Burial of murderer Brady still a mystery – inquest
THE BURIAL plans for Moors Murderer Ian Brady remain a mystery, as an inquest heard he died of natural causes.
Christopher Sumner, coroner for Sefton, ruled out neglect and self-neglect as contributing factors to the death of the 79-yearold at an inquest held at Bootle Town Hall, Merseyside.
Mr Sumner had previously refused to release the body of the killer, who died on May 15, until he was assured his ashes would not be spread on Saddleworth Moor, where the bodies of three of Brady’s and Myra Hindley’s five child victims were found.
Victim Keith Bennett, 12, is also believed to have been buried on the moor, but his remains have never been found.
Brady’s body was kept under police guard until it was released to his lawyer Robin Makin on May 18, after he said there was “no likelihood” the ashes would be scattered on the moor.
But no reference was made to the murderer’s remains at the inquest into his death yesterday and Mr Makin did not attend the hearing.
The coroner’s court heard the serial killer, also known as Ian Stewart-Brady, had asked for locked briefcases to be removed from his room at Ashworth High Secure Hospital hours before his death at 6.02pm.
Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Noir Thomas said that at 12.30pm on May 15 medics concluded Brady, who suffered from lung disease emphysema, was nearing death.
Following the inquest, a spokesman for Mersey Care NHS Trust, which runs the hospital in Maghull, Merseyside, said Brady’s possessions had been given to Mr Makin, the executor of his will.
Earlier this year details of Brady’s made in 2011.
The document was said to contain instructions that two briefcases full of Brady’s legal and personal papers, were to be collected after his death.
The inquest hearing, which lasted less than 45 minutes, heard Brady was diagnosed in 1985 with paranoid schizophrenia.
The court heard Brady had been on intermittent hunger strike since 1999 and was fed by a tube.
The killer had “serially pursued” a move from Ashworth Hospital to prison – without success at various mental health tri- reported will, bunals – and had talked about committing suicide, the inquest heard.
Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers said the cause of death was cor pulmonale, a form of heart failure, secondary to bronchopneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or lung disease.
The court heard Brady, who had been a heavy smoker, had “very severely diseased” lungs.
Recording his verdict, Mr Sumner said: “The controversy surrounding this patient in life was markedly absent in death for reasons the pathologist has given.”
He added: “He received appropriate medical care throughout his time as a patient. I thus find there was no evidence of neglect or self-neglect.”