Who was Ian Brady and how did he die?
IN 1966 Ian Brady was convicted of murdering children alongside his twisted girlfriend Myra Hindley.
Brady never showed any remorse for his heinous crimes — here we look at who he was and how he died.
Who was Ian Brady?
Ian Brady was born in Glasgow in 1938 where he attended Shawlands Academy — a school for gifted pupils.
He was neglected by his mother and raised by foster parents in the Gorbals, known to be one of Glasgow's toughest slums.
After a spree of petty teenage crimes the courts sent him to Manchester to live with his mum and her new husband, Patrick Brady.
Ian took his stepfather's name, continued his criminal activities and became an alcoholic while still a teenager.
He pursued new interests in a bid to 'better himself', building up a library of books on Nazi Germany, sadism and sexual perversion.
MORE ON THE MOORS MURDERERS
Brady met Myra Hindley while working as a stores clerk — she was working as a secretary at the same Manchester-based company.
It was love at first sight and Brady wooed his soon-to-be girlfriend by reading Mein Kampf to her in the original German.
Myra Hindley died in custody in West Sussex Hospital in November 2002, aged 60.
Who were Ian Brady's victims?
On July 12, 1963, Brady told Hindley he wanted to "commit his perfect murder".
Hindley would often lure the child victims in before driving them to Saddleworth Moor or the pair's home.
Brady would then kill them, often by slashing their throats or strangulation.
Four of the five victims were sexually assaulted as well being as murdered.
- Pauline Reade, 16
- John Kilbride, 12
- Keith Bennett, 12
- Lesley Ann Downey, 10
- Edward Evans, 17
How was Ian Brady caught?
On 6 October 1965, the killer invited Myra's brother-in-law and friend, David Smith, round to their home.
Brady murdered Edward Evans — striking him fourteen times with a hatchet before finishing the job by strangling him — while Smith looked on in horror.
Under the pretence of helping them hide the body, Smith left and phoned the police next morning and directed them to Brady's address.
He said in his statement to police: "He was lying with his head and shoulders on the couch and his legs were on the floor. He was facing upwards.
"Ian was standing over him, facing him, with his legs on either side of the young lad's legs.
"The lad was still screaming... Ian had a hatchet in his hand... he was holding it above his head and he hit the lad on the left side of his head with the hatchet.
"I heard the blow, it was a terrible hard blow, it sounded horrible."
On October 7, 1965, Superintendent Bob Talbot of the Cheshire Police arrived at the back door of 16 Wardle Brook Avenue and told Hindley he wanted to speak with her boyfriend.
The couple allowed the police to look around but when they reached the spare bedroom where Edward's body was, the door was locked.
Brady told Hindley to hand over the key and the police entered the room to find Edward's corpse wrapped in plastic sheeting.
The bloody murder weapon was also recovered, along with Brady's collection of books on perversion and sadism.
He admitted that he had fought with Edward after he was arrested on suspicion of murder but insisted Smith had helped him.
Four days later, another search of Brady's flat turned up two left luggage tickets for Manchester Central Station, leading police to a pair of suitcases.
Inside one they found pictures of Lesley Ann Downey naked with a scarf tied around her mouth as well as a tape recordings of her final moments, pleading for her life as she was brutally tortured and abused.
A series of snapshots showing random sections of Saddleworth Moor were also discovered and an exercise book with John Kilbride's name scribbled in it led police to believe Brady and Hindley were involved in the unsolved disappearances.
A huge search operation involving 150 officers was launched and on October 16, during which police found the arm bone of Lesley Ann sticking out of the ground.
They discovered the badly decomposed body of Kilbride five days later.
Cops announced they were opening their files on eight missing persons who had disappeared over the previous four years, but no new charges were added by the time the couple went to trial.
How long did Ian Brady go to jail for?
On May 6, 1966 both defendants were convicted of killing Edward Evans and Lesley Ann Downey.
Brady was also convicted of murdering John Kilbride, while Myra Hindley was convicted as an accessory after the fact.
Brady was sentenced to concurrent life terms on each count, while Hindley received two life terms plus seven years in the Kilbride case.
The depraved killer was Britain’s longest-serving offender and lived at Ashworth Hospital for 31 years, on permanent suicide watch.
He was declared criminally insane in 1985 and moved to the high-security hospital in Merseyside.
Brady was on hunger strike since 1999 and was kept alive by being force-fed a liquid nutrition mix.
Killer Brady refused to ever reveal where little Keith Bennett's body was buried.
But it was revealed he told a mental health worker he had left clues for police to find.
He claims to have left a trowel in a stream near the burial site, but died before his secret could ever be exposed.
On 21 September, 2017 it was reported that Brady's hoard of letters and maps could be released imminently.
He kept notes, maps and pictures of Saddleworth Moor in his secret collection, which could point to Keith's grave.
New letters were released in a Channel 4 documentary containing correspondence with former pop star Janie Jones.
How did Ian Brady die?
Brady died on May 15, 2017 with the murderer's time of death understood to be just before 6pm.
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.
His body will be disposed of with "no music and no ceremony", a High Court judge ruled.
It was revealed he was dying of a terminal lung and chest condition and had been bedridden for two years.
He received end-of-life care from nurses who assist terminal cancer patients.
Brady had been urged to reveal where Keith Bennett’s body is buried.
But in a final insult to the victim's family he reportedly refused to show any remorse for his crimes even hours before his death.
Brady's own lawyer Robin Makin revealed he would be "very surprised" if the killer left any useful information about where Keith's body was hidden, telling BBC Radio 4: "He did go to the Moors a long time ago and I suspect that if there had been information for him that he could have provided, he would have provided it then."
He said he didn't have any information that could assist in the search for Keith, saying instead that he had discussed Brady's legal wishes and funeral arrangements, with the killer aware that his death was "imminent".
Police have also vowed to not close the case into Keith's death, saying Brady's death would not change this fact.
In the early hours of 2 November 2017, Brady's ashes were scattered in the Irish Sea at a secret location off the coast of Liverpool.