In October 1965 Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were arrested for the murder of Edward Evans. Police discovered amongst Brady’s possessions pornographic photographs of a young girl bound and gagged, and a tape recording of her being tortured. Suddenly the question was, Were there more victims? Were the police dealing with serial killers? Moors Murders II: The Lost Letters
Police had also found photographs of Brady and Hindley posing on Saddleworth Moor, just outside Manchester. The photo locations were the crucial breakthrough the police were looking for. ibid.
The involvement of a woman in the murder of a child shocked Britain. Myra Hindley tried to downplay her role on the tape. ibid.
Brady rarely mentions anyone from his childhood by name. ibid.
From an early age Brady played in cemeteries. ibid.
In her teenage years Myra Hindley flourished at school. ibid.
The Moors murderers are the most infamous killers in British criminal history. Their extraordinary notoriety began with their very first court appearances in the mid-1960s fuelled by a mix of public fascination and outrage. Moors Murders III: The Trial
Observers were struck by Brady and Hindley’s attitude in court. ibid.
The jury took two hours to deliberate. On 6th May 1966 Ian Brady was found guilty of all three murders. Myra Hindley of two. ibid.
Brady and Hindley were the first British serial killers to escape hanging. Just four weeks before, parliament had abolished the death penalty. ibid.
For the next six years they wrote to each other. ibid.
When news of Myra Hindley’s walks on Hampstead Heath surfaced in the press there was a huge public outcry. ibid.
A spot of disturbed earth: the body of 12-year-old John Kilbride lay in a shallow grave under her leather boots. True Crime Recaps: Nightmare in the Moors: Ian Brady & Myra Hindley Case, Youtube 12.07, 2022
Myra was a willing participant in his sexual fantasies. ibid.
He wanted to commit the ultimate crime and Myra was his perfect partner for the task. They began to drive around Manchester, England, looking for victims. ibid.
They wanted a third person to join them in their murders. ibid.
Saddleworth Moor, England: Bleak, beautiful, and the scene of one of the most horrific crimes in British history. Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer s1e3: Ian Brady & Myra Hindley, 2016
What other secrets lay out on the Moor? And what part does a locked briefcase left behind by Ian Brady in 2017 play in uncovering them. ibid.
In the early 1960s Saddleworth Moor, north-west of Manchester, became the scene of perhaps the most infamous series of crimes in British history, the Moors Murders. In May 1966 young lovers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were convicted of savagely killing two children and a teenager, and burying two of their bodies in this hostile wilderness. Once Upon a True Crime s1e2: The Moors Murders, CI 2022
With the death penalty abolished just months before, Britain’s first serial killers to spend their lives behind bars. ibid.
The appalling revelation of even more murders. ibid.
The Moors murders forever imprinted the names of an infamous couple on the national psyche. ibid.
[Duncan Staff]: I’ve come across the original case files form the 60s. It raises all sorts of questions for me. The Moors Murders: A Search for Justice I, BBC 2025
Five murdered children: Edward Evans, Lesley Ann Downey, John Kilbride, Pauline Reade & Keith Bennett. At the heart of the case a couple who killed them. ibid.
A lot of the paperwork disappeared after the trail of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. ibid.
There’s still a body on the Moors. Keith Bennett hasn’t been found. ibid.
The case files were forgotten in an attic … until a new firm of solicitors inherited them. ibid. caption
Local children had been going missing for years. ibid.
In 2001, Duncan made a documentary about John [Professor Hunter, Forensic Archaeology] helping the Bennett family search for Keith. They searched an area where Brady and Hindley said Keith was murdered and buried. It is a mile and a half away from Hollin Brown Knoll where Pauline, John and Lesley Ann were found. ibid.
Ian Brady was held at Ashworth High Security Psychiatric Hospital between 1985 and his death in 2017. ibid.
A solicitor called Robin Makin represented Ian Brady and maintains possession of the suitcases. The police and Keith Bennett’s family have requested to view the paperwork inside the suitcases. The Moors Murders: A Search for Justice II
The police have had Hindley’s maps since 2001. There is no complete record of where they have searched. ibid.
Following the death of Ian Brady in May 2017 some of Pauline’s remains were discovered in police storage. ibid.