Myra Hindley biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Born on July 23, 1942 in Manchester, England, Myra Hindley grew up with her grandmother. After the drowning death of a close male friend when she was 15, Hindley left school and converted to Roman Catholicism. In 1961, she met Ian Brady, a stock clerk who was recently released from prison. She fell in love with him, and soon gave herself over to his total control.

Murderer

Testing her blind allegiance, Brady hatched plans of rape and murder. In July 1963, they claimed their first victim, Pauline Reade. Four months later, 12-year-old John Kilbride disappeared, never to be seen again. In June 1964, 12-year-old Keith Bennett followed. On the afternoon of Boxing Day, 1964, 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey disappeared from a local fairground.

Finally, in October 1965, police were alerted to the duo by Hindley's 17-year-old brother-in-law, David Smith. Smith had witnessed Brady killing 17-year-old Edward Evans with an axe, concealing his horror for fear of meeting a similar fate. Smith then went to the police with his story, including Brady having mentioned that more bodies were buried on Saddleworth Moor.

Hindley and Ian Brady were brought to trial on April 27, 1966, where they pleaded not guilty to the murders of Edward Evans, Lesley Ann Downey, and John Kilbride. Brady was found guilty of the murders of Lesley Ann Downey, John Kilbride, and Edward Evans, while Hindley was found guilty of the murders of Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans, and also for harboring Brady, in the knowledge that he had killed John Kilbride. They were both jailed for life.

In 1970, Hindley severed all contact with Brady and, still professing her innocence, began a lifelong campaign to regain her freedom. In 1987, Hindley again became the center of media attention, with the public release of her full confession, in which she admitted her involvement in all five murders. Her subsequent applications for parole were denied. She died of respiratory failure on November 16, 2002.

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