Brady’s final evil secrets
Moors killer left 2 locked briefcases... do they hold the answer to where he hid victim Keith Bennett?
TWO locked briefcases of Ian Brady which the Moors Murderer demanded be removed from his cell could hold the key to finding the remains of victim Keith Bennett, it emerged yesterday.
Glasgow-born Brady asked for his secret files to be secured and handed to his solicitor as he lay dying in May, an inquest into his death was told.
Police last night refused to confirm if they had examined the contents, but relatives of Brady’s victims begged his lawyer, Robin Makin, to hand them over.
John Ainley, a solicitor for Keith’s brother, Alan, 57, said: ‘It may lead to the spot where Keith is buried.’
MOORS murderer Ian Brady demanded two mystery locked briefcases be removed from his cell as he lay dying, it emerged yesterday at an inquest into his death.
The serial child killer made the request for his secret files to be secured and handed to his solicitor hours before he died in May.
It is hoped the attaché cases could contain vital documents or maps that hold the key to finding the body of 12-year-old Keith Bennett, whose remains have never been located.
Police last night refused to confirm whether they had examined the contents, but relatives of Brady’s victims pleaded with his lawyer, Robin Makin, to hand them over.
They say it could be the last chance for Keith’s tormented family to find the resting place of the youngster on Saddleworth Moor.
John Ainley, a solicitor who represents Keith’s brother, Alan Bennett, 57, who has pledged never to stop searching for his sibling, said: ‘I was aware of the briefcases, which have not been provided to the police, as I understand it.
‘Certainly Alan Bennett would be very interested in these being opened and the contents being seen because there may be information in there.
‘It may not be relevant to anyone else but with all the knowledge Alan has, it may lead to the spot where Keith is buried. We would ask Mr Makin to provide those either to the police or to Alan.’
Terry Kilbride, 62, brother of Brady’s victim John Kilbride, 12, added: ‘There must be something in those briefcases for him to go to those lengths to hide them away. It’s all the hope we have for finding Keith. Whatever information is in there is the only thing we can cling on to.’
Glasgow-born Brady, 79, known in the NHS by the alias Ian Steel, tortured and murdered five children in the 1960s with accomplice Myra Hindley. He died in his cell – room 35 – on the Newman Ward of Ashworth Secure Mental Hospital, Merseyside, at around 6pm on May 15.
Yesterday’s inquest in Bootle was told that, in the days leading up to his death, bedridden Brady was in distress, agitated and had suffered 48 hours of chronic diarrhoea.
His lungs were so severely diseased from years of heavy smoking that he needed continuous oxygen to breathe and was being pumped full of painkillers.
The court heard that, at around noon on the day he died, Brady declined to see a chaplain and instead summoned Mr Makin to his death bed.
He also ordered his two locked briefcases be removed and placed with security teams at the hospital, where he was incarcerated for 32 years.
They have since been handed to Mr Makin who is the executor of Brady’s will but was not present at yesterday’s inquest and was unavailable for comment.
Referring to the day Brady died Dr Noir Thomas, a consultant psychiatrist at Ashworth, said: ‘Mr Brady was in the final hours/ days of his life. He was unresponsive at times, laboured in his breathing and agitated.
‘He declined chaplaincy. He asked for his solicitor to be notified and requested that his locked briefcases be removed from his room.
‘These were sealed by security staff and locked in the director of security’s office.’
The hearing was told that palliative treatment had begun three months earlier in February. Doctors
‘The only thing we can cling on to’ ‘His teeth were rotten’
spoke to Brady about plans for his end of life care and he reiterated that he did not want to be resuscitated if he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Dr Thomas told the court that, by the end of April, Brady’s condition had deteriorated significantly.
He had ‘an increase in shortness of breath, distress and progressive physical frailty,’ the medic said.
Following his death Operation Chrome – the code name of a preplanned procedure – swung into action and three police officers were sent to the hospital to secure his body. A post-mortem examination was carried out the following day.
Home Office pathologist Brian Rodgers said that despite being on hunger strike Brady was not emaciated at the time of his death.
At nine and a half stone he was a ‘reasonable’ weight for his 5ft 7in stature, Mr Rodgers said.
The court heard that Brady suffered from several mental and sexually deviant disorders, including paranoid schizophrenia, psychosis, narcissism, and sexual sadism. Medical experts also confirmed for the first time that he was a paedophile.
But he refused any drugs or therapy for his mental conditions throughout his time at Ashworth, insisting that he was of sane mind and should be moved to a standard jail.
Physically, Brady suffered from severe lung disease or emphysema caused by his heavy smoking until it was banned by the hospital in 2008, the inquest heard.
His lung disease was so bad that both organs were ‘stuck’ to his chest wall and weighed one and a half times those of a normal person, Dr
Rodgers added. Brady also suffered from recurrent chest and urinary infections, had an enlarged prostate due to a catheter and suffered back pain caused by a spinal condition.
He had lost his front bottom and top teeth, while the rest were rotten. He also had operations in 2011 and 2013 on his eyes to repair cataracts, the court was told.
Dr Thomas described Brady as being hostile towards hospital staff during his incarceration. He also displayed evidence of ‘narcissism, marked grandiosity, a lack of empathy, demanding and entitled behaviour,’ the psychiatrist said.
‘His 32-year detention at Ashworth Hospital was largely marked by hostility, opposition to his care and treatment, allegations of brutality, serial complaints and insistence of interference by the Home Office,’ Dr Thomas added.
Christopher Sumner, coroner for Sefton, said Brady’s death was due to heart failure brought on by chronic lung disease and he died of natural causes.
Brady and Hindley were jailed for life in 1966 at Chester Assizes for the killings of John Kilbride, ten-year-old Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans, 17. They went on to admit the murders of Pauline Reade, 16, and Keith Bennett.
Hindley was also never released and died in November 2002.