Woman who murdered her husband’s pregnant mistress secretly released from jail, but says she’s dying of breast cancer
Rena Salmon has been freed from prison after spending 14 years behind bars for shooting her love rival dead in 2002
A WOMAN who killed her wealthy husband’s pregnant mistress has been set free from prison secretly – and says she has a terminal illness.
Ex-Army sharp-shooter Rena Salmon revealed her shock battle with breast cancer after being photographed for the first time following her release on licence.
The mum-of-two, 56, seemed to be in good spirits earlier this week as she moved into a new flat after 14 years behind bars.
She has also been seen walking to the bus stop with the help of a walking stick in recent days.
Salmon murdered her husband’s mistress Lorna Stewart, 36, in September 2002.
The married mum-of-two shot her love rival twice in a beauty salon, and went on to send her estranged husband a text confirming she was responsible.
The spurned wife told a friend before the killing: “I’ve got a gun. I’m not going to kill her.
“I’m just going to hurt her, to shoot her so she can’t have babies.”
Following an autopsy, it was revealed Miss Stewart was two months pregnant with Mr Salmon’s child at the time of her death.
Mrs Salmon was not aware of this at the time of the murder.
The mum-of-two was released from Askham Grange women’s prison in North Yorkshire in September after 14 years behind bars – the recommended time stated at sentence.
This time included the eight months she spent on remand prior to her May 2003 trial.
Speaking publicly following her release, Salmon said: “I had a heart attack last year and I’m having treatment for cancer.
“I do voluntary work… I live on my own, I don’t want people to know where I am.”
She went on to reveal she is suffering from “incurable cancer”, and is taking things “one day at a time”.
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After firmly stating she would not be talking about her time in jail, she said she has breast cancer but can’t undergo chemotherapy because of a heart condition.
Speaking to a women’s rights campaigner from jail in 2004, Salmon said: “I hate what I’ve done, but I’m not the only one responsible for all this pain.
“This is not a crime you could fit into a neat hole, with a classic explanation. I firmly believe that I deserve to be punished for my crime, but I will always deny it was murder.”
Salmon learned of her husband’s affair with Miss Stewart, the pair’s next-door neighbour, in 2002.
The married couple had been friends with Miss Stewart and her husband, Keith Rodrigues, and even shared glasses of Pimm’s together.
Things quickly soured when Salmon found out about her husband’s ultimate betrayal, and came to a head when she marched into Miss Stewart’s place of work with a shotgun to carry out the murder.
During the murder trial, Salmon, who is a former member of the Women’s Royal Army Corps, blamed her actions on her “troubled” childhood.
She denied murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and was eventually found guilty of murder.
Mr Salmon, now 56, has remarried and lives abroad with his wife and their young family.
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