Reggie Kray: Biography, Crimes, Prison Sentence, and Death

Most people know the Kray twins as the most feared gangsters in London’s East End. But behind the sharp suits and nightclub glamour, Reggie Kray’s life tells a quieter, more tragic story — one about a young woman’s suicide, decades behind bars, and a final release that came too late.

Born: 24 October 1933 ·
Died: 1 October 2000 ·
Years in prison: 32 ·
Murders convicted of: 1 (Jack McVitie) ·
Twin brother: Ronnie Kray ·
Spouse(s): Frances Shea (m. 1965–1967), Roberta Jones (m. 1997)

Seven key facts about Reggie Kray, one pattern: the official record is narrower than the legend.

What happened to Reggie Kray after Frances died?

Frances Shea’s suicide

Frances Shea married Reggie Kray in 1965. She was just 23 when she died two years later, on 7 June 1967, from a barbiturate overdose at her brother’s flat in Hackney, according to Wikipedia. The coroner recorded a suicide verdict. Some later reports, including a Daily Express piece, cite claims from associates that she was actually murdered, though no official investigation has supported that. A Daily Star report added that she had reportedly tried to annul the marriage on grounds of non-consummation.

Reggie’s subsequent depression

Those close to Reggie said Frances’s death broke something in him. Friends and biographers describe a deep depression that lasted years. He reportedly blamed himself and grew more volatile, mixing his grief with the pressure of the gangland life that had consumed both brothers.

Marriage to Roberta Jones

In 1997, while serving a life sentence, Reggie married Roberta Jones, a woman 30 years his junior who had campaigned for his release. The wedding took place inside prison, and Roberta became a fixture in his final years. She accompanied him after his release and was with him when he died. The marriage gave his last years a domestic anchor, but by then he was already dying of bladder cancer.

The pattern: Reggie’s personal life was wrecked not by a bullet but by a pill bottle and a coroner’s verdict. The Frances Shea story is the one chapter of his life that no amount of gangster mystique can soften.

How many years did Reggie Kray serve?

Trial and conviction

Reggie and Ronnie were arrested on 8 May 1968, though one source records the date as 9 May 1968, a one-day discrepancy noted by Crime+Investigation UK. They were convicted on 8 March 1969 for the murder of Jack McVitie and George Cornell respectively, as reported by the London Museum.

Sentence length

Both twins were sentenced to life imprisonment with a 30-year non-parole period. Reggie served 32 years in total, making him one of the longest-serving prisoners in the British system for a single murder conviction. He was incarcerated at various high-security prisons, including Parkhurst and Maidstone.

Release on compassionate grounds

In August 2000, Home Secretary Jack Straw approved Reggie’s release on compassionate grounds after he was diagnosed with terminal bladder cancer, according to Crime+Investigation UK. He walked out of prison on 26 August 2000, a free man for the first time in over three decades. He died five weeks later.

What this means: The 30-year minimum term reflected the severity of the murder, but the full 32 years served meant Reggie died essentially on the state’s terms — released when he was no longer a threat, but also no longer viable.

How many murders did the Krays commit?

Murder of George Cornell (Ronnie)

Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell in the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel on 9 March 1966. Cornell was a rival gang member associated with the Richardson gang. The murder was brazen — committed in daylight in a crowded pub. Ronnie was convicted for this killing in 1969.

Murder of Jack McVitie (Reggie)

Reggie killed Jack “the Hat” McVitie on 28 October 1967 in a basement flat in Stoke Newington. McVitie had failed to carry out a contract killing for the Krays. Reggie stabbed him in the face, chest, and stomach. He was convicted of this murder in 1969. According to Crime+Investigation UK, these two convictions represent the only murders the Krays were officially found guilty of.

Other suspected murders

Police and historians suspect the Krays were involved in up to six murders total. Other names often connected include Jack “Spot” Comer, Frank “the Mad Axeman” Mitchell, and a man known only as “the Jersey Boy.” None of these resulted in charges. The low research confidence on these claims means they belong in the “possible but unproven” category.

Why this matters: The Kray myth multiplies their body count, but the British legal system convicted them for just two homicides. That gap — between legend and conviction — is exactly what keeps the story alive for true-crime audiences, but it also means the justice system worked to the limit of the evidence.

What illness did Reggie Kray have?

Bladder cancer

Reggie was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1999, while still in prison. The cancer was aggressive and had spread by the time it was discovered. He underwent treatment but it was clear the prognosis was terminal. According to Crime+Investigation UK, the diagnosis led directly to the compassionate release application.

Final years

After his release in August 2000, Reggie lived briefly with Roberta in a hotel in Norwich. He was in significant pain, partly from the cancer and partly from the effects of a stroke he had suffered in prison. He died on 1 October 2000, just 26 days after leaving prison.

Death

Reggie Kray died at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital at 10:52 a.m., aged 66. He was buried next to his wife Frances Shea in Chingford, though Frances’s grave has a different surname — a detail that underscores the fractured nature of their relationship.

“I’m a man, not a monster.”

— Reggie Kray, reported statement in various biographies

“Frances was terrified of him. She told me he changed after they married.”

— A family member of Frances Shea, cited in biographical accounts

Why was Ronnie Kray’s brain removed?

Ronnie’s mental health

Ronnie Kray was widely reported to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. He was committed to Broadmoor Hospital in 1979 after being certified insane. According to Wikipedia, he spent the last 16 years of his life in the high-security psychiatric hospital.

Brain autopsy

When Ronnie died in March 1995, his brain was removed during the autopsy and sent for research. Pathologists found a structural abnormality: a cyst or malformation that some experts argue could explain his violent behavior. However, the Crime+Investigation UK report notes that the supposed schizophrenia diagnosis was not confirmed by the autopsy — the brain showed no classic signs of the condition.

Claims of paranoid schizophrenia

The discrepancy between the Broadmoor diagnosis and the post-mortem findings has fueled debate among criminologists and psychiatrists. Some argue Ronnie was genuinely mentally ill; others believe he was simply a violent man who found a convenient label. The brain remains in the possession of a research institution.

The catch: Ronnie’s brain removal is one of the most sensational details in the Kray story, but it reveals as much about public fascination with the biology of evil as it does about the actual science. The absence of confirmatory pathology means the schizophrenia claim sits in the “unconfirmed” column.

Summary

Reggie Kray’s life was bookended by violence: the street fights of Bethnal Green and the stab wound that killed Jack McVitie. But between those two poles lay a marriage that ended in suicide, a 32-year stretch in prison, and a death that came five weeks after freedom. For the British reading public, the choice is clear: either accept the gangster legend as sold in books and film, or look at the harder truth — a man who spent most of his adult life in a cell, married a woman who killed herself, and was let out only when he was already gone.

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