‘EVIL BEYOND BELIEF’ – that’s how the judge in the Moors murders trial described Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.
The couple murdered and tortured five children around Manchester in the 1960s. Brady was 24 and Hindley just 20 when they began their murder streak in 1963.
Brady died in hospital on Monday aged 79, while Myra Hindley died in custody in hospital in 2002 aged 60.
The pair were jailed in 1966 for the murders of John Kilbride (12) , Lesley Ann Downey (10) and Edward Evans (17). Years later, they confessed to the murder of 12-year-old Keith Bennett and 16-year-old Pauline Reade.
Reade was their first victim. She vanished on her way to a disco in July 1963 and was eventually found in 1987. Her throat was cut and she was still in her party dress.
Four months later in November 1963, 12-year-old John Kilbride was lured from a market at Ashton-under-Lyne where he was earning pocket money doing odd jobs for stallholders. His body was found two years later strangled with string and his trousers around his ankles.
In June 1964, Keith Bennett disappeared in Manchester while he was on the way to visit his grandmother.
Lesley Ann Downey, the youngest victim, was lured from a fairground by Hindley on St Stephen’s Day in 1964.
She was sexually abused and tortured and a 16-minute recording of her final moments, when she pleaded for her life, was played in court.
Her body was found in a shallow grave on Saddleworth Moors near Manchester in 1966.
Their final victim was 17-year-old Edward Evans in October 1965.
The couple were caught after involving Hindley’s brother-in-law David Smith.
Smith was forced to watch as Brady attacked the 17-year-old with an axe, but fled and called the police.
Four of Hindley and Brady’s victims were buried on Saddleworth Moor, a national park near Manchester in central England, although the body of 12-year-old Keith Bennett has never been found.
Following the death of Brady this week, police in Manchester said they’ll never close the Moors Murders case and that the death of Ian Brady “does not change that”.
Head of Greater Manchester Police’s Cold Case Review Unit Martin Bottomley said, “I want to stress that our aim, as it always has been, is to find where Keith is buried and give closure to his surviving family members so they can give Keith the proper burial they so desperately want.”
Keith’s mother, Winnie Bennett, passed away in August 2012.
‘Still live with nightmare’
Terry West, the brother of Lesley Ann Downey, told MailOnline, “We’ve been waiting for this day for such a long time.”
Speaking about Keith Bennett’s family, he said, “This probably means they’ll never know where his body was buried.
He’s taken it to the grave. There’s still one poor kiddie up there on the Moors.
The brother of John Kilbride, 62-year-old Terry Kilbride told The Sun that the death of Brady would not help ease the pain.
“It’s a lot to take in. It has been years and years of anguish and pain for us and the families of the victims.
But nothing will change. He’s dead but we will have to still live with the nightmare that he left behind.
“He’s ruined our lives all these years and he’ll still ruin it even though he’s gone. I feel numb.”
Additional reporting by AFP.
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