Joan Blissett was the half-sister of Trish Minniver, the late wife of Silas Blissett and the mother of Heidi Costello and Wendy Blissett. In the 1990s, Joan was murdered by Silas when he discovered that she had been having an affair with the neighbour. He staged her murder to look like a burglary gone wrong, and faked a heart attack to avoid suspicion. Her murder began a serial killing spree for Silas as he murdered women he deemed to be "sluts", with his motive being exposed when rings were found in Joan's urn in November 2011.