Please join us in visiting the famous grave of Lesley Ann Downey.Respect and Recog. Hindley returned with Smith and told him to wait outside for her signal, a flashing light. The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around Manchester, England. Nine months later, he began working as a butcher's messenger boy. In November 1986, Bennett's mother wrote to Hindley begging to know what had happened to her son, a letter that Hindley seemed to be "genuinely moved" by. [88] Brady told police that he and Evans had fought, but insisted that he and Smith had murdered Evans and that Hindley had "only done what she had been told". A photograph of Moors murder victim Lesley Ann Downey, bound and gagged during a torture session, is to be shown on television for the first time. Although Winnie Johnson's letter may have played a part, he believed that Hindley, knowing of Brady's "precarious" mental state, was concerned he might co-operate with the police and reap any available public-approval benefit. [30] In 2008 Hindley's solicitor, Andrew McCooey, reported that she told him: I ought to have been hanged. [215] She rejected the idea and in early 1998 was moved to the medium-security HM Prison Highpoint;[216] the House of Lords ruling left open the possibility of later freedom. [151], Although Brady and Hindley had confessed to the murders of Reade and Bennett, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided that nothing would be gained by a further trial; as both were already serving life sentences no further punishment could be inflicted. [136] Writing in 1989, Topping said that he felt "quite cynical" about Hindley's motivation in helping the police. [255] In October 2018 her remains were re-buried at her grave in Gorton Cemetery, Manchester. Ann Downey, mother of Lesley Ann Downey at fairground, searching for a clue to her daughter's disappearance, 17th July 1965. [124] Throughout the trial Brady and Hindley "stuck rigidly to their strategy of lying",[125] and Hindley was later described as "a quiet, controlled, impassive witness who lied remorselessly". [30] Hindley began a diary and, although she had dates with other men, some of the entries detail her fascination with Brady, to whom she eventually spoke for the first time on 27 July. Lesley Ann Downey was just 10-years-old when she was killed by Hindley and Brady, after they abducted her on Boxing Day 1964. Mrs Winifred Johnson, mother of missing boy Keith Bennett, pictured on Saddleworth Moor, with a photograph of her son, 25th January 1995. [145], At about the same time, Johnson sent Hindley another letter, again pleading with her to assist the police in finding the body of her son Keith. Since her daughter's death, she had campaigned to ensure that Hindley remained in prison, and doctors said that the stress had contributed to the severity of her illness. He arrived home around 3:00a.m. and asked his wife to make a cup of tea, which he drank before vomiting and telling her what he had witnessed. 1 The Buzz on Maggie (Lost 2004 Pilot) 2 Super Why? He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to two days' detention. A few months later the family moved to a new council house on an overspill estate at Pollok. In 1982, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Lane said of Brady: "this is the case if ever there is to be one when a man should stay in prison till he dies". The pair were charged only for the murders of Kilbride, Downey and Evans, and received life sentences under a whole life tariff. [180] In one letter, written in 2005, Brady claimed that the murders were "merely an existential exercise of just over a year, which was concluded in December 1964". Chester, England, 22nd April 1966, David Smith brother in-law of Myra . [16], Myra Hindley was born in Crumpsall on 23 July 1942[17][18] to parents Nellie and Bob Hindley and raised in Gorton, then a working-class area of Manchester dominated by Victorian slum housing. The victims were five childrenPauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward Evansaged between 10 and 17, at least four of whom were sexually assaulted. Hindley was apparently jealous of their friendship, but became closer to her sister. [186] Brady subsequently went on hunger strike, but while English law allows patients to refuse treatment, those being treated for mental disorders under the Mental Health Act 1983 have no such right if the treatment is for their mental disorder. She died in 2002 in West Suffolk Hospital, aged 60, after serving 36 years in prison. [35] Brady was defended by Emlyn Hooson QC, the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP),[111] and Hindley was defended by Godfrey Heilpern QC, recorder of Salford from 1964; both were experienced Queen's Counsel. [132] It ended: "I am a simple woman, I work in the kitchens of Christie's Hospital. Pilot) He made it clear that he never wished to be released and repeatedly asked to be allowed to die. [7] Brady was accepted for Shawlands Academy, a school for above-average pupils. [81], After the murder of Evans, Smith agreed to return the following morning with his baby's pram, to transport the body to the car, before disposing of it on the moor. After a few minutes Brady reappeared in the company of 17-year-old Edward Evans, an apprentice engineer who lived in Ardwick, to whom he introduced Hindley as his sister. Instead, he accepted the offer of the Press Council to produce a "declaration of principle" which was published in November 1966 and included rules forbidding criminal witnesses being paid or interviewedbut the News of the World promptly rejected the declaration and the Council had no power to enforce its provisions. He was facing upwards. [187] He was therefore force-fed and transferred to another hospital for tests after he fell ill.