Myra Hindley disclosed that Ian Brady's chilling two-word justification for the Moors Murders was the 'perfect murder'. The serial killer couple murdered five children in the 1960s, with their first victim, 16-year-old Pauline Reade, killed 63 years ago today on July 12, 1963.
Brady's Obsession with the 'Perfect Murder'
Brady, who had a longstanding obsession with executing the 'perfect murder', sexually abused Pauline Reade alongside Hindley, who struck her face causing a bloody nose. Hindley received a life sentence in 1966 for murdering 12-year-old John Kilbride and 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey, and for being an accomplice in the murder of 17-year-old Edward Evans. Brady was also given life imprisonment for all three murders. In 1986, both admitted to killing 10-year-old Keith Bennett and 16-year-old Pauline Reade.
Hindley died in prison in 2002. Her initial confession to police came in 1986, and she later provided more details about her psychology. She told the Guardian two years before her death: 'I understand that it can't be a film for me. I know that what you do has to be balanced. I just feel it's right after all this time to explain what happened. Then people can decide what they think.'
Hindley's Background and Relationship with Brady
Hindley described her father as abusive, saying: 'I detested him because of the way he beat my mother, which was often... I used to rush in and my gran would hit him with a rolled-up newspaper and I'd cling on to his legs and try to get him off my mother. This always resulted in my being kicked out of the way or slapped and even punched.' Professor Malcolm MacCulloch, a forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Brady, suggested this showed Hindley's capacity to handle violence with composure. He said: 'I think there are clues here in that she describes her father as being tough and abusive towards her mother. She withstood what might be construed as abuse. I think on balance the evidence is that she is a tough-minded and independent minded woman, who later