‘Black Widow’ killer reveals life in jail with Myra Hindley and Rose West – and how she turned down proposal from Reggie Kray
THE notorious 'Black Widow' killer has told of her life in jail with evil Myra Hindley and Rose West - and how she turned down a marriage proposal from gangster Reggie Kray.
Linda Calvey, now 71, gained her nickname ever since one police officer with whom she had dealings claimed "every man she has ever been involved with is either in prison or dead".
Calvey's first husband was shot dead by cops during a botched armed robbery.
She married her second in prison after they were both convicted of shooting dead her gangster lover Ronald Cook.
Calvey, who was jailed for life in November 1991, was released in 2008.
She has now penned a book about her life in London's criminal underworld and revealed what it was like being locked up with some Britain's most notorious female serial killers.
NOTORIOUS INMATES
Calvey was holed up in HMP Durham with evil pair Myra Hindley and Rose West.
Hindley - branded the most 'evil woman in Britain' during her 1966 trial - and her infamous partner Ian Brady were jailed for life for the killings of five children.
Brady died of heart disease aged 79 at a secure hospital in May 2017. Hindley died in prison in 2002.
Calvey said the Moors murderer looked more like a "suburban housewife" than a monster and was also petrified of spiders.
She got to know Hindley after she was asked to be her hairdresser.
She told the Sunday Mirror: "She was fussy about her hair as that was the only control she had left.
"She liked it dyed a dark shade of red once a month. And twice a week I had to wash it. She would sit there and chain smoke roll-ups."
Calvey said she didn't talk about her crimes except once when she claimed Brady forced her to do it and resented the mothers of her victims.
Another inmate at HMP Durham was serial killer Rose West.
Her husband, Fred, committed at least 12 murders and was found dead in prison in 1995.
Rose maintained her innocence but was convicted of 10 murders and has been told she will never be released from prison.
Calvey said: "She was so angry at Fred for hanging himself. We all heard the boys chanting next door ‘Fred is dead’ and she was the only one who didn’t know what it meant at the time."
MARRIAGE PROPOSALS
The 71-year-old told how she was proposed to by gang boss Reggie Kray and caged armed robber Charles Bronson.
She said: "Reggie asked me to marry him over the phone. He phoned me twice a week and I used to get bouquets of flowers from him.
"I said it wasn’t good for either of us, really thinking it wouldn’t be good for me as I’d still be sitting there now if I was Mrs Kray."
Reggie died in 2000 aged 66, five years after twin brother Ronnie passed away.
On Bronson, Calvey said: "He proposed to me so many times...but he’s a serial proposer." He affectionately referred to her as 'The Black Rose.'
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After her release from jail Calvey found love again with retired businessman George Ceasar and they married five years later.
But in 2015 he was diagnosed with 12 tumours and died within a month.
Discussing the future she said: "I’d never say never when it comes to love.
"But is anyone brave enough? With my past I can hardly join a dating website. What would I put in the bio?"
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