ITV is currently airing The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe which has led to a renewed interest in its subject John Darwin and his then wife Anne.
The four-part TV drama tells the true story of the couple, portrayed by actors Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan. John faked his own death after going out to sea in his red canoe to claim life insurance and avoid bankruptcy, the drama focuses on how Anne became complicit in her husband’s deception.
Anne received £250,000 life insurance while keeping the truth from John's friends and family, including their two sons. Get exclusive celebrity stories and reality tv news straight to your inbox with OK!
daily newsletter. In real life, the deception was to take its toll on Anne who lied to their sons, Mark and Anthony, for five years whilst her husband, in the early days of the fraud, secretly lived in a bedsit next door to the home he shared with Anne.The couple eventually decided to leave Seaton Carew and move to Panama City to start a new life together before their secret was exposed by the discovery of an infamous photo of them posing in a Panama real estate office in July 2006.
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