SERIAL BIGAMIST
The Other Mrs Jordan: Who is William Jordan and where is he now?
The monster's crimes led to the creation of a new law — 'sexual assault by fraud'
WILLIAM Jordan seemed like "a real-life superhero" to Mary Turner Thomson, sweeping her off her feet with tales of intrigue and espionage before they wed and had kids.
The fantasy came crashing down when she received a call from another of his wives — not only was he unfaithful, but also a convicted sex offender, conman and career criminal.
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Who is William Jordan?
William Jordan is a serial bigamist and fraudster, convicted sex offender and career criminal, with numerous aliases and back stories.
After meeting her on a dating site in 2000, he told Mary Turner Thompson he was an American CIA agent — his work taking him around the globe on dangerous, top-secret missions.
Mary believed him to be a devoted husband and dad – at least when he wasn’t away for months at a time for his 'work'.
In the documentary about the shocking case, The Other Mrs Jordan – Catching The Ultimate Conman, Mary said she initially thought Jordan was “the perfect guy” and “a real-life superhero”.
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Who is Mary Turner Thomson?
Mary is an author from Edinburgh, Scotland.
When Mary first met Jordan in 2000, she was a 35-year-old single mum to her daughter Robyn, then aged one.
Mary said: “It was very important that any man I dated would be a positive influence in my daughter’s life, be reliable and sincere.
“Will, who was originally from New Jersey but living in Edinburgh, was intelligent, attentive and caring – everything I’d been looking for in a relationship.”
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But before long his behaviour began to change.
Mary explained: “He’d cancel plans at the last minute, or stand me up. Then he’d be deeply apologetic and promise it would never happen again.
“When he didn’t show up for a trip we’d planned to London in late December 2000, I resolved to finish it with him.
“His response was to turn up on my doorstep at 7am the next morning and propose.
Bigamist's two wives reveal he lied about having terminal cancer during chat on This Morning
"I said ‘no’, as it was far too soon, but I also agreed not to end the relationship, because his remorse was so convincing.
“Back then, vocabulary like ‘love-bombing’ and ‘gaslighting’ weren’t in use the way they are now, but he was deploying psychological techniques to leave me feeling like I didn’t know where I stood.”
In April 2001, Jordan made a shocking 'confession'.
Mary remembered: “He’d originally told me he worked in high-level cyber security for banks and the authorities, which involved a lot of travel within the UK,”
“But then he revealed he was actually a CIA agent, having been recruited out of university, and travelled the world, often to dangerous locations.
I wouldn’t have two of my three wonderful children – even though Eilidh and Zach don’t have a relationship with their father – so I can’t regret meeting him, and I’m not to blame for what he did. Men like Jordan are professionals at what they do
Mary Turner Thomson
“I didn’t know what to think. But he wasn’t asking me for anything, other than my belief, and what he said he was doing was sort of similar to what I thought he did, so eventually I accepted what he was telling me.”
Containing his fabricated backstory, Jordan swore Mary to secrecy about his work.
She said this meant "I could never complain if he was away for weeks or cancelled a date last minute, as he had no choice".
Two months later, Mary learned she was pregnant, which came as a big surprise as Jordan told her he’d been left infertile by childhood mumps.
“I was stunned, but delighted, as was he,” Mary said, although she spent most of her pregnancy alone, after Jordan said he was sent to the Middle East on a mission.
“He was away for months, and called sporadically, often in the middle of the night from a satellite phone, telling me about the bodies of dead children he’d seen and buildings reduced to rubble.
“I was in a state of constant fear for him, while juggling my job as a business advisor with a two year old and a pregnancy.
"Despite repeatedly reassuring me he’d make it back in time for the birth in February 2002, he didn’t. My mum was with me instead.
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"He didn’t meet our daughter Eilidh... until she was three months old.”
Jordan and Mary married in an Edinburgh registry office in October 20001.
Mary's parents were present, but none of Jordan's family were, as he explained that they couldn’t travel from the US.
“I felt so happy that day. We’d married, and Will had decided to leave his CIA role and set up an IT business.
"He’d returned from the Middle East a broken man and said his work wasn’t making a difference to humanity.
“I really believed that day that we were beginning a new, more ‘normal’ chapter,” says Mary.
The couple led a relatively normal life for the next two years, aside from Jordan being away for periods of time, working as an IT contractor around the UK – which turned out to be true.
Mary refuses to feel embarrassed about what happened and has tried to look at the positives.
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She said: “I wouldn’t have two of my three wonderful children – even though Eilidh and Zach don’t have a relationship with their father – so I can’t regret meeting him, and I’m not to blame for what he did. Men like Jordan are professionals at what they do."
In the summer of 2004, Mary discovered she was pregnant again — but her joy soon turned to terror.
