Ian Brady’s secret suitcase hope in Moors Murders’ secrets

Killer Ian Brady Detectives may be on the brink of a breakthrough in the Moors Murders case, 60 years after Ian Brady and Myra Hindley claimed their first victim. Greater Manchester Police are awaiting the result of a court application to search two suitcases belonging to Brady in the hope that the contents could reveal where ­victim Keith Bennett, 12, is buried. Serial killer Brady died aged 79 in 2017 while serving a life ­sentence in Ashworth Hospital, a high-­security psychiatric facility. Keith was one of five children killed by Brady and Hindley in the early 1960s. The victims were buried on Saddleworth Moor. Hours before his death in May 2017 Brady asked for two locked cases in his room at Ashworth to be put in secure storage. In 1991 he had written to Keith’s family claiming he would leave ‘special instructions’ of how to find the child’s remains in his will. These clues never materialised and no will has been made public. Hoping the cases may contain details about Keith, police applied for a search warrant in 2017. But a district judge turned them down. But in May last year Royal Assent was given to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. It allows police to obtain a warrant for material that could reveal the location of a murder victim’s remains. John Ainley, the Bennett family’s solicitor, confirmed that police had applied for the cases to be seized. He said: ‘GMP are progressing a court application for an order for the cases and their contents to be released to see if they contain any information that could help to identify the whereabouts of Keith’s body. The problem is it is a new piece of legislation so it is complex and is taking time.’ Ian Brady’s mistress and accomplice He spoke ahead of the 60th anniversary of the first of Brady and Hindley’s murders. Pauline Reade, 16, was killed by the pair on July 12, 1963, but her body was not found until July 1987. Keith, who disappeared in June 1964, is the only victim whose remains have not been recovered. His mum Winnie Johnson, died aged 78 in 2012, after a long campaign to try to force Brady to reveal where Keith’s body is. She was buried with Keith’s glasses, before his brother, Alan, 65, took over the campaign. Solicitor Mr Ainley added: ‘The police have not disclosed to us the court or exactly when the application was made but it is under way and due process is being followed. ‘This is to see what documents Brady had and how it can help police or Alan Bennett in the search for Keith’s body. ‘Presumably, these are personal papers and it would be surprising if there was nothing in those cases of interest to us. Brady had previously said he would leave information in his will that would help with this but it has not been made public, as it has not gone through probate, so is yet to be in the public domain.’ A GMP spokesman said the force had nothing to add to its previous comments about the cases. But the force’s Moors Murders cold case unit said in a documentary last year that its detectives believe the suitcases may contain ‘maps’ and documents revealing where Keith can be found.