Killer starts online dating in London after spending 38 years in jail for murder

Dempsey Hawkins (pictured), 58, is searching online for a woman to date after spending 38 years in an American jail for murder. He moved to Cambridge following his release in 2017 and started working at a Mexican restaurant in the city

A murderer who strangled his 14-year-old girlfriend before stuffing her lifeless body in an oil drum is searching online for women to date in London - after serving 38 years in an American jail. 

Dempsey Hawkins, 58, who was deported back to Britain following his time in jail, has been approaching women on the social networking site Meetup.com.

One woman who was contacted by Hawkins under the alias Dempsey Louis, claims he was 'terribly forward' and did not mention his past conviction at all.  

Hawkins had been refused parole nine times before his release in 2017 but with help from campaigners secured his freedom on the ruling that he was shipped back to England.

Now, one year after his arrival in the country private messages have revealed his new search for women.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, a woman contacted by Hawkins said he was 'terribly forward' in an exchange and 'gave his number immediately'.

She said: 'I thought it was an unusual name and he said he lived in Cambridge, so I googled him and there was a reference to the murderer Dempsey Hawkins. 

'I compared their photographs and it was obviously the same man. I was horrified.'

Hawkins strangled 14-year-old Susan Jacobson (pictured) to death on Staten Island, New York, in May 1976. Then aged 16, he also stuffed her lifeless body in an oil drum. It wasn't until two years after the murder that he was caught

The woman, who is anonymous in the report, contacted police after finding out about his past. 

She said: 'I hope he’s a contributing member of society but I think it’s important other females and males in his dating network know his face.' 

When contacted by the Evening Standard, Hawkins said he can understand why people find the conviction concerning.  

But he claimed his messages were not inappropriate, saying: 'I just asked would they like to go on a date. ‘No?’ OK then, bye. That’s it.'   

London-born Hawkins, then aged 16, killed beau Susan Jacobson on Staten Island, New York, in May 1976. 

Dempsey Hawkins (pictured right during his arrest in 1978) did not confess to the killing until 20 years after the murder. During a phone interview from behind bars in 2011, he later admitted: 'With the arm of the shirt, I put it around her neck, as if to kiss her, and I just started squeezing it'

Two years later, he was caught and sentenced to 22 years in prison. But It would be 20 years until he finally confessed to killing his victim.      

Hawkins had been dating Susan for about a year at the time of the attack, but she had been ordered to break the relationship off by her parents after she was forced to have an abortion.

Her boyfriend could not dare to think of Susan being with someone else and decided that if he couldn't have her, no one else could either.

During a phone interview from behind bars in 2011, he later admitted: 'It was a warm day.

'With the arm of the shirt, I put it around her neck, as if to kiss her, and I just started squeezing it. Her hands went up to the shirt and I just looked away and just kept squeezing the shirt.'

When friends and family searched for the missing teen, Hawkins joined the party and misled loved ones every time they got close to the scene of her death.

When Dempsey moved to Cambridge in 2017 following his deportation from the USA he started work at a Mexican restaurant (pictured) in the city 

Susan's sister Janice, told the New York Times, that he would often try and suggest she had fled to another state, like Florida or Chicago.

She recalled: 'Every time we got close, he would come up with a story to take us to a different location.'

Dempsey later moved to live with his father on an United States Air Force base in Joppa, Illinois and carried on with his high school education - as if nothing had happened.  

However, he was arrested after a young boy found what he thought were 'dog bones' in a barrel.

After he was sentenced, it would be years until Dempsey finally admitted in a letter to Susan's family: 'I’m terribly sorry for what I’ve done, and I have been for a long time.'

Dempsey is now enjoying a new life in Cambridge and working at a Mexican restaurant in the city. 

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