“Jordan told me that dangerous men, who knew him from his time in the CIA, had come after him and we needed to pay them off to protect me and the children.
"I was terrified. He even trained me how to use a taser in case they broke into the house. I barely slept for months, I was so stressed and fearful.”
Over the next year, Mary estimates she gave him £198,000 from the proceeds of the sale of a flat she owned, as well as her savings and salary, which she understood was being paid to these 'dangerous men'.
“It was £10k here, £3k there, then another £5k… Even if he was away, he’d call or email to say we needed to pay more or our kids would be killed.
“People always think they wouldn’t fall for a scam like this, but I was an intelligent, professional woman.
"I believed it wholeheartedly, because Jordan was a master of deception and had spent years grooming me before asking me for anything.”
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Their son Zach was born in April 2005 – and yet again Jordan missed the birth.
“By then, he was explaining his periods away by saying he was hiding from these men, or was working to earn money. I couldn’t confide in anyone, as he’d warned me it had to be kept secret.”
In 2007 Mary published The Bigamist, a book based on her experiences.
How was William Jordan caught?
Mary uncovered Jordan's web of lies after answering her phone one day in April 2006.
“Are you Mrs Jordan?” said the voice on the other end. “I’m the other Mrs Jordan.”
Mary said: “After that call, I realised that the man I’d loved for six years, who I’d married and had two children with, didn’t exist. It was my rock bottom.”
“It had all been a lie. Nothing, from the very first words he’d ever written to me, was true,” says Mary.
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“The woman at the end of the phone told me she’d been married to Will for 14 years and they had five children.
"She said he’d also fathered two children with their nanny. They had lived in Scotland, before relocating to the south of England.
“He’d told her he was a spy for the Ministry of Defence, which was why he was away so much.
"She’d found my number in one of his notebooks, and when she’d asked about it, he’d claimed it was a work number she was never to call. But she was suspicious, and did.
“My reality was crumbling around me as she spoke, but I was strangely relieved, as I realised there were no dangerous men coming for us.
"My money was gone and my marriage was a sham – but at least the kids and I were safe.”
Following the call, Mary met with the other Mrs Jordan, who showed her evidence such as paperwork and photos confirming her claims.
However, this was by no means the end of Jordan’s destructive impact on Mary’s life.
She said: "It transpired that he’d been engaged to a woman he employed – he’d been taking her salary and borrowing money from her – then he’d used her credit card fraudulently.
Mary called the police, who discovered he had been married twice and charged him with bigamy and possession of a taser.
“The worst revelation was that he was a convicted sex offender, having pleaded guilty to sexual offences against a girl under 13 in 1997, and had served seven months in jail. I felt physically sick.”
Fortunately, Mary’s children were not sexually assaulted by Jordan.
Jordan, who was away when his two wives had met up, used texts and calls to try to persuade Mary not to end their marriage.
He said there was an explanation for everything, but she refused to believe him and turned down his requests to meet.
“I didn’t want to get sucked back in,” she said. “By then I knew how controlling and persuasive he was.”
Where is William Jordan now?
In late 2006, at Oxford Crown Court, Jordan pleaded guilty to fraud, bigamy, possessing a stun gun illegally and failing to register his address – legally required due to his 1997 conviction – and was jailed for five years.
In court Judge Thomas Corrie told Jordan: "You are a conman... and a bigamist. You are an inveterate exploiter of vulnerable women, not just financially, but also emotionally."
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Outside court, Mary was approached by a woman who told her she too had a child with Jordan.
“By now, I’d established that in 2005 he had seven relationships on the go, and 10 kids. I resolved I’d do whatever I could to spread the word about who he really was to protect others.”
Jordan was released early from jail in 2009 and deported to the US where, Mary says, he simply returned to his old ways.
In early 2023, he was arrested again and charged with fraud, after stealing from a New York restaurant owner.
According to reports, in February 2024 Jordan was sentenced to three years in prison for charges of theft by deception and impersonating a government official.
Mischele Lewis, 37, a resident of Florence, South Carolina, met Jordan on a dating website in January 2013.
He claimed he was a British government official, but the scam artist who later pleaded guilty to defrauding her.
Jordan had tricked her into paying $5,000 for what he claimed was a security clearance.
The ordeal inspired Assemblyman Troy Singleton to introduce a bill creating the crime of "sexual assault by fraud”.
This is defined as "an act of sexual penetration to which a person has given consent because the actor has misrepresented the purpose of the act or has represented he is someone he is not”.
How can I watch The Other Mrs Jordan?
Jordan’s exploits and the trail of destruction left in his wake are the subject of a three-part documentary miniseries.
The Other Mrs Jordan – Catching The Ultimate Conman is being broadcast on ITV1 on Sunday, August 11 at 10.15pm.
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It is also available on ITVX.
The show first dropped on the streaming platform in October 2023.
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