Poisoned on his birthday by the Black Widow

Wendie-Sue Dent insists she did not kill her lover, but the courts found her guilty of murder – twice

- GAIL SHORTLAND

After the death of his partner of 33 years in 2011, heartbroken David Lawrence felt lost. He was well known in his hometown of Morphett Vale, just south of Adelaide, New South Wales. He had worked in the motor industry for most of his career and had a comfortable life.

But David, who often volunteered locally, wanted to share his life with someone special. When he started dating Wendie-Sue Dent, his family disapproved, fearing she was taking advantage of his good nature at a vulnerable point.

However, he had fallen head over heels in love and their relationship developed quickly. By the end of 2015, they had been living together – in David’s home – for 18 months.

While he was financially well off, Dent’s life had been more unstable. She had worked as a nurse aide, a childminder and as an escort to feed her addictions. Her drug habit spanned 40 years and she took opioids and Valium. She had also been in trouble with the law previously for forging prescriptions to get her fix.

In fact, Dent seemed to be the complete opposite of David, an honest man who loved travel, fishing and woodwork. But twice-divorced Dent had charmed him and told friends that they planned to marry.

As David’s 62nd birthday, on 1 December, approached he started to feel ill. He became quiet and withdrew from his social circle and his friends and family grew concerned when he failed to reply to their birthday messages.

Then, on December 3, Dent reported that she had found David dead in bed. It was a huge shock for the family of a man who’d had only minor health problems throughout his life.

At first the death wasn’t treated as suspicious and it was assumed that David had died in his sleep.