Ian Brady

Scottish murderer; he and his girlfriend, Myra Hindley, were sentenced to life in prison for the sadistic murders of three, possibly four young people. E. Williams in his biography, "Beyond Belief," 1969, relates how they took pictures and recorded the sounds of their victims during torture and death. Ian was born to an unmarried mother, Peggy Stewart. At three months, he was adopted by the Sloan family, who allowed Peggy to visit as "a friend of the family." In December 1954, Ian first learned from Peggy that she was his mother. Brady began serving jail terms for robbery and petty larceny by May 1951, age 12. At age 20 he was working in a wash house and as an accounting clerk. Myra Hindley began to work at the same office on 16 January 1961 but they did not have their first date until almost a year later, on 22 December 1961. He deflowered Myra on 1 January 1962. They continued in a steady relationship and he moved in with her and her grandmother on 18 September 1964. Brady was nearly 6 ft (1.80 m) tall with a sallow, pale skin and sunken gray eyes. His hair grew thick and he combed it back with his large hands. Brady and Hindley began their series of gruesome murders on 12 July 1963 of Pauline Reade, a 16-year-old girl (born 18 February 1947). Their second victim was John Kilbride, a 12-year-old boy (born 15 May 1951) on 23 November 1963 and the third, 12-year-old Keith Bennett (born 12 June 1952) on 16 June 1964. The fourth victim was 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey (born 21 August 1954) on 26 December 1964. Her body was not found until 16 October 1965. A questionable murder occurred in mid-'65, and it is not concrete as to whether or not they committed it. The sixth murder was of 17-year-old Edward Evans (born 3 January 1948) on 6 January 1965. Brady and Hindley were arrested on 7 October 1965 after her brother went to the police to testify that he had been a witness to the Evans killing. They went to trial on 19 April 1966. The jury saw porno pictures taken of Lesley Downey and heard the tape recordings of her pitiful cries for mercy as Brady and Hindley abused her before killing her. They were both found guilty on 6 May 1966 and the judge imposed three concurrent life terms. Brady later confessed to more murders; after deterioration he was later confined in a mental hospital. Brady died of restrictive pulmonary disease at Ashworth Hospital on 15 May 2017 at age 79. Link to Wikipedia biography