Who was Myra Hindley and how did she die?

MOORS Murderer, Myra Hindley was dubbed “the most hated woman in Britain” after her crimes.

She, along with her partner Ian Brady, killed five children burying them on the Manchester Moors.

Who was Myra Hindley?

Hindley was born in a working class suburb of Manchester in July 1942.

Her father Bob, a labourer who served with the Parachute Regiment during the Second World War, was abusive.

He beat her regularly when she was young but also taught her how to fight.

When her sister Maureen was born in 1946, Hindley was sent to live with her grandmother where she had a normal childhood readying herself for formal reception into the Catholic church.

In 1961 the 18-year-old joined Millwards Merchandise, a small chemical distributing firm in Gorton, Manchester, where she immediately fell for Ian Brady.

She became infatuated with him, and after a year the pair began a love affair, living together at her grandmother’s house.

Brady was obsessed with Nazi philosophy and he and Hindley began reading books on Nazi atrocities.

Disillusioned Hindley began changing her appearance – dying her hair peroxide blonde and sporting short skirts and high boots.

Their interests became increasingly perverse, and the pair planned bank robberies and took explicit photos of each other.

But their talk soon turned more sinister and Brady began to talk about how he wanted to commit the “perfect murder”.

Together they killed five children between the ages of 10 and 17, four of which had been sexually assaulted.

Who were Myra Hindley’s victims?

Pauline Reade

On July 12, 1963, the couple killed their first victim, 16-year-old Pauline Reade who was a school mate of Maureen Hindley – Myra’s younger sister.

Hindley had lured the teenager to Saddleworth Moor under the pretence of helping Hindley find a glove. 

According to Brady, Hindley helped sexually assault her before her throat was slashed twice.

It was not until 1985 that Brady confessed to her murder and helped detectives find her grave.

John Kilbride

On November 23, she approached 12-year-old John Kilbride and offered him a lift home.

Brady later sexually assaulted the youngster and attempted to slit his throat with a six-inch serrated blade before fatally strangling him with a piece of string.

John’s brother Terry Kilbride said he felt numb when Brady died.

“He’s dead but we will have to still live with the nightmare that he left behind,” he said.

Keith Bennett

Keith Bennett was on his way to his grandmother’s house on June 16, 1964, when Hindley lured him into her van.

She drove to a lay-by on the Moor and Brady took the boy while Hindley kept watch.

Brady reappeared 30 minutes later having sexually assaulted and strangled Keith.

He was not charged for Keith’s murder but admitted to it in 1985, along with Reade.

Keith’s body is the only one that has never been found as neither Brady nor Hindley revealed the location before they died.

Lesley Ann Downey

In search of another victim, the couple visited a fairground on Boxing Day, 1964, and came across Lesley Ann Downey.

She was their youngest victim at only ten-years-old.

They lured her back to their house, where she was undressed, gagged and forced to pose for photographs before being raped and killed.

The following morning Brady and Hindley drove with Downey’s body to Saddleworth Moor, where she was buried, naked with her clothes at her feet, in a shallow grave.

It was unclear exactly how Lesley died.

Edward Evans

On October 6, 1965, Brady met 17-year-old apprentice engineer Edward Evans at Manchester Central railway station and invited him to his home where Brady beat him to death with an axe.

Myra’s brother-in-law David Smith was witness to Edward’s murder and reported them to the police the next morning.

How long was Myra Hindley sentenced for?

Before she confessed to the murder of Pauline and Keith, both defendants were convicted of killing Edward Evans and Lesley Ann Downey on May 6, 1966.

Brady was also convicted of murdering John Kilbride, while Hindley was convicted as an accessory.

A chilling 16 minute recording had been played to the all-male jury of Lesley Ann’s final moments before she was raped, forced to pose naked and then murdered.

In 1987 she and Brady finally admitted murdering Keith Bennett and Pauline Reade, and following a return to the moors Pauline’s remains were discovered.

Keith’s body has never been recovered and it is now a secret taken to both Hindley’s and Brady’s graves.

Hindley waged a long campaign to be released, but in 1998 the Appeal Court backed the decision by former Home Secretary Jack Straw that she should stay in prison until she died.

She had accused David Smith of being Brady’s accomplice while trying to win her appeals but eventually confessed instead.#

During her time in jail she corresponded with Janie Jones, a UK pop star, who released hundreds of letters between herself and the couple for a documentary on Channel 4.

She became a devout Roman Catholic in prison and gained a degree in humanities.

How did Myra Hindley die?

Hindley died in jail in November 2002, aged 60, after suffering respiratory failure following a heart attack.

She was a 40-a-day smoker who in 1999 had been diagnosed with angina and hospitalised after suffering a brain aneurysm.

She was cremated following a private funeral conducted by Father Michael Teader, a Roman Catholic priest at Highpoint Prison, Suffolk, where Hindley spent her final years in jail.

A member of the public left a banner at the entrance to the crematorium which read “Burn in hell”.

Brady was Britain’s longest-serving offender and for 31 years lived at Ashworth Hospital, where he was on permanent suicide watch, before he died on May 15, 2017.

A post-mortem revealed that his official cause of death was  cor pulmonale and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Coroner Christopher Sumner said Brady’s body would not be released until assurances had been given that his ashes would not be scattered on Saddleworth Moor.

An inquest into the death of Brady in May 2017 heard that he had vile sexual desires.

The twisted killer kept notes, maps and pictures of Saddleworth Moor in his secret collection and even requested two boxes not be opened but kept hidden instead.