kevin Lee, 48 – and stabbed two more before going on the run and posting pictures of herself holding a huge knife.
She was convicted of three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in November that year.
The court was told she was a diagnosed ‘psychopath’ with a ‘lust for blood’ who had been on probation for other offences when she went on her killing spree.
A judge called her “cruel, calculating, selfish, and manipulative” after a court heard of her murderous antics, which involved mutilating a corpse and squeezing the body into a sequined black dress.
Reflecting on the time Joanna was in her life, Dani described the killer as “really awful” and “so cold”, with “no motherly type of way about her.”
Not only this, but Dani believes that Joanna “resented” her, as she shared: “I don’t think she liked me, she wanted to steal the spotlight that was meant to be on us, she wanted that for herself.”
And not only did Dani get bad vibes from Joanna, who once described killing as “moreish and fun” and has become one of four women in the country to be sentenced to a whole life behind bars, but she also claimed that she would “rinse” her dad, who was diagnosed with MS aged 30, for cash too.
Dani admitted: “She would make sure that my dad would spend good money on her, and she would absolutely rinse him of his money – she liked that.”
Not only did Joanna spend her father’s “well-earned” cash on herself, but she would also make “very inappropriate comments” too, as Dani confessed: “She once said something along the lines of ‘I’m just going to give this to your dad because I just want to make him like horny’ – you don’t say that to a 13-year-old.”
I got very dodgy vibes off her – she was so cold
Dani Hitchcock
Not only this, but shortly after her clip went viral, Dani uploaded a follow-up video, whereby she got candid on her “bonding time” with Joanna.
Dani explained that Joanna, who she described as an “alcoholic” who would often be “up drinking till early hours of the morning”, wanted to have “bonding time” with her, but it was really “for her own benefit.”
Dani recognised that not only was Joanna “malicious,” with a “wicked mind”, but she was also “very sex-orientated,” and somewhat a “sex-maniac.”
Teaching her ‘pole dancing’
And when Dani was just 13-years-old, she recalled moments where Joanna would teach her provocative dance moves to Do It Like a Dude by Jessie J.
Dani described it as “pole dancing without the pole”, as she bravely expressed: “We practiced these moves for hours upon hours – she kept being like ‘we’ve got to perform it, we’re going to perform it together.’”
Joanna Dennehy's victims
Twisted Joanna Dennehy's murder spree has been labelled the 'most dangerous person' crimologist Christopher Berry-Dee has 'ever, ever come into contact with' - here we look at her chilling crimes.
Dennehy’s first victim was her housemate Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, on March 19, 2013. She convinced the Polish national that she wanted to meet him for sex before stabbing him in the heart and dumping his body in a wheelie bin,
Falklands War veteran John Chapman, 56, who was also believed to have lived with Dennehy, was murdered by her a week later.
Property developer Kevin Lee became Dennehy’s final victim on March 29. He was her landlord and lover before she ended his life. In a letter to a former lover, Dennehy revealed she dressed Lee in a black sequinned to ‘humiliate him’ and dumped his body in Newborough.
Dennehy also tried to kill two others during her 10-day spree. She recruited accomplice Gary Stretch, 47, and the pair drove to Hereford where she stabbed John Rogers, 64, and Robin Bereza, 57. Fortunately, both of them survived.
Dennehy received a life term for the killings and attempted murders. Stretch was jailed for life after being found guilty of attempted murder.
Not only has Dani been candid online about moments alongside Joanna, who even plotted to kill Rost West and chop off a guard’s finger to escape ‘Monster Mansion’ jail, but she previously opened up on this to Fabulous, as she expressed: “I was so uncomfortable. I’d never liked Joanna and I couldn’t understand why she had come into my room urging me to pole dance with her.
“It made no sense, and I felt sick as she encouraged me to wiggle my hips – and then suggested we perform a routine for my dad. It was so inappropriate, encouraging a child to be ‘sexy’.
“She lived with my dad for two-and-a-half years, and I never warmed to her. In fact, I got very dodgy vibes off her – she was so cold. It made me feel really uneasy, a feeling which has stayed with me to this day.”
Dennehy robbed a significant part of my childhood and the memories of it linger into adulthood
Dani Hitchcock
Dani confessed to being “emotionally traumatised by her behaviour and presence” which created a “toxic atmosphere” in her household.
She added: “Boundaries were always blurred with her. I dreaded being at dad’s house, but I wanted to see him.
“Dennehy robbed a significant part of my childhood and the memories of it linger into adulthood.
“Her emotional abuse has impacted me. As a result of her behaviour, I cut people off really easily, but thankfully I also forgive easily.”
‘Lucky escape’
Dani’s TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @daniemilyx, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has racked up 176,600 views.
It’s also amassed 5,489 likes and 85 comments.
This is heartbreaking, you all had a very lucky escape from her!
TikTok user
Social media users were gobsmacked to hear Dani’s story and claimed that she and her siblings had a “very lucky escape.”
One person said: “Seems your dad and you had a VERY VERY lucky escape.”
Another added: “My god you all had a very lucky escape. She is pure evil.”
A third agreed and commented: “This is heartbreaking, you all had a very lucky escape from her!!”
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