Police hunt man suspected of drugging his two wives with sedatives in incidents four years apart

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

A man is suspected of drugging his two wives with strong sedatives in incidents four years apart.

Police want to question Malcolm Webster, 48, about two car crashes involving both his first and then his second wife.

The first, in Scotland in 1994, killed his first wife Claire. The second, four years later in New Zealand, left his second wife Felicity badly injured.

Yesterday it was revealed both women had traces of the same powerful anti-epileptic drug in their bodies at the times of the accidents.

Webster, a former NHS manager, is a wanted man in New Zealand. Now police in Britain have reopened their investigation of the first crash.

Webster, from Guildford in Surrey, had been married to his first wife, Claire, a nurse, for just eight months before she died in May 1994. He was driving their

4x4 through rural Aberdeenshire when it careered off the road, hit a tree and burst into flames. Webster got out alive but his 32-year-old wife was trapped and later died.

Police treated the crash as an accident and Webster collected his wife's £200,000 life-insurance payout. He then moved to Saudi Arabia, where he met New Zealand-born Felicity Drumm.

By 1997 the couple had married and moved to Felicity's home town of Auckland.

Less than a year later Webster was involved in another serious car crash. Again he was driving and again it happened in a remote spot.

This time, however, his wife survived. She was later found to have a high concentration of a strong sedative in her system and Webster fled the country, eventually moving to Oban in Scotland.

Prompted by New Zealand detectives, Scottish police reopened their investigation into the first crash late last year.

They checked samples from the original post mortem examination of Claire's body and found the same sedative that was present in Felicity.

New Zealand police confirmed they still have an outstanding warrant for Webster's arrest on four charges, including ' disabling or stupefying his wife'.

Grampian police said they were reviewing the circumstances of the 1994 accident.