Leslie, meanwhile, was due to start work at a new engineering job on Monday August 5 the day after his daughter and her friend went missing. Now, almost 20 years on, Channel 5 tonight (March 10) continues its documentary series Soham: The Murder of Holly & Jessica. [238], Bichard later ordered the suspension of the Chief of Humberside Police, David Westwood, for ordering the destruction of records pertaining to alleged child molesters which had not resulted in a conviction. Two years later, on 21 March 2010, he received non life-threatening injuries to his neck after his throat was slashed by convicted armed robber Damien Fowkes. [6] He stressed that the cause of death was murder, adding: "Ten-year-old girls don't just drop dead. He then outlined the details of how Keith Pryer and his two friends had discovered the bodies on 17 August[131] at a location Huntley had known from his plane-spotting hobby and where they were unlikely to be discovered. [76] The Reverend Tim Alban Jones officiated at this service, saying: "Would not the best and most lasting memorial to these two lovely young girls be a change for the better in how we behave towards each other? He applied for and secured employment as a senior caretaker at this secondary school in September 2001, supervising the work of four other employees. [64] Pryer had noticed what he later described as an "unusual and unpleasant smell"[65] in the area several days earlier; when returning to the area with two friends on 17 August, he had decided to investigate the cause of this odour. [231][232][233][234], Shortly after her release from prison, Carr and her family contacted a Tyneside-based publishing company with view to publishing her autobiography. [47], The following evening, a jogger alerted police to two mounds of recently disturbed earth he had seen at Warren Hill, just outside Newmarket. In an attempt to emotionally blackmail his wife into remaining with him, Huntley alternately feigned an illness and, later, began drooling before faking an epileptic seizure; neither ploy succeeded. For the first five months after Holly died we broke down together, but after that we processed our grief at different speeds, Kevin told the Evening Standard. The Wells family still live in Soham, the village where Holly was killed. The documentary was about Holly's parents after 10 years and Jessica's were not involved, therefore I did not expect much to be said about her. [21] Over 400 officers were assigned full-time to search for the girls. He then speculated Huntley's defence counsel may try and argue that he had been confused, commenting: "In that case, they would have to consider [Huntley's] behaviour over the fortnight between the girls' disappearance and their bodies being found. On 4th August 2002, 10-year-old school friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were enjoying a . [103][n 9] Fibres recovered from these garments were a precise match to samples retrieved from Huntley's body and clothing, as well as from 5 College Close. [181][n 13], Following his arrest, several former girlfriends and sexual partners stated that Huntley presented himself as a charming and considerate man in the early stages of a relationship, but would become domineering and violent upon having established control. Chaired by Sir Michael Bichard, the Bichard inquiry opened on 13 January 2004. [112], By 20 August, investigators had established sufficient physical evidence from Huntley's home, vehicle and Soham Village College to charge him with two counts of murder. [89] In one interview with Sky News correspondent Jeremy Thompson during the second week of the search, he claimed to be holding on to a "glimmer of hope"[61] the children would be found safe and well, and that he had last seen the girls walking in the direction of a local library. He then claimed to her Chapman had sat on their bed as he had helped Wells control the bleeding from her nose before both girls had left their home. He would typically use guile or force to achieve his desires. [14] As a result of this complaint, further rumours regarding Huntley's sexual violence also became community gossip,[176] resulting in Huntley being fired from his job and forcing him to move into his mother's home. [127], The trial of Huntley for the murders of Wells and Chapman opened at the Old Bailey on 5 November 2003 before Mr Justice Alan Moses; Huntley was charged with two counts of murder, to which he entered a plea of not guilty. [88], By the second week of the children's disappearance, Huntley had become an unofficial spokesman for the community of Soham. [49], One person who claimed to have spoken with the girls immediately before their disappearance was 28-year-old Huntley, who informed investigators on 5 August he had had a brief conversation with both girls on his doorstep the