Hammer monster killed 3 partners
Past crimes revealed after he admits murder
Anger as it emerges he only served 7 years
A TRIPLE killer has admitted murdering his ex after serving less than seven years for taking the lives of two other partners.
Theodore Johnson, 64, faces dying behind bars for bludgeoning Angela Best with a claw hammer and throttling her with a dressing gown cord.
The mother of four and grandmother, 51, had ended their relationship after learning of his dark past.
Johnson, sitting in a wheelchair, pleaded guilty to murder on the first day of his trial at the Old Bailey.
Prosecutor Mark Heywood said: “This is a man who is controlling and violent to the women in his life and who, when crossed, will kill.”
It can now be revealed Johnson killed his wife Yvonne by hitting her with a vase and throwing her off a balcony in Wolverhampton in 1981.
He served less than five years in prison for her manslaughter.
STRANGLING
Johnson also strangled another partner, Yvonne Bennett, in Finsbury Park, North London, in 1992, before trying and failing to hang himself.
Jamaican-born garage worker Johnson was sentenced to a hospital order after admitting manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.
He was released two years later and was under the continued care of psychiatrists until he killed Angela when she visited his home in Islington, North London, in December 2016.
Hours later, he threw himself in front of a train at Cheshunt, Herts, and lost his right arm and left hand.
Victims’ groups asked how Johnson was able to kill for the third time.
Harry Fletcher, of Voice4Victims said: “It is extraordinary that Johnson was released so early.”
Suzanne Jacob, of abuse charity Safe Lives, added: “After two such serious convictions, how was it possible that this was allowed to happen again?”
Johnson, who had two children with his first victim and a daughter with his second, was remanded in custody to be sentenced on Friday.