Myra Hindley
Moors murderer Myra Hindley
Myra Hindley (July 23, 1942 - November 15, 2002) was an English woman, one of the Moors Murderers, jailed for murder in 1966. With her lover Ian Brady, from 1963 to 1965 she took part in the abduction, sexual abuse, torture and murder of several children. She was sentenced to life imprisonment and died in prison.
Their victims were Pauline Read, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward Evans. They were killed and buried on Saddleworth Moor, near Manchester, and hence the case is known as the Moors murders.
One striking black-and-white police photograph has been used almost exclusively to depict Hindley in the media since her arrest. The power of this image was demonstrated in 1997, when a painting by British artist Marcus Harvey was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London as part of the Sensation exhibition. It reproduces the well-known image using children's handprints made from plaster casts dipped in paint. Protesters defaced the painting, after which it was restored, re-installed behind some protection and guarded.
Hindley's supporters claimed that she would not have been capable of murder without the influence of Brady, whom she met while working in an office. Her role in the murders was to lure the children away from their familiar environment, but the victims' families believed that she had played a more active part in the murders than she admitted. She later collaborated with the authorities in attempting to locate the graves of some victims.
A long but unsuccessful campaign was fought to have her released from prison, her most vociferous supporter being Lord Longford - this in spite of the fact that she was so hated that if she had been released from prison there were threats that she would be lynched.
Books
- Myra Hindley: Inside the Mind of a Murderess, Jean Ritchie, Paladin 1991, pbk. ISBN 0586215638
- The Moors Murders: The Trial of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, Jonathan Goodman, David & Charles 1986, ISBN 0715390643
- Beyond Belief: the Moors Murderers, Emlyn Williams, Pan 1992, ISBN 0330020889
External Link
Referenced By
15 November | 15th November | 1942 | 2002 | 2002 in memoriam | 23 July | 23rd July | As of 2002 | Deaths in 2002 | Famous English people | Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford | Francis Pakenham | Francis Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford | Frank Pakenham | Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford | July 23 | July 23rd | List of English people | List of famous English people | List of famous prison deaths | List of people by name: Hi | List of people by name: Hi-Hm | List of people by name: Hj | List of people by name: Hk | List of people by name: Hl | List of people by name: Hm | Moors Murders | Moors murderers | November 15 | November 15th | Serial killer | Serial killing
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