previous afternoon. Section of Mr Justice Alan Moses' sentencing of Ian Huntley. He also ran the London Marathon for the charity in 2012. Wells and Chapman became two of the pupils she taught,[17] and both girls were fond of her. Huntley was given two life sentences by the judge. It was startling to see the previous fiance of Ian Huntley grinning in an outdated interview movie as she mentioned the victims, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, with a BBC reporter. [14] Although reported to police on three occasions, Huntley was not charged for any of these offences as each of the girls denied having engaged in sex with Huntley. [156] In setting this minimum term of imprisonment, Mr Justice Moses stated: "The order I make offers little or no hope of the defendant's eventual release. Immediately on seeing the corpses, Lawrence turned to his girlfriend, Helen Sawyer, and shouted: "Don't come any closer, Helen! Investigators were able to obtain extensive footage of the children's movements following their departure from the Wells household. [17], When they met, Huntley temporarily worked for an insurance company in Market Rasen. Most watched News videos. THE community of Soham was left heartbroken when the bodies of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells were discovered in 2002. Carr's decision to corroborate Huntley's lies to investigators and media in the early stages of the police investigation briefly resulted in police discounting Huntley as a suspect before eyewitness accounts of Carr's whereabouts on 4 August and a search of mobile phone and telephone records proved the, Huntley had attempted to burn these clothes in the late evening of 4 August; the, Investigators later discovered that a week before his arrest, Huntley had taken his car to an. Therefore, in this ruthless man's mind, both girls had to die in his own selfish self-interest." She was murdered alongside her best friend, Jessica Chapman. Get back in the van! ', "Huntley's Question to Police: Am I a Suspect? Kevin previously told an ITV documentary that the stress almost led to the break-up of their marriage. [14], The prosecution contended at Huntley's trial that a likely sexual motive existed for the murders. [69] However, prior to his trial, a criminal profile had resulted in his being ruled by an eminent criminal psychologist as a "latent, predatory paedophile"[175] who had lured Wells and Chapman into his home in a moment of opportunism. A further two part, 60-minute documentary, commissioned by Channel 5, Channel 5 first broadcast the three-episode drama, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 18:00. [212], At 9:53a.m. on 4 August, Huntley attempted to phone Carr, but she did not answer her mobile phone. Holly's father Kevin Wells described how on the Sunday afternoon Jessica phoned her parents to ask permission to stay over for a barbeque, which . [206], In September 2001, Huntley responded to a job advertisement for a job as a senior caretaker at Soham Village College. She wasnt and Huntley has since admitted murdering the girls. Several of Carr's former partners would later inform reporters they found her to be an. [217] Huntley again applied for compensation for the injuries he received in this attack, seeking 20,000 in damages. The findings also suggested a national system should be implemented for police forces to share intelligence information, and that all police forces should follow a clear code of practice on record-keeping. She lost her life at the hands of Ian Kevin Huntley when she was 10 years old. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of imprisonment to be imposed by the Lord Chief Justice at a later date. Ian Huntley brutally murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in the Soham murders of 2002 - and persuaded his girlfriend Maxine Carr to cover for him. But where are Holly & Jessicas families now? [173] Rumours of Huntley's sexual interest in underage girls soon became community gossip, and he was regularly insulted by neighbours and colleagues. On August 17 2002, residents flocked to St Andrew's church to await . . ", "Maxine Carr: The Teenage Anorexic Who Loved Working with Children and Nights on the Town", "Arrested Couple Publicly Declared Their Affection for Girls", "Like the Gullible Young Girls Before Her, Carr Fell for Huntley's Evil Spell", "Maxine Carr: The Teenage Anorexic Who Loved Working With Children and Nights on the Town", "Class Helper Failed to Win Full-time Post", "Anyone Facing Jail by the Child Support Agency Compare it With This", "Soham Murderer Ian Huntley Attacked by Jail Inmate", "Ian Huntley Could Get 20,000 Compensation After Prison Attack", "Ian Huntley: Prisoner Admits Attacking Soham Killer", "Ian Huntley Attacker Damien Fowkes Gets Life Term", "Huntley Revealed All in Taped