THIS Morning fans were left horrified at a guest who married her double murderer prison pen pal.
Guest Naomi joined co-stars Mollie King and Craig Doyle on Thursday to discuss her very unconventional love story.
This Morning guest Naomi married her prison pen pal
Mollie King and Craig Doyle were stunned her her unconventional love story
Naomi, 27, from Manchester, signed up for a prisoner pen pal service when her counselling course was cut short during the pandemic, and in June 2020, she started writing to a man in Michigan.
The man in question is Victor Oquendo, a 31-year-old inmate who is 11 years into a 24-year sentence for double homicide.
Naomi married Victor via zoom despite never having met him.
Mollie asked her if she had any reservations speaking to a convict, Naomi said: “I didn’t actually look at his crime when I first wrote to him, I thought if he wanted to tell me then he would tell me and he did tell me two weeks into our relationship.
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“He said he was 18 -years-old and he was put into a position where it was killed or be killed.”
She added: “I was a bit worried he was pulling the wool over my eyes and glamorising something that did not happen and it was a bit more premeditated. I did my research and he was happy to share everything with me.
“After talking to him for an extended amount of time, I realise he was just a child in a bad position, and he had grown up in the most horrendous conditions and I’m not sure what I would have done, let alone an 18-year-old, it’s something that I’ve learnt to accept.”
She revealed that it turned romantic “very quickly”, saying that she got “jealous” when she heard other women had been writing to him asking for a relationship.
After 10 days the pair admitted their feelings to each other on a phone call and five days later he proposed to Naomi.
“We can have video visits, he can have two of those a month, 20mins each. We were speaking nine months and then they introduced these video visits. I thought what if he catfished me,” she continued.
Last month she went to Michigan to meet him for the first time, saying it was an “uncomfortable” scenario, but said they were “relaxed” when they finally met.
Naomi said she did not tell her close friends or family about the relationship, saying she was “worried” she’d be judged.
“I’m 27 and he has 12 years left and what parent wants their child to wait for 12 years,” she explained.
Craig then asked the personal question about intimacy, with Naomi revealing that she’ll have to wait 12 years to consummate the marriage.
She added: “It’s so hard to judge someone in his position as I don’t know what it’s like to grow up in foster care with drug addicts and being on the streets and having nowhere to turn.
“The fact that he’s still so kind and loving and caring even though he has every reason to be bitter, just says a lot about his character.”
However, viewers did not see the romantic side to Naomi’s story.
One angry viewer wrote: “I’m sure his two victims families are delighted for you both.
Another fumed: “This silly girl just wants attention and a reality TV show, all that acting on her TikTok, she needs an Oscar for that. #ThisMorning”
A third said: “Just why are you interviewing the woman who married her prison pen pal? #ThisMorning”
“#ThisMorning What a strange woman, there are so many people to date but she’s gone for a double murder from America?!” another chimed in.
Victor Oquendo is 11 years into a 24-year sentence for double homicide
Naomi said she’ll have to wait 12 years to consummate the marriage
