Twisted romance: 'We all fell in love with serial killers'

It is every woman’s worst nightmare – to fall in love then discover the object of your affections is a monster.

Some crimes are so appalling you might expect those who commit them to be reclusive creeps. But they can often come over as deceptively charming and even romantic – to begin with.

For many women the warning signs about their true nature come all too late.

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Murderers who evade justice long enough to be classified as a serial killer are often masters of deception. Their best skill is taking in those closest to them.

These women all fell in love, only for evil to grow under their very noses…

Primrose Shipman: Lived with Dr Death Harold Shipman for 33 years

WITH an estimated 250 murders, Harold Shipman is the UK's most prolific serial killer. It was so easy for him because his patients simply trusted him as he injected them with lethal doses of drugs.

Yet one woman stood by him until the very end - his wife of 40 years, Primrose.

Primrose was 16 and working as a window dresser when she met medical student Shipman at a bus stop in 1965. They married and had four children.

She was a supportive wife, helping Shipman through a pethidine addiction and driving him on his rounds when he was prone to blackouts.

Although concerns had been raised about the number of deaths in his care, Shipman's crimes were uncovered only after he forged a £386,000 will of one of his victims, Kathleen Grundy, 81, in 1998.

In January 2000 he was convicted of murdering 15 of his patients but an official report later concluded he killed between 215 and 260 people between 1975 and 1998.

Yet Primrose still believed he was innocent and froze out any friends and family who thought he was guilty. Witnesses said they held hands and chatted happily during her visits, which were as often as she could.

Shipman hanged himself in Wakefield prison in January 2004. It is thought he did it before his 60th birthday so she would receive the maximum £100,000 payment on his pension.

Pamela Wright: Lived with Suffolk Strangler Steve for six years

IT was 2006 and the town of Ipswich was gripped with terror after five women had been raped and murdered at the hands of the Suffolk Strangler.

The killer was still at large.

As Pamela Wright watched the shocking TV reports in her living room, she had no clue that her partner Steve - perched on the same sofa - was the wanted man.

The couple met in 2000, when both worked in a bingo hall.

Pamela described Steve, ten years her junior, as "very charming" with a "dry sense of humour".

Within weeks of their first kiss they moved in together and quickly settled into cosy domesticity, spending their evenings happily watching soaps with their dinners on their knees.

Steve treated his girlfriend well, although he was an old-fashioned type, who expected home-cooked meals and rarely expressed his deeper feelings.

In 2003 he kindly offered to start driving Pamela to her night shifts at a call centre.

But little did she know that once he'd dropped her off he drove straight to Ipswich's red light district.

Once there, Wright picked up a prostitute and brought her back to their home for sex.

It was a habit that led to five murders.

Pamela recalls that, although it was the talk of the town, Steve wouldn't be drawn into conversation about the killings.

She said: "That's not surprising now is it? The Suffolk Strangler was my Steve. I was living with a serial killer and I know people will think I'm totally stupid but I simply didn't have a clue."

In February 2008 Steve was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of five women.

Following the trial, Pamela swore she wanted nothing more to do with Steve but, ten months on, she had a change of heart and started telling people he was innocent.

"I will stand by him," she said. "I still love him and he loves me."

Sonia Sutcliffe: Lived with the Yorkshire Ripper for four years

LIKE Primrose Shipman, Sonia Sutcliffe's bond with her killer husband endured. Despite divorcing her murderous ex and re-marrying, she still refuses to leave the home she shared with him and has kept in contact with the man who murdered 13 women.

Sonia was wooed by Sutcliffe at a pub disco when she was an awkward 16-year-old.

Four years older than her, he had a calming influence on the teenager who had received treatment for schizophrenia.

But it was said Sonia became the dominant force in their relationship, often silencing him with a hissed: "Peter!" They married in 1974, a year before his first killing. Sutcliffe then evaded police for seven years until he was finally arrested in 1981.

When Sonia visited him at the police station he reportedly told her: "It's me. I'm the Yorkshire Ripper. I killed all those women."

Sutcliffe got 20 life terms in 1981 for murdering 13 and trying to kill seven more.

But Sonia stayed married to him for 13 years after he was jailed. She eventually divorced him in 1994 and married Michael Woodward three years later.

But she continued to visit her ex in prison. She explained: "I feel compassion for him."

Her sister has commented: "He's the only man in the world for her and always will be."

It was reported Sutcliffe, 73, created an Elvis Presley statue for her during one of his weekly ceramic sessions.

Last year Sutcliffe was said to be "furious" that Sonia hadn't visited him for two years and blames her new husband.

The Ripper complained: "I have been ringing Sonia but Michael tells her off if I speak to her or leave messages.

"He acts like a spoilt brat and should get over his jealousy and accept we are friends."