Confession", "Huntley Fooled Prison's Suicide Watch by Hiding 29 Anti-depressant Pills in Teabags", "Huntley Admits Sex Attack on Girl in 1997", "Maxine Carr to Get Police Guard on Release", "PCC Must Act Over Hounding of Maxine Carr", "Mob Torments Scots Woman Mistaken for Maxine Carr", "Blunkett Orders Police Chief's Suspension", "The CRB Explained: How the Criminal Records Bureau Operates", "Mum Mistaken as Maxine Carr Hopes TV Show Will End Ordeal", "Ian Huntley: The 5 Mistakes That Led to The Soham Killer's Downfall Explored in Tonight's Channel 5 Documentary", "Channel 5 Documentary Looks at Soham Murder Case 20 Years On", "Maxine Review: A Show About the Soham Murders that is Both Pointless and Dangerous", "Maxine Viewers Blast Channel 5 Soham Murders Drama for Being in 'Absurdly Bad Taste', detailing Ian Huntley's conviction of the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, detailing the minimum sentence imposed on Ian Huntley, BBC News report Retrospective news article, confessions to the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, actual motive for committing the Soham Murders, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soham_murders&oldid=1141362679, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales, Articles with disputed statements from November 2021, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. She was born in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England. The killer's girlfriend, Maxine Carr, who was the girls' teaching . She was jailed for giving Huntley a false alibi after he killed 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. The families of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman yesterday paid their last respects to their beautiful 'Soham Roses' at separate private services in the Cambridgeshire town. Holly Wells, left, and Jessica Chapman were just 10 years old when they were murdered in 2002. Credit: Photo: BRIAN SMITH. [228] At the time, Carr was one of four former prisoners in the UK to be given a new identity upon release. This footage depicted them arriving at the local sports centre at 6:28p.m.[33][n 2] A televised reconstruction of the children's last known movements was broadcast nationally on 10 August,[35][36] and both sets of parents granted an interview with presenter Colin Baker on ITV's current affairs programme Tonight, which was broadcast on 12 August. G+. Maxine Carr, who was the girls teaching assistant, Hollys parents Kevin and Nicola Wells opened up about the death of their daughter, since the unimaginable death of their daughter, I wish I could see her now, see what shed have looked like, families dont suffer the same loss and heartbreak as we did. [102][n 10], Having discovered the children's clothes at Soham Village College,[82] police decided to arrest Huntley and Carr. "[157], Huntley avoided eligibility for a whole life tariff as the passing of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 had been one day after his conviction; thus taking effect on 18 December 2003 and applying solely to murders committed on or after this date. THE community of Soham was left heartbroken when the bodies of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells were discovered in 2002. [69] Huntley had allegedly suspected Carr of conducting affairs throughout their relationship, leading his mother and some police officers to suspect he had killed the two girls in a fit of jealous rage. Lyrics by: Alan Menken. The Bichard Inquiry Report of 2004 was commissioned by the government following the conviction of Ian Huntley for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2003. [106][107], During initial questioning, Huntley refused to answer questions and appeared evasive, confused, and emotionally detached, occasionally drooling during police attempts to question him in an effort to feign mental illness. One of the issues scrutinised by the Bichard report surfaced almost immediately when Humberside Police stated their belief that it was unlawful under the Data Protection Act to hold data regarding criminal allegations which had not led to a conviction; this claim was criticised by other police forces who thought this too strict an interpretation of the Act. Read more: Heartbreak of Ian Huntleys daughter as father shows no remorse for Holly and Jessicas murder. Huntley denies murdering the two girls and Carr, a former classroom assistant at . [175] The criminal charge was dropped a week later after the Crown Prosecution Service, having examined CCTV footage from the nightclub and environs and finding evidence of the two socialising within the nightclub, determined insufficient evidence existed to secure a conviction for this offence. I was stood on the front doorstep grooming my dog down. Where do Carole Middleton and Michael Middleton live? Jessica