FOUND...MOORS MURDER BULLETS
Investigator unearths shells he claims Brady used to shoot dead victim Keith Bennett
TWO shells matching a gun Ian Brady owned have been found near the spot victim Keith Bennett is feared buried.
They were discovered by Darren Rae who claims the killer blasted the lad, 12, to death. He said: “I have no doubt Brady shot Keith.”
79-year-old murderer boasted about the guns he owned and how he ordered some ammunition from a military insider. Brady told Darren: “Bradshaw rifle/ revolver/ automatic shells were purchased in 50 shell boxes made by ICI. Previous were purchased in Belgium .303 rifle clips were obtained from army sources.”
Darren contacted bullet maker Speers in the US who confirmed the two he believes were used to kill Keith had been distributed in North West England in the mid-60s.
The shells were found close to one of three “hot spots” where Darren believes Keith’s remains may be.
He added: “My two shell casings have been professionally verified and dated, to around 1963-65 and sold in the North West of England.
“This came from the bullet manufacturer’s own historian.
“The bullets were .38 calibre which would only match the Smith and Wesson. I’ve seen documented evidence from Brady and Hindley in the 1960s and 80s where they talk about wanting ‘more time’ with the next victim, and that was Keith. Brady had sick fantasies about shooting someone. To achieve this they would have to take their next victim to a far more remote location,
much further onto the moors. That’s where I believe Keith is buried.” None of the other bodies found in the Moors Murders case had any gunshot wounds.
Darren took his evidence to the police, but was told they did not have the resources to start a new search unless they received precise information about Keith’s location.
He also became friends with the youngster’s devastated mum Winnie Johnson who spent her life campaigning to find the truth.
She died in 2012 still not knowing where her son was buried. Darren has spent the past 16 years investigating Keith’s disappearance.
As well as being in contact with Brady, who is in Ashworth top security hospital on Merseyside, he has also interviewed former detectives, family members, forensic experts and others involved in the Moors Murders case.
Darren claimed Brady held many fantasies about using guns, including carrying out a bank robbery with Hindley’s brother-in-law David Smith.
The maniac also got Hindley to join a gun club in 1963 which allowed her to buy firearms legally. Brady has boasted about owning guns and even said he had fantasised about having a shoot-out with police when they came to arrest him and Hindley.
He told how he kept two loaded revolvers and a rifle at his house.
Brady wrote: “We never intended to be taken alive. Had I heard the knock instead of Myra I would’ve been prepared. We had no opportunity to exit speedily, house surrounded, all roads blocked, surprise entry through the back door. Total disaster.”
Last month, the Mirror revealed the killer admitted owning guns. In a letter from Ashworth he wrote: “Shotgun? I had two shotguns, two revolvers, two rifles, and an automatic.”
Brady and Hindley were jailed for life in May 1966 over the murders of Lesley Ann Downey, 10, Edward Evans, 17, and John Kilbride, 12.
In 1985, the pair admitted killing Keith and 16-year-old Pauline Reade. Hindley died in 2002 behind bars.
Darren said: “Unless Brady states where Keith’s grave is before he dies, it could mean that he will never be found. I don’t want to let that happen.”
Darren’s evidence will be documented in a book he is writing called Finding Keith? The Definitive Investigation into the Moors Murders.