You might be under the impression that there's nothing more to be said about the horrendous and gruesome crimes of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, with countless books, documentaries and television programmes being produced over the years.
Now however, in light of the discovery of some never-before-seen letters, sent to one another during their time in prison, Channel 4 is set to reexamine the case of the Moors Murderers in a brand new three-part documentary set to air on Monday, February 21.
Viewers can also hear from the as-yet-unknown reports of chief witness in the case David Smith, the former boyfriend of Hindley's sister Maureen, who Bradly infamously attempted to turn into a scapegoat for one of his brutal murders.
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Here we take a look into the true events behind their obscene crimes...
Brady and Hindley's early relationship
Troubled Glasgow-born boy Ian Brady first met doe-eyed 18-year-old Manchester typist Myra Hindley when they both joined the same wholesale chemical distribution company in 1961. She soon became infatuated with her mysterious colleague, even more so when she realised he had attained a criminal record in his younger years.
Their relationship soon began to blossom after he first invited her to the cinema. They bonded over their mutual interest of fascism and Nazi atrocities, philosophy and crime until one night, Bradly reportedly turned to his partner to open up about his fantasy on "committing the perfect murder".
It was after the pair moved into Hindley's grandmother's house together in July 1963 that they finally made their fantasy a reality and murdered their first victim. Brady told his partner to borrow a van and drive it around their neighbourhood looking for a child walking alone; he'd follow close behind on his motorbike.
The victims
Some time after 7.30pm on 12 July, Brady signalled for Hindley to pull the van over alongside 16-year-old Pauline Reade, a school friend of Hindley's younger sister, Maureen, who was on her way to a local dance. Hindley offered Reade a lift, but took a detour to the nearby area of the Saddleworth Moors on the understanding that the teen would help her to find a glove that she'd lost there several nights before.
According to Hindley's police statement, it was then that Brady arrived on his motorcycle and led Reade further onto the Moors, where he proceeded to rape and murder her by slashing her throat, almost decapitating her. Brady's later account argued that Hindley had not only been present for the attack, but that she had assisted in the sexual assault and burial.
Just four months later, and under no form of investigation for the disappearance of Pauline Reade, Brady and Hindley were once again on the roads of Manchester, hunting for a brand new victim. They soon picked up 12-year-old John Kilbride whilst he was hurrying home, offering to give him a ride.
The pair also promised him a bottle of sherry, but claimed that they'd need to make a quick detour to pick it up on the way. Brady and Hindley proceeded to drive the young boy to the Saddleworth Moors, where he was sexually assaulted, his throat was slit and he was strangled to death with a piece of string.
Believing themselves off the hook once again, the following June, they took to the streets again on the search for another victim. Whilst 12-year-old Keith Bennett was walking from his home to his grandmother's, he came across Hindley, who was loading some boxes into the back of her minivan and asked for some help. She told the youngster that if he give her a hand, she'd give him a lift.
As with the previous two victims, Bennett agreed before being driven to Saddleworth Moors. Brady allegedly led Bennett away from the van before he returned carrying a spade. He claimed to have sexually assaulted the young lad before murdering him, once again, using a shoestring.
That same winter, 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey was snatched from a fairground. Believing the young girl was visiting alone, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley made their move in what would become one of the most horrifying well-documented murder cases in British history. On the pretence that the pair needed help from Downey to carry some shopping to their car, they lured her to their home where she was undressed, posed and photographed, raped and murdered by the sadistic duo. An audio recording of the murder - which heard Downey crying for her mother and praying to God - was found inside a suitcase alongside her body in a shallow grave in Saddlworth Moore.
It was the final murder carried out by Ian Brady and Mrya Hindley that came to be their downfall. On the night of October 6, 1965, the duo were luring around Manchester city centre on the hunt for an innocent youngster. Brady then selected 17-year-old Edward Evans before introducing Hindley to him as his sister.
Like Downey, they drove Evans to their home where they proceeded to ply him with wine. It was then that Brady made the decision to invite David Smith, Myra's sister's partner, if he wanted to join the 'party', being that the two men had become increasingly close friends in the proceeding months. Whilst pouring himself a drink in the kitchen, Smith claimed to have heard a high-pitched scream coming from the front room.
Smith later told the police, "The screams carried on, one after another really loud. Then I heard Myra shout, 'Dave, help him,' very loud. When I ran in I just stood inside the living room and I saw a young lad. 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."
It was then that Smith was forced to watch as Brady strangled Evans to death with an electrical chord before wrapping the body in a plastic sheet and hiding it in the spare bedroom. Despite agreeing to help Brady bury the body on Saddleworth Moore out of fear, he returned home and told his wife and Mrya's sister, Maureen, what had happened. She encouraged him to call the police via a phone box before he was picked up and driven to the station where he recalled the incident to officers.
Their arrest
The pair were arrested before evidence which indicated that they had also been responsible for earlier disappearances of the other children began to emerge. Police found an old exercise book with the name 'John Kilbride', which made them suspect that Brady and Hindley had been involved in his murder. A suitcase containing an assortment of costumes, notes and nine pornographic photographs taken of Lesley Ann Downey, as well as a 16-minute audiotape of her murder, was also found.
Police also received word of the pair spending considerable time at Saddleworth Moore and decided to search the area. They quickly found an arm bone protruding from the peat, first believed to be John Kilbride's but later identified as that of Downey, whose body was still visually identifiable. They located Kilbride's badly decomposing body, as well as that of Pauline Reade, nearby.
Imprisonment
In May 1966, Brady and Hindley were found guilty for the murders of Edward Evans and Lesley Ann Downey, with Brady being found guilty of the single-handed murder of John Kilbride. After years in prison, the pair separately confessed to the killing of Pauline Reade in 1985, leading to her body being found on Saddleworth Moor.
The same year, they also confessed to Keith Bennett's murder. A letter from his mother persuaded Hindley to assist the police in searching for his burial site on the moor, but despite an intensive search by more than 100 officers, his remains remain undiscovered to this day.
In 2017, Ian Brady died in Ashworth Hospital aged 79 of restrictive pulmonary disease and his hunger strikes were not found to be a contributing factor.
Unlike Brady, Myra Hindley made several appeals against her life sentence, claiming to be a reformed woman, however she was never released and she died from bronchial pneumonia in 2002, aged 60.
Prior to their deaths however, Hindley and Brady maintained an obsessive relationship in the form of various never-before-seen letters posted to each other during their time in prison, which are to be the subject of the Channel 4 investigation.
Moors Murders: The Witness starts on Monday, February 21 at 9:00pm on Channel 4 and All 4.