Chapmans parents, Leslie and Sharon, have rarely spoken publicly about the murder. On hearing this, Carr slumped forward. Runtime: 92 minutes. He said it helped the family with their loss. It remains one of the most . Via this hobby, he became familiar with the environs of RAF Lakenheath. [185] Psychologists have also determined Huntley has mentally blocked any attempts to accept the reality or enormity of his actions pertaining to his repeated violence against females in order that he might cope with the consequences of his actions. He revealed: She was lost in a kind of wilderness whereas I was more hard-line about my emotions. [203] He soon found new employment at a finance company in Binbrook while Carr maintained her employment packing fish at a local fish processing factory. Soham is a small town and civil parish located in the east of the university city Cambridge, in the United Kingdom. [92], On 3 December, Carr went into the witness box to testify in her own defence. Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr are taken in to help police with their enquiries, On 9 June 2003, he attempted suicide by taking 29 antidepressants which he had accumulated in his cell. In particular to assess the effectiveness of the relevant intelligence-based record keeping, the vetting practices in those forces since 1995 and information sharing with other agencies, and to report to the Home Secretary on matters of local and national relevance and make recommendations as appropriate. [80] He was charged with these offences while detained for observation at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire, and all preliminary hearings against him were postponed until the conclusion of his mental health assessment. Jessica Wells took birth on 1 September 1991. [193], Several of Capp's colleagues later remarked how they found her to be a distant and immature figure with few friends or hobbies. Shortly thereafter, she briefly worked as a junior care assistant at a care home for the elderly in Grimsby, then returned to work alongside her mother as a labourer at Bluecrest fish processing plant. [192], In February 1999, Huntley met 22-year-old Maxine Carr in a Grimsby nightclub. Ian Huntley was found guilty of their murders and sentenced to life in prison. And hes even walked the Great Wall of China to raise funds for it. It was a job she returned to in the years following her daughters murder. We suggest that this whole business in the house was motivated by something sexual. Huntley denies murdering the two girls and Carr, a former classroom assistant at . [135] Davey testified she had found minute traces of blood and saliva on these objects, but no positive traces of semen. Episode 2 of Soham: The Murder of Holly & Jessica airs tonight (March 10) on Channel 5 at 9pm. [22] These officers conducted extensive house-to-house enquiries across Soham;[23] their efforts to search local terrain were supported by hundreds of local volunteers[24] and, later, some United States Air Force personnel stationed at nearby airbases. She explained the reason for the lack of any traces of semen being discovered could have been a result of the charred and melted condition of the articles she had inspected. Its strange being three of us, when there used to be a fourth.. It is believed that Cambridgeshire Police failed to perform a background check under the name Huntley. [238] Further criticism was directed at the force for their initial failure to scrutinise Carr's claims to have been in Soham on the date of the children's disappearance. Miss ya! Wells and her friend, Jessica Chapman was out to purchase a sweet from a nearby vending machine. They have two children together, and Oliver regularly speaks about his sister to keep her memory alive. [209] One of the children to express dismay at this decision was Wells, who having broken down in tears upon learning Carr's application for the teaching position had been unsuccessful, presented her with a hand-drawn card,[210] depicting a smiling face, in which she stated: "I'll miss you a lot. [125][126][6], At a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey on 16 June 2003, Huntley pleaded not guilty to the charges of murdering Wells and Chapman, and guilty to the charge both stood accused of: conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. [84] At the request of both families, the media refrained from reporting on either service. Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and tell us what you think of our story. Huntley further alleges Carr had encouraged him to burn both bodies in an attempt to destroy all forensic evidence linking him to the crime. [15], Within days of Huntley's formal sentencing, he reflected to the media on the prospect of spending the remainder of his life behind bars and of his fears for his security, exclaiming: "I'm going to rot inside this place. [69] In an apparent effort to destroy forensic evidence, the murderer or murderers had attempted to burn both bodies. Following the birth of their second child, Wayne, in August 1975, the family moved into a rented property in Immingham, where Huntley attended school. They both lived in the village of Soham in Cambridgeshire, where they went to St Andrew's Primary School. The inspiration for dedicating a flower to the children's memory came from a poem read aloud at the memorial service at Ely Cathedral on 30 August 2002 by the father of Wells, titled Soham's Rose. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%. The families of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells have laid the girls to rest at small private funerals almost a month after the 10-year-old best friends went missing. [100], In February 2002, Huntley found Carr a part-time job at St Andrew's Primary School, although she lied about her academic qualifications when applying for this position. A new Channel 5 documentary Soham: The Murder of Holly & Jessica dives into what happened immediately after their parents declared them missing, and how they achieved justice when Huntley was sentenced to two life sentences. I wish I could see her now, see what shed have looked like, he said. [230], At least a dozen women have been falsely identified as being Carr and either persecuted or physically attacked due to false stories speculating as to her whereabouts and new identity which have been printed in tabloid publications. Performed by Frankie Goes to . The killers girlfriend, Maxine Carr, who was the girls teaching assistant, was jailed for giving him a false alibi. Holly Johnson, Brian Nash & Mark O'Toole. "[141] and that he had then accidentally suffocated her while attempting to stifle her screaming, which had preoccupied his attention as opposed to ensuring Wells did not drown. [146], On 10 December, counsel for both prosecution and defence delivered their closing arguments to the jury. [53], In July 2002, Carr applied for a vacant full-time teaching assistant position at St Andrew's Primary School. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman, who were lured into the home of a local resident and school caretaker, Ian Kevin Huntley,[1] who subsequently murdered the childrenlikely via asphyxiationbefore disposing of their bodies in an irrigation ditch close to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. Westwood retired in March 2005. [82], In a reference to Huntley's claims both girls' deaths had been accidental, Latham stated that "only one person knows what happened" after the friends entered his home. While Kevin and Nicola have remained together since the unimaginable death of their daughter, they struggled for quite some time. ", "Police Reveal Horrors of Bodies in Ditch", "Last Farewell: Holly Buried in Private Service with Flowers from The Beckhams; Jessica is Laid to Rest 24 Hours Earlier as The Two Families Grieve Alone", "Police Identify Holly and Jessica's Bodies", "Soham Murders: Why Did Ian Huntley Kill Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman? That involved at all costs protecting Ian Huntley. [168] The marriage was short-lived due to Huntley's volatile temper, which surfaced within days of their marriage. Their son Oliver and his partner Lydia Chambers had welcomed a baby called Ethan and were expecting their second child later that summer. 17 December 2003[151], Following the conclusion of both counsels' closing arguments, Mr Justice Moses announced the jury would begin their deliberations on 12 December. [192], In 1993, Capp finished her schooling, having obtained no qualifications. . [179] At the September 2005 hearing in which the minimum term Huntley should serve before any parole eligibility was decided, Mr Justice Moses stated: "There is a likelihood of [a] sexual motivation, but there was no evidence of sexual activity, and it remains no more than a likelihood. [215] Following this attack, Huntley alleged that prison authorities had failed in their duty of care towards him, and launched a claim for 15,000 in compensation. For the first five months after Holly died we broke down together, but after that we processed our grief at different speeds. [165], In 1990, Huntley finished his schooling, obtaining five GCSE passes. [43], Several members of the public reported having seen the children in the early days of the investigation. [24] A cover from the rear seat was missing, and the lining of the boot had been recently removed and replaced with an ill-fitting section of household carpet. To this question, Carr stated that the child had expressed her desire to be a bridesmaid at her own future wedding, adding that Chapman had said she would willingly wear a dress for such an occasion.