Brian Farmer, the first journalist to interview Ian Huntley before his arrest for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, has described how his suspicions prompted him to alert police. Farmer, then a Press Association reporter covering the girls' disappearance in Soham, Cambridgeshire, spoke to Huntley and his partner Maxine Carr on August 8, 2002.
Farmer told BBC News that Huntley's reluctance to let him in and inconsistencies in his account raised red flags. Huntley claimed the girls had asked about their teaching assistant, Carr, but did not mention his dog being washed—a detail Farmer found implausible. 'There were no: 'How cute is that dog' or oohs and aahs. Nothing like that. I simply didn't believe what he was saying,' he said.
Farmer's concern deepened when Huntley answered a question about how the girls might react to a stranger, despite not knowing them. 'He said that Holly would probably go quietly, but Jessica would put up a fight. I couldn't understand how he could know that,' Farmer recalled. After filing his story, Farmer consulted his retired detective brother, who advised him to contact Cambridgeshire Police.
Huntley and Carr were arrested on August 17, 2002. Huntley was convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 40 years. He died on July 13, 2023, following an attack at HMP Frankland. Carr, who provided a false alibi, served 21 months and now lives under a new identity.
