The wife of a man who convinced her he was working for the CIA has revealed the moment her world ‘collapsed’ when another of his wives contacted her.
Bigamist William Allen Jordan left a trail of victims in multiple countries when he conned women into having relationships with him and fathering children.
Mary Turner Thompson was with the US-born con man for six years before discovering the extent of his deception, which included marrying two other people and having thirteen children with a total of six women.
In a new program she recalls the moment one of his other victims called her out of the blue to say she was ‘the other Mrs. Jordan’ and warn her about him.
The three-part series unravels the life of Jordan, who was jailed for his crimes in 2014, and the impact he had on Ms Thompson, as well as the search for the convicted sex offender.
Speaking to documentary makers, Mary Turner Thompson revealed the moment her world ‘collapsed’ after she told the truth about her husband
Jordan had two children with Mary Turner Thompson before the extent of his cheating came to light
Ms Thompson said she was “immediately attracted” to Jordan and that months later he told her he was a spy for the CIA.
Speaking on ‘The Other Mrs Jordan – Catching the Ultimate Conman’, which airs next week on ITVx, Mrs Thompson claims she was taken by the ‘strong bond’ she had with Jordan after meeting him.
“He was tall, dark and handsome and it was immediately attractive,” she said, before revealing that three months into their relationship he claimed he was acting as a “spy” for the CIA.
She said: ‘There are people sitting at home now thinking, ‘This could never happen to me, I would never be so stupid or gullible as to believe someone like that.’ Don’t ever think it can’t happen to you.’
The Edinburgh native recalled spending time away from her, once claiming he was in Palestine while she was ‘pregnant and struggling financially’.
She added that the claims about his life as a secret agent “terrified” her, but that she was willing to put up with it because they were committed to each other as husband and wife.
But then her life changed when another woman claiming to be Jordan’s wife contacted her out of the blue in 2006.
A clip from the documentary shows the moment Mrs. Thompson’s world was turned upside down, when a woman called to ask, “Are you Mary Turner Thompson?”
The mother-of-two replied that she was, prompting the other to ask: “Are you Mrs. Jordan too?”
When she confirmed she was married to Jordan, the other woman shockingly said, “I’m the other Mrs. Jordan.”
Ms Thompson said the revelation shocked her to her core and her “reality just collapsed”.
She added that while Jordan “messed with the wrong woman when he messed with me,” people wondered, “How do you know the person sitting next to you right now isn’t a psychopath?”
During their relationship, Jordan cheated her out of hundreds of thousands of pounds and also abused and traumatized her.
In 2006, Jordan pleaded guilty to bigamy, obtaining money by deception, failing to register as a sex offender and possessing a stun gun. H
He served two and a half years in prison before being deported to the United States, where he began defrauding women again.
In 2014 he was caught by the police again. One of the women he defrauded, Mischele Lewis, turned the tables by luring him to a parking lot in a pre-arranged sting.
Jordan was arrested and charged with assault, theft by deception and impersonating law enforcement, according to the Burlington County, New Jersey, district attorney’s office. In 2014 he was sentenced to three years in prison.
In the documentary, filmmakers revealed that he had not been seen since 2019 as they searched for him.
Jordan pictured with another of his wives, Mischele Lewis, who made him an informant after discovering his deception
Jordan was arrested in the United States in 2014 after he was again caught defrauding women
Mary Turner Thompson wrote a book in 2020 revealing the true extent of Jordan’s lies to her and the impact it had on her family
Ms Thompson wrote a book in 2020 about the traumatizing experience of being with Thompson, and her discovery of his lies.
She revealed that Jordan had told her he was infertile and that Eilidh was a ‘miracle child’, but it turned out he had had several children with other women over the course of their relationship.
“His wife and the nanny had both been pregnant,” Mary added. “We talked and compared notes for twelve hours.”
The mother-of-two discovered that Jordan had used pregnancy as a way to manipulate women, saying: “You’re much more likely to stay with the father of your children, or stay in contact with the father of your children, than if it’s a boyfriend, he’s actively getting women pregnant to get the money out of them.”
Eilidh Turner Thompson, the daughter of the con artist and Mrs Thompson, previously said her father was ‘so fun’, ‘caring’ and ‘just the right amount of strict’ when she was growing up.
Eilidh appeared alongside her mother on This Morning in 2020 and admitted she had only seen her father as the perfect parent.
She said: ‘He was so much fun, he was also caring, he was strict, but the right amount of strict that a father should be. He was the perfect father if you could bring together all the values that a father should have or should be.
“It was really shocking that such a kind, wonderfully caring man…” she continued, her voice breaking.
Hayley was on the set of This Morning with her mother Mary Turner Thomson (left) where they discussed their lives with William Allen Jordan
When asked by Eamon Holmes what she would say to her father: that she could see him, the teenager revealed that she did not want to talk to her father anymore.
“I don’t think I would say anything, I don’t think there’s anything I could say that would do anything or change anything in his mind,” Eilidh continued.
‘He has a personality disorder, it’s not personal. It took me a while to figure it out, but it’s nothing personal.”
Mary and Jordan, who met online in 2000, were together for years before his secret past was revealed in 2006, when Eilidh was six years old.
‘The Other Mrs Jordan – Catching the Ultimate Conman’ is available from October 26 as part of the Swindles & Cons Season on ITVX