HE had pulled off an extraordinary crime. He had faked his own death and put himself beyond the long arm of the law.

But within days of wife Anne touching down to live permanently in Panama, John Darwin was planning his reappearance as an amnesia sufferer.

He turned up in London on December 1, 2007 saying the last thing he remembered was a holiday in Norway in 2000 and that he had "hazy recollections" of being in a kayak.

"It was some years later (I am still not sure when) that I turned up at the family home, though I don't know how I got there, " he told police.

"My wife was understandably shocked given that she thought I was dead. I soon realised that monies had been paid out on the basis I was dead. There is every intention of paying back whatever is owed and that is why I recently returned to London to make those arrangements."

Anne told reporters he was tired of being dead and missed seeing his sons – when he was hiding in Seaton Carew, he insisted that Anne put their phonecalls on speaker so he could hear their voices.

"He could have stayed in Panama as John Jones but then he would never have got to see the boys again," she said.

Is it as simple as that, or had he realised that he could never rest in Panama?

Several different theories were put forward at the time:

The couple had a row

IT is possible Mr Darwin turned himself in to police in a bizarre bid for revenge after arguing with his wife over money and their relationship.

Pros: Police sources at the time of Mr Darwin's reappearance said they believed the couple may have had a row while they were in Panama.

It was suggested he gave himself up to spite her because all the property and cash they had in Central America was in her name and he had no claim to it because he was "dead".

Cons: The theory seems unlikely because among emails obtained by police was a seemingly loving one she sent to him as he was flying back to the UK – apparently to see his sons, Mark and Anthony.

It says: "Hope you have a good flight and everything is ok with the family. Did you manage to write the last chapter of your book on the way there? Love you, missing you already xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx."

There was an affair

Pros: Mr Darwin had an affair earlier in their marriage, and struck up a relationship with a woman in the US while he was in hiding after his apparent death.

He, therefore, had a track record for cheating on his wife, and was later revealed that she no longer wanted anything to do with him after he began writing saucy letters to a pen-pal while he was on remand.

Cons: Mrs Darwin appears to have been a loyal wife throughout their near-35 years of marriage, so the chances of an affair on her part seem much less likely.

The email sent while her husband was flying to England would appear to suggest there had been no row about other women or men ruining their relationship.

She had twice before forgiven her husband for straying.

To see his sons

Pros: Mrs Darwin maintained in court that her husband had returned to the UK to see their sons and pay back the money they owed. He claimed the same in his first interview with police following his arrest last December.

In court, trial judge Mr Justice Wilkie said he accepted Mr Darwin had returned to see Mark and Anthony, but did not believe he wanted to pay back the cash.

Cons: The question would remain: "Why then? " Mr and Mrs Darwin had kept up the lie for more than five-and-a-half years and were on the verge of turning their dream of starting a new life abroad into reality.

They had virtually got away with their elaborate con.

Worries about police activity

Pros: Cleveland Police obtained a judge's order in secret in autumn 2007, allowing them to investigate the financial affairs of Mrs Darwin after the case was re-examined when new evidence emerged.

The couple may have got wind of the fact their bank accounts were being looked at.

Cons: Mrs Darwin told the jury during her trial that neither she nor her husband became aware of the investigation.

Visa problems

AFTER the conviction of Mrs Darwin, Sky News published emails it had obtained of correspondence between the couple.

Sky News said that John Darwin had been forced to return to the UK because of planned changes to visa regulations, which would have prevented him from continuing to live in Panama with a tourist visa.

According to Sky, they agreed that John Jones should become John Darwin again after a five-and-a-half-year absence.

Mr Darwin thought he could convince Cleveland Police that he had lost his memory and could rejoin his wife in Panama and live as John and Anne Darwin.

After they were released from prison following fraud convictions, both eventually had their say on the con, and why it had to come to an end.

Anne

Mrs Darwin co-wrote a book in which she set out her reasons for taking part in the fraud. She described being in awe of her husband when they met. She was swept her off her feet and, obviously besotted, she forgave him all – eventually going along with the ill-thought out property development schemes that got her family into such terrible financial trouble.

“Why did I do it?,” she asks in the book, remembering her fateful call to emergency services reporting her husband missing, “It is the question I still ask myself today. I was never motivated by money, that wasn’t the reason. John’s voice was ringing in my ears. ‘Just make the call, make it sound convincing, it’ll be all right.’

"Incredible as it may sound, the only reason I had was my loyalty to John.”

John

IN an interview with the national media after his release from prison, Mr Darwin claimed he simply he woke up one day and felt he could no longer live a lie. He insisted he did not have a row with his wife, and there were no visa problems.

Above all, he said, he wanted to be reunited with his sons.

After flying back from Panama and handing himself in at a London police station, he said: “Eventually they contacted my sons and then they came to see me.

“It was a very emotional moment for me to see them for the first time.

“I can’t remember what I said, but it was a moment I will never forget. I did not dare tell them the truth. It would only have got them into trouble. So I stuck with the story that I could not remember what had happened to me.”