[188] Brady recovered and in March 2000 asked for a judicial review of the legality of the decision to force-feed him, but was refused permission. . [38] The couple were regulars at the library, borrowing books on philosophy, as well as crime and torture. This was the first time Brady and Smith had met properly, and Brady was apparently impressed by Smith's demeanour. The prosecution's opening statement was held in camera rather than in open court,[103] and the defence asked for a similar stipulation but was refused. [249] Bennett's mother continued to visit Saddleworth Moor, where it is believed that Bennett is buried. [70] When they reached the moor Brady took Kilbride with him while Hindley waited in the car; Brady sexually assaulted Kilbride and tried to slit his throat with a six-inch serrated blade before strangling him with a shoelace or string. They even tape-recorded the last moments of her life. Ann wrote a book, For the Love of Lesley, The Moors Murders remembered by a victims Mother in 1987. Hindley later maintained that she went to fill a bath for Downey and found her dead when she returned; Brady claimed that Hindley killed Downey. . [108] National and international journalists covering the trial booked up most of the city's hotel rooms. She ran errands, typed, made tea, and was well liked enough that when she lost her first week's wage packet, the other girls took up a collection to replace it. [130], On 3 July 1985, DCS Topping visited Brady, then being held at HM Prison Gartree in Leicestershire, but found him "scornful of any suggestion that he had confessed to more murders". The lad was still screaming Ian had a hatchet in his hand he was holding it above his head and he hit the lad on the left side of his head with the hatchet. [173], Following his conviction Brady was moved to HM Prison Durham, where he asked to live in solitary confinement. [171] On 1 October the police reported that no further remains had been found. The Lord Chief Justice agreed with that recommendation in 1982, but in January 1985 Home Secretary Leon Brittan increased her tariff to thirty years. [44] Brady and Hindley's plans for robbery came to nothing, but they became interested in photography. The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around Manchester, England. [102] At the committal hearing on 6 December, Brady was charged with the murders of Evans, Kilbride, and Downey, and Hindley with the murders of Evans and Downey, as well as with harbouring Brady in the knowledge that he had killed Kilbride. In the letter, Johnson was sympathetic to Hindley over the criticism surrounding her first visit. [87] Over the next four days Hindley visited her employer and asked to be dismissed so that she would be eligible for unemployment benefits. Brady, who said that he did not want to be released, was rarely mentioned in the news, but Hindley's insistent desire to be released made her a figure of public hateespecially as she failed to confess to involvement in the Reade and Bennett murders for twenty years. [194] In 2006 officials intercepted 50paracetamol pills hidden inside a hollowed-out crime novel sent to Brady by a female friend. [148], In April 1987, news of Hindley's confession became public. [222] Just prior to this, on 15November 2002, Hindley, aged 60 and a chain smoker, died from bronchial pneumonia at West Suffolk Hospital. Between December 1997 and March 2000, Hindley made three separate appeals against her life tariff, claiming she was a reformed woman and no longer a danger to society, but each was rejected by the courts. Keith Bennett disappeared on 16 June 1964. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [79], Smith then watched Brady throttle Evans with a length of electrical cord. BBC NEWS | UK | Moors murder mother was 'incredible' En route he suggested another detour, this time to search for a glove Hindley had lost on the moor. The bouffanted blonde and the strutting clothes horse-killer had no human feelings as they took the life of the child. On the evening of 6 October 1965, Hindley drove Brady to Manchester Central railway station, where she waited outside in the car whilst he selected a victim. [29] She soon became infatuated with Brady, despite learning that he had a criminal record. She claimed that, had Johnson written to her fourteen years earlier, she would have confessed and helped the police. The pair took photographs of each other that, for the time, would have been considered explicit. Ann's 10 year old daughter Lesley Ann Downey was murdered on Boxing Day 1964 in Manchester England by 2 monsters who killed 4 other children, John Kilbride 12, Pauline Reade 16, Keith Bennett 12 and Edward Evans 17. It has taken me five weeks labour to write this letter because it is so important to me that it is understood by you for what it is, a plea for help. Ian was standing over him, facing him, with his legs on either side of the young lad's legs. [89] Smith said that Brady had asked him to return anything incriminating, such as "dodgy books", which Brady then packed into suitcases; he had no idea what else the suitcases contained or where they might be, though he mentioned that Brady "had a thing about railway stations". 