British Serial Killer Couple Ian Brady And Myra Hindley
RedditA photo of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley found in an album that was seized from Brady’s home.
Between 1963 and 1965, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley killed five children in England in what became known as the Moors Murders, a string of crimes that stands out even among those of other serial killer couples.
Brady displayed chilling tendencies from a young age, reportedly torturing and killing animals at just 10 and breaking into houses as a teenager. By 1961, when he was introduced to Myra Hindley, he already had several convictions for theft and assault.
Brady and Hindley met at work and quickly fell in love. They stayed up late into the night reading stories about Nazi atrocities to each other, and Hindley bleached her hair to appear more Aryan. By 1963, Brady had started talking about committing the “perfect murder” — and he wanted Hindley to help him.
The serial killer couple began their deranged crime spree in July 1963. Their first victim was 16-year-old Pauline Reade. Brady and Hindley offered her a ride to a dance, drove her to Saddleworth Moor, raped her, and slit her throat.
Four months later, the pair repeated these heinous acts on 12-year-old John Kilbride, raping the boy before killing him and burying him on the moor. They also murdered another 12-year-old boy, Keith Bennett, in the same manner in June 1964.
Greater Manchester Police via Getty ImagesMyra Hindley in a photograph taken by Ian Brady sometime in the early 1960s.
Their next victim was 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey. Brady and Hindley lured her to their house by asking her to help them carry some shopping bags. Once the little girl was inside, they bound and gagged her, raped her, and strangled her — and recorded it all on audio tape. They then buried her on the moor, as well.
As they grew comfortable with their crimes, however, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley eventually took things too far. In October 1965, Brady brought home 17-year-old Edward Evans, a boy he had picked up at the train station. Brady murdered Edward in front of his 17-year-old brother-in-law, David Smith, thinking that Smith would want to join him for future crimes. Instead, Smith quickly notified the police of what he’d seen.
Both Brady and Hindley expressed remorse after they were sentenced to life in prison. Hindley claimed the crimes were all Brady’s idea, but she also told the court that she regarded herself as worse than her partner, since she had done most of the enticing. Brady took responsibility for what he had done, never asked for parole, and died in a psychiatric hospital in 2017. Hindley also died behind bars from pneumonia in 2002 at age 60.
