John Mook: Husband fed rat poison spaghetti by embezzling wife Heather
JOHN Mook was the husband of Heather Mook and survived her attempts to poison him as part of a scheme to steal £43,000 from his mother.
She was eventually convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
Who was John Mook?
John Mook was the fourth husband of Heather Mook.
They married in 1997, but their relationship was impaired by Heather’s criminal behaviour.
Despite the attempted poisoning, John Mook eventually recovered and expressed concern for Heather’s mental health, suggesting that she needed help rather than just imprisonment.
He said: “I think she needs some serious help and I hope she gets it.”
Did John Mook die?
No, John Mook did not die as a result of Heather Mook’s poisoning attempts.
Although Heather poisoned him with rat poison and antidepressants, John survived the trauma.
The poisoning caused severe symptoms like confusion, fatigue and a racing heart, leading to his hospitalisation, but he recovered.
Why did Heather Mook poison John?
Heather Mook poisoned her husband, John Mook, as part of a larger scheme to embezzle £43,000 from his mother, Freda Mook.
She secretly mixed rat poison and the antidepressant amitriptyline into his food, spaghetti, to be precise.
This concoction was intended to disorient and confuse him.
Over time, Heather administered these poisons whenever John had financial or legal meetings.
The poisoning distracted John from noticing her theft, allowing her to continue her deception.
Heather was arrested after John’s daughter caught her giving him more poison while he was in the hospital.
She was sentenced to at least five years in prison after being convicted of two counts of poisoning with intent to endanger life.
Judge James Spencer, QC, said about his verdict: “I can tell you that a sentence of imprisonment is inevitable.”
The money she stole was never found and Heather did not tell police what she did with it.
Detective Inspector Nigel Costello of York CID said: “They certainly haven’t been hidden in any assets we have seen.
“We needed some assistance from her.
“She has maybe squandered it on holidays or perhaps even had a debt from before she met Mr. Mook that we never knew about.”
Heather Mook had a long history of fraud and deception well before marrying John, which he did not know about.
She manipulated friends out of more than £20,000 and used a fraudulent blank cheque from a neighbour to purchase six BMW cars for a businessman.
Her criminal activities extended to making bold claims, including plans to buy a Scarborough hotel for £2.8 million and invest another £2.2 million in renovations.
Additionally, in 1982, she poisoned her then seven-year-old daughter by lacing her food with antidepressants.