6 [200] Brady had refused food and fluids for more than forty-eight hours on various occasions, causing him to be fitted with a nasogastric tube, although his inquest noted that his body mass index was not a cause for concern. Amidst strong media interest Lord Longford pleaded for her release, writing that continuing her detention to satisfy "mob emotion" was not right. "[139], On 19 December, David Smith, then 38, spent about four hours on the moor helping police identify additional areas to be searched. Characterised by the press as "the most evil woman in Britain",[1] Hindley made several appeals against her life sentence, claiming she was a reformed woman and no longer a danger to society, but was never released. According to Wilson, "it was because these attempts to express remorse were thrown back at him that he began to contemplate suicide". [190] In the book, Brady recounted his friendship in prison with the "teacup poisoner" Graham Young, who shared Brady's admiration for Nazi Germany. [220] Home Secretary David Blunkett ordered the GMP to find new charges against Hindley to prevent her release from prison. [195], The mother of the remaining undiscovered victim, Keith Bennett, received a letter from Brady at the end of 2005 in which, she said, he claimed that he could take police to within 20 yards (18m) of her son's body but the authorities would not allow it. [163] It was stated that any further participation by Brady would be via a "walk through the moors virtually" using 3D modelling, rather than a visit by him to the moor. In June 1957,[23] one of Hindley's closest friends, 13-year-old Michael Higgins, invited Hindley to go swimming with friends at a local disused reservoir, but she instead went out elsewhere with another friend. She took up a collection for a wreath; his funeral was held at St Francis's Monastery in Gorton Lane. I wanted her to suffer like I have. The Moors Murders: A Notorious Couple and Their Young Prey On 1 July, after more than 100days of searching, they found Reade's body 3 feet (0.9m) below the surface, 100 yards (90m) from where Downey's had been found. [137], On 16 December 1986, Hindley made the first of two visits to assist the police search of the moor. The bodies of two of the victims were discovered in 1965, in graves dug on Saddleworth Moor; a third grave was discovered there in 1987, more than twenty years after Brady and Hindley's trial. The case featured in two television dramas in 2006, See No Evil: The Moors Murders and Longford.[266][267]. [98] That same day, already being held for the murder of Evans, Brady and Hindley appeared at Hyde Magistrates' Court charged with Downey's murder. In total the depraved couple murdered and raped five. The following day, Hindley brought her grandmother back home. [83] Talbot explained that he was investigating "an act of violence involving guns" that was reported to have taken place the previous evening. [35][40][a] Although Hindley was not a qualified driver (she passed her test on 7 November 1963 after failing three times),[43] she often hired a van, in which the couple planned bank robberies. Hindley had been charged with the murders of Downey and Evans, and being an accessory to the murder of Kilbride. At 6:10a.m., having waited for daylight and armed himself with a screwdriver and bread knife in case Brady was planning to intercept him Smith called police from a phone box on the estate. [77] Throughout the previous year Brady had been cultivating a friendship with Smith, who had become "in awe" of Brady, something that increasingly worried Hindley as she felt it compromised their safety.[78]. [62] Driving down Gorton Lane, Brady saw a young girl and signalled Hindley, who did not stop because she recognised the girl as an 8-year-old neighbour of her mother. [201] He was cremated without a ceremony, and his ashes disposed of at sea during the night. [262], Lord Longford, a Catholic convert, campaigned to secure the release of "celebrated" criminals, and Hindley in particular, which earned him constant derision from the public and the press. [257] Hindley's role in the crimes also violated gender norms: her betrayal of the maternal role fed public perceptions of her "inherent evil", and made her a "poster girl" for moral panics about serial murder and paedophilia in subsequent decades. Brady later claimed that he had picked up Evans for a sexual encounter. The trip to the Lake District was the first of many outings. I have had enough. For the evil twosome, it was an opportunity to seek out fresh prey,. Moors Murders: The haunting unearthed pictures which tell the story of [226] Such was the strength of feeling more than thirty-five years after the murders that a reported twenty local undertakers refused to handle her cremation. Her father was an alcoholic who was frequently violent towards his wife and children. [126] Jennifer Tighe, a 14-year-old girl who disappeared from an Oldham children's home in December 1964, was mentioned in the press some forty years later but was confirmed by police to be alive. Ian Brady - Death, Victims & Myra Hindley - Biography ", "Book by Moors Murder witness David Smith recalls horror", "Man who helped jail Moors murderers dies of cancer", "Moors Murder mother Winnie Johnson in DVD appeal to Brady", "Winnie Johnson, mother of Moors Murders victim Keith Bennett, dies", "Moors Murder victim Keith Bennett's mother dies", "Police kept body parts of Moors murders victim without family's knowledge", "Moors Murders: Pauline Reade's remains reburied", "Lord Longford: Aristocratic moral crusader", "Goreytelling Episode 5: The Loathsome Couple", "From Myra Hindley to Three Girls: Maxine Peake's life and career", "Rose West's life behind bars to feature in ITV documentary", The official Keith Bennett website (archived version), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moors_murders&oldid=1150686440, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 19 April 2023, at 15:19. [147] Hindley confirmed to police that the two areas in which they were concentrating their searchHollin Brown Knoll and Hoe Grainwere correct, although she was unable to locate either of the graves. The victims of moors murderer Ian Brady, who has died in hospital. [4] The identity of Brady's father has never been reliably ascertained, although his mother said he was a reporter working for a Glasgow newspaper who died three months before Brady was born.