LONDON (AP) — One of Britain’s most notorious child killers died Saturday, days after he was attacked by an inmate in the workshop of a maximum-security prison.
Ian Huntley is a 52-year-old former school administrator who was convicted in 2003 of murdering two 10-year-old girls. He was hit in the head multiple times with a metal rod on February 26 at Frankland Prison in northeast England and remained on life support.
Best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared from the eastern England village of Soham on August 4, 2002, in a murder that shocked Britain for two weeks.
Police spent 13 days searching for the couple, hoping they were still alive. As detectives launched a massive manhunt, a photo of the girls wearing red Manchester United football shirts taken before their disappearance became a fixture on front pages and news broadcasts.
Thousands of people came to Soham with great concern and left hundreds of bouquets of flowers outside the local church.
The search ended when a group of hikers discovered the girl’s remains beside a dirt road in the woods a few miles from the village.
The Ministry of Justice said in a statement: “This murder remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history and our thoughts are with the family.”
Huntley denied murdering the two 10-year-olds but was convicted following a trial at London’s Central Criminal Court in 2003. His life sentence recommended he serve at least 40 years.
In prison, Huntley was assassinated multiple times, but he survived and was closely guarded along with other notorious killers. In a 2010 incident, his throat was slit by another inmate.
At the time of the murders, Huntley was living with Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant at Holly and Jessica’s elementary school. Carr gave Huntley a false alibi and was subsequently jailed for 21 months for perverting the course of justice. She now lives with a new identity.
Huntley and Carr spoke frequently to reporters during their search for the girl. Huntley tells them that he thinks he was one of the last people to see them alive, and Carl says that she will always keep a card that Holly drew for her.
British media reported that 43-year-old murderer and rapist Anthony Russell was responsible for the attack that ultimately led to Huntley’s death.
Durham Police are investigating the circumstances of the incident leading to Huntley’s death and are preparing a file for the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of charges.
