Terence Bell - Inept Attempted Murderer

We all must have seen a film or TV show in which a man makes numerous attempts to kill his wife, but everything fails, and the funniest part of the story is that the intended victim was completely oblivious to all that was going on around her.  It is like she is indestructible.  However, attempts to murder for real are most certainly not funny.  Such an incident involved  a building society clerk, from Southsea in Hampshire named Terry Bell.  He had taken out a huge insurance policy on his wife, in 1980, that would net him £250,000 on her death.  If it was accidental.  He put his diabolical plan into action by putting a very dangerous ingredient into a strawberry flan but this first attempt failed after the flan fell from her plate.  Not to be put off, another meal, this time of mackerel, was poisoned with mercury.  His wife duly ate the fish but to his astonishment, she suffered no ill-affects!

    They were going away on holiday, so an accidental death abroad was hit upon.  Travelling to Yuigoslavia.  On a clifftop, he suggested she sat on the cliff edge and took in the great views but she refused to, as she got a feeling of unease.  Back in dear old Blighty, Mrs Bell was struck down with chickenpox, so as she was stricken and confined to bed, he saw his great chance.  He started a fire outside the bedroom door, hoping it would spread and trap her inside.  But, as fate would have it, a neighbour saw some smoke, dashed in and put the flames out.  He decided that a bigger fire was needed and so he set the house ablaze, but to his horror, despite the severe damage to the house, Mrs Bell emerged unscathed!!!  In total, he made seven attempts to kill her but the last attempt would have the audience to a comedy film howling with laughter.  He asked her to stand in the road and let him drive the car at her, to test the brakes!!!!  This failed, and realising that he could not take it anymore, he went into the local Police station and made a full confession to seven attempted murders.  The astonished Police told his wife, who never realised for one moment that her life was in danger.  Mr Bell went to prison and died in 1997.