Splashing out
Man who faked his own death is set to publish book to cash in on new ITV drama
The canoe fraudster who faked his own death is planning to publish his memoirs in a bid to cash in on a TV drama made about him.
John Darwin swindled £250,000 in life insurance cash in 2002 when he appeared to have drowned in the North Sea. Af ter being caught and serving three-and-a-half years in jail he divorced Anne, who helped him carry out the scheme. He began a new life, with a new wife, 7000 miles away in the Phillipines. The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe, starring Eddie Marsan as Darwin, was made without Darwin’s co- operation and will be shown on ITV this month. When our reporter caught up with D a rwi n last week at the Wilcon hardware store car park in Antipolo, 10 miles from capital Manila, he didn’t want to talk.
The pensioner, now 71, sped off in a £ 25,000 SUV without answering questions.
But his wife Mercy, 48, let slip that Darwin is writing a book.
She said: “It’s about his life... but it’s not yet finished. You have to wait.”
It will be a follow-up to The Canoe Man: Panama and Back, written by Darwin before his release from jail in 2011.
It’s believed he didn’t receive a penny after signing over the rights to a fraudster for £10.
Darwin dreamt up the 2002 con to pay off debts.
After faking his death in a canoe off Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, he used a secret tunnel behind a wardrobe to move between Anne’s bedroom and an empty bedsit next door.
The couple bought property in Panama and moved there but Darwin’s story unravelled when he returned to the UK in 2007 and claimed he had amnesia.
Anne was jailed for her part in the fraud. Darwin hasn’t looked back since his release, marrying Mercy in 2015 after meeting online. They are said to own three properties.
A friend said: “He feels he’s been given a second chance.”