Because the United States Government had a post-war deal to keep air force bases in Britain, GIs were still cutting a dash in East Anglia long after the Second World War, Among those on the US base at Sculthorpe, Norfolk, was big, burly, balding 37-year- old Master Sergeant Marcus Marymont.

Marymont had seen plenty of action in the war, and got a medal for his bravery. Now that peace was here he had time to relax and look around. That’s how he fell in love with Cynthia Taylor, who was married but about to be divorced.

But Sergeant Marymont had two problems. First, he had a wife, Mary Helen, and three children. Second, his wife had discovered steamy letters he had written to Mrs. Taylor, and she was distraught.

Then, in the spring of 1958, Mrs. Marymont became ill. She had recurring gastric trouble which caused her to be admitted several times to hospital. Somehow it always cleared up – until, that is, the afternoon of JUNE 9th, when she was again admitted to hospital. This time, nine hours later, she died.

A young doctor stared thoughtfully at the body. “I’ve got a hunch she’s been poisoned,” he said. His colleagues smiled and shook their heads in disbelief. Undeterred, the young doctor went off to the hospital library and took out a book on toxicology.

When he read the entry on arsenic he knew his hunch was right. And a post-mortem confirmed it. Mary Helen Marymont had a fatal dose of arsenic in her liver.

It didn’t take long for investigators to find out all about the love life of Master Sergeant Marymont. They arrested him at the USAF Base in Burtonwood, Lancashire, just as he was about to have his wife’s coffin loaded on to a military plane for New York.

Marymont was court-martialed at Denham, Bucks, in December, 1958, charged with murder and with adultery. He was found guilty on both counts and sent to Fort Leavenworth Prison, Kansas, for life.