The Moors Murders
| Author | A. Benfield |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6804100402 |
| Date | 01 April 1968 |
| Published date | 01 April 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DETECTIVE
CHIEF
SUPT.
A.
BENFIELD
Cheshire Constabulary
So many sensational accounts of the Moors Murders have
appeared since 1965 that our readers will welcome this plain
statement of the facts in the case by a senior officer who was
principally concerned in its investigation.
THE
MOORS
MURDERS
In October, 1965, there emerged one of the most fantastic
stories of murder to capture the imagination of the British public,
if not of the whole world.
Background
The main characters in the story are
Ian
Brady, then aged 27,
his girl-friend Myra Hindley, aged 23,
and
David Smith, 17, who
was married to Myra's sister Maureen. Brady and Hindley both
worked for the same firm in Gorton, Manchester. Brady was em-
ployed as a stock clerk
and
Hindley as a shorthand typist
and
they
had
been so employed since 1959 and 1961 respectively.
Brady was born in the Gorbals district of Glasgow
and
was
brought up in that area by foster parents. He made several ap-
pearances before the juvenile courts in Glasgow for larceny and
breaking offences. In 1950 his mother married a man named
Patrick Brady
and
had
moved to Manchester where
Ian
Brady
joined them in 1954, as a condition of his probation. He was em-
ployed as a porter at Smithfield Market, Manchester,
but
he con-
tinued to commit crime
and
in January, 1956, was sentenced to
borstal training for housebreaking; he was released in November,
1957. He was then employed as a labourer at a brewery and,
after a spell of unemployment until February, 1959, he commenced
work as a clerk, continuing to do so until his arrest.
Myra Hindley was born in Manchester in August, 1942, and
from about six months old was brought up by her maternal grand-
mother with whom she lived up to the time of her arrest. They
had
lived at several addresses in the Gorton area of Manchester
until they moved to Hattersley, Hyde, Cheshire, on an overspill
estate, in September, 1964.
It
appears that Hindley became attracted to Brady about the
middle of July, 1961, and in 1962 they were co-habiting regularly;
he was using his parent's address in Longsight, Manchester,
but
staying with Myra Hindley at her home until the early hours of
the morning.
April
1968 147
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