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10. 03. 10. - 14:00

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10. 03. 10. - 14:00

Black Widow Killer: New Victim

Kathryn Quinn

A woman dubbed the Black Widow after murdering her husband with a poisoned curry is facing a new investigation into what police believe could have been her first victim.

Ruthless Dena Thompson, from Collumpton, Devon, was jailed for life for the killing of hubby Julian Webb on his 31st birthday.

Now investigators have revived a police and Interpol search for a Bulgarian man she dated in the 1980s.

Stoyan Kostov apparently disappeared while he was dating Thompson - then going under her maiden name Holmes - in the 1970s and 80s while she was training as a young gymnast in Svishtov, Bulgaria.

A search by British and local police turned up no clues as to where Kostov went.

Now details of the secret search are to emerge in a new Bulgarian media investigation into the disappearance.

Sussex Police Det Chief Insp Martyn Underhill - who investigated the UK killing - said of Kostov: "We cannot rule out the possibility that other partners have been injured in some way."

And one investigator explained this week: "Some sort of incident seems to have happened in Bulgaria but we don't know what it was."

Sex-obsessed Thompson was sentenced to life in jail in 2003 for her second husband's murder over a secret cash stash of 300,000 GBP she had amassed from various swindles and frauds.

She had earlier been acquitted of trying to kill her third husband with a knife and a baseball bat as he lay trussed up on the bathroom floor claiming she'd feared for her life in a bondage session.

Judge Michael Hyam told Thompson she was "utterly ruthless and without any pity", adding: "Nothing can excuse you for the wickedness of what you did."

Miserable plot
Jilted hubby Florin Dan Munteanu, 38, who allegedly tried to kill his wife with a bomb hidden inside a copy of the book 'Les Miserables' has been arrested after it blew up his mother-in-law instead, say police in Petrosan, Romania.

Woman's torso found in basement
The torso of a woman was found at the basement of a block of flats in Botosani, northern Romania.

Football champions stranded in snow
Nine players from Romania's football champions team - who met Manchester United in the Champions League playoffs - have been stranded for over 20 hours on a train, after they had left Galati for Bucharest on Monday, it emerged today (Tues).

New Prime Minister forms his team
The new prime minister (PM) will present his team tonight (Tues), after consultations with the political parties.

Former deputy sentenced to 5 years in jail
Former Romanian Chamber of Deputies member Emilian Cutean, from the Social Democrat Party (PSD) was sentenced definitively to five years in jail by the Court of Appeal in Bucharest today (Tues).

Seven buses caught up in snow
Seven buses with 450 passengers were stuck in the snow for more than seven hours in southeastern Romania, last night (Mon/Tues).

Central bank hikes inflation prognosis
Romania's Central Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu said today (Tues) the central bank had hiked the inflation prognosis from 3 per cent to 3.2 per cent in 2012.

Millions of Euro losses per day due to snowy roads
Losses of as much as 100 million Euros per day are estimated by the Associtation of Importers and Exporters in Romania (ANEIR), due to the weather conditions, as tens of national roads are blocked by snow and blizzards.

AA introduces new flights from Bucharest to Vienna
Austrian Airlines (AA) announced today (Tues) that it would increase the number of flights from Romania in the summer season.

Anti-corruption chief prosecutor's mandate extended
The chief of the National Anti-corruption Department (DNA), Daniel Morar, has his mandate prolonged for another six months the General Prosecutor Codruta Kovesi, said today (Tues).