And it’s about to irrevocably alter how you think about the concept of type, because while romantic punters have a type, so too do con artists.
Samantha Cookes’ chosen victims tended to be extremely vulnerable people, usually mothers with small children, often with a life-altering disability.
The word "vulnerable" is heard on repeat throughout this podcast.
If you’re not familiar with the premise of this series, then open a new tab and start streaming, because you’re not certified to read on.
But in brief, a terminally ill woman named Carrie Jade asked the producers to make a documentary about the experimental surgery she was undergoing for Huntington’s disease.
The crew followed her life for a year as she battled this genetic disease while balancing a burgeoning writing career and planning her wedding.
But, suddenly she stopped responding. Then, the producers got a Google notification about a con artist…
After some serious digging and mental gymnastics, they realised they were the latest victims of a prolific con artist called Samantha Cookes, also known as Lucy Hart, also known as Lucy Fitzwilliam, and well the list goes on and on.
Off the bat, I apologise for the plethora of aliases you are going to need to keep track of…but if you’re undeterred, read on or save some time and start streaming episode three above.
Lucy Hart
By the conclusion of Episode Two, Samantha had lost her three children. Her daughter Martha died tragically, and later, her other two children were removed from her care.
Those children were gone, but she was intent on filling their absence… In early 2014, Samantha moved to Tullamore.
After defrauding a hotel of €700 and, in a subsequent court case, blaming her unpaid bills on "a medical condition which interfered with her acting properly" she moved on to her next scheme. It is important to note that she left all her possessions behind when she abruptly checked out.
Another Tullamore hotel pops up in the story when Samantha went there to be interviewed by an Englishwoman and her husband who wanted to hire an au pair. The pair had three children aged 2, 5 and 10, and a teenage son.
Samantha soon moved in with the family. She told them she was the daughter of a millionaire, an avid churchgoer, and her name was "Lucy Hart". She left out the fact she was a pathological liar deemed unfit to care for her own children.
The mother, Layla, told the podcast she thought she was hiring a Mary Poppins-like figure, but soon cracks appeared in "Lucy’s" story…
Layla’s son disliked the new au pair, and when the couple googled the various businesses Samantha, (Lucy) claimed her family owned, things didn’t add up.
Eventually, they confronted their new nanny… but to find out how that exchange went, you have to hit play.
But let’s just say that the second our protagonist spotted a point of vulnerability within the family, she pounced.
We needed her. There was literally just me and my husband. The two of us were working full time, so it was a case of we needed somebody to take the kids to school and be there for when they got home
- Layla, victim of Samantha Cookes
The Kildare House
The family were renting their home and under great financial strain. So, naturally, their au pair offered to help. Samantha (Lucy) told Layla her church had a house in Maynooth, Co Kildare, which the family could rent for a fraction of their current price. She showed them where the house was, and everything was put into motion… until they asked to see inside.
While driving past a house Samantha (Lucy) told them was the rental property, Layla suggested they pay an impromptu visit.
Suddenly, the au pair became unwell and asked to go buy a drink at Tesco. She went into the shop with two of the couple’s children and soon collapsed.
But at this point, Layla was growing suspicious.
However, their God-loving nanny soon had a similar solution to the family's car troubles. A member of her "congregation" had a cheap car for sale, so the household scrapped their car. Again, this was complete fiction.
One day, Samantha (Lucy) just disappeared. That is until she sent them a long letter with complaints about their children…But the letter wasn’t the most shocking part of Samantha’s (Lucy) exit. The real shock came when the family had to enter their former nanny's room.
My blood just ran cold, literally cold. And I just went - who the f*** have we had working for us
- Layla, victim of Samantha Cookes
Meet Lucy Fitzwilliams
Samantha kept a low profile until 2016. Then, she resurfaced at the Dún Laoghaire Evangelical church in Dublin.
She held onto the alias of Lucy, but this time, she was Lucy Fitzwilliams, not Hart. Carol Burrell is part of the Evangelical Church’s women's group, she spoke about befriending Samantha (Lucy).
Carol told the podcast that her new friend said she had lived in the United Arab Emirates, where her husband and child had died within a week of each other.
Samantha also told Carol that she minded three children in Dalkey. Oh, and she was writing a book that was to be sold in Tesco.
