Former Dennis Publishing chief and possible murderer Felix Dennis now says his homicidal confession in London’s Times was just a prank. To sell books!

Normally, we’d believe a line like that; so desperate is everyone to sell their product, they’re willing to say or do anything to the public to get some buzz. That’s Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt’s business model.

Except Dennis caught himself in a lie. And now we’re back to leaning toward “murderer.”

While many outlets took his confession at something close to face value, and one even went so far as to contact British law enforcement authorities, said Dennis, “What they didn’t notice was the date that this front-page London Times article came out….It was the same day that the Guardian led with a front page which had pictures of penguins flying from Antarctica to South America.” In other words, April Fool’s Day.

But, actually, the penguins story — which ran in the Mirror and the Telegraph, but not the Guardian — appeared on April 1, as did the other story Dennis referenced as appearing on the “same day” as his profile, about Nicolas Sarkozy’s “stretching operation.” The Times story on Dennis came out April 2. [Portfolio]