According to Carol’s daughter Sharon, our protagonist honed in on the most vulnerable woman in the group who had suffered a recent tragedy. She worked to become close to this woman.
Sharon said she seemed to feed off of being in control and manipulating people. Her modus operandi tends to consist of singling out people impacted by tragedy and using it to worm her way into their lives.
It was through attending the church in Dún Laoghaire that Samantha met a local hairdresser called Lorraine. Lorraine was not vulnerable like her other victims, but she was well-connected and thus invaluable to Samantha.
She offered her a path into the lives of many vulnerable women, many of whom had children with special needs.
Samantha (Lucy) told Lorraine she wanted to involve her in the board of a women’s refuge she was establishing. She told Lorraine that she was the daughter of a millionaire, an expert in child therapy and was soon to be married (to another imaginary fiancé).
Lorraine started to recommend Samantha’s (Lucy) services to friends with children with additional needs…
She was opening this women's refuge. I said that I would by all means help as much as I could with doing maybe manicures, pedicures, stuff like that. She said, no no I’d really like you on board as a paid person as a job
- Lorraine, victim of Samantha Cookes
Lapland
Samantha developed a habit of inserting herself into people’s lives through their children.
Some of her victims spoke to the podcast about their experiences with the con artist. Lynn is a single mother of two daughters. Her youngest daughter Daisy, was born with a rare genetic disorder that impacted her brain development.
Daisy had difficulty breathing and had to use a ventilator. She was two years old when Samantha (Lucy) waltzed into her life.
Samantha quickly bonded with the young family by telling Lynn about the women’s refuge she was establishing. Lynn had availed of a refuge previously, so an instant bond was formed.
Then Samantha (Lucy) invited Lynn, her mother and her daughter on a subsidised trip to Lapland. Lynn wanted to make her older child feel special because she missed out on so much being the sibling of a sick child.
It was like a dream come true, a dream Samantha was selling to other vulnerable families. But of course this proposal was entirely fake.
Lorraine, the hairdresser, soon recommended Samantha's (Lucy's) services as an occupational therapist to a local woman Hilary.
Hillery’s son Rhys has additional needs. To be precise, he has ADHD, ADD, ODD and SPD. Rhys is prone to "meltdowns," and at this time, his mother was struggling to cope.
The family were being offered no support from the HSE, and so in desperation, hired Samantha (Lucy)
Although Hillery had never met an occupational therapist before, she instantly knew something was off with Samantha's (Lucy's) approach…
It’s a long, intense story, so let’s save some time, and you can press play. Be warned it involves a "box of tricks", screaming and a Luas line.
It didn’t take long for Hillery to grow weary of Samantha's (Lucy's) incompetence. So, what better way to deal with her new client's worries than to invite the family on a once-in-a-lifetime discount trip to Lapland, being organised by her Church and (imaginary) fiancé?
When you have a sick child and other children, you do everything in your power to try and make life for the sibling a little bit easier because they miss out on everything. And as a single parent, she has missed out on so much in life. So when somebody comes to you with a proposal, and with something that's achievable, you grab it with both hands.
- Lynn McDonald, victim of Samantha Cookes
Mistaken Identity
Samantha (Lucy) extended an invitation to join her fantastical Lapland trip to the friends and family members of her new confidants.
However, her "generosity" or rather greed would be her downfall. A friend of Hillery’s gathered together a group of 20-30 people eager to join the party. She collected about €20,000 to fund the trip, but before paying up she needed a charity number…
That’s right our central character had told her new friends she was applying for charity status.
It was at this point that Samantha (Lucy) went radio silent. That is until Hillery got a call from her son’s occupational therapist to say she had collapsed in a bookshop in Dún Laoghaire. She begged Hillery to come to St. Vincent’s hospital to collect her, but when she arrived there was nobody under the name Lucy…
When Hillery described the circumstances of the accident, a nurse directed her to a cubicle, nothing could have prepared her for what happened next…
My friend had been trying to ring her and couldn’t get in touch with her, and she said Hilary, I’ve got this 20 grand cheque I can’t get in touch with Lucy. What am I going to do? She said all I need is that charity number before I had over this cheque
- Hillery, Victim of Samantha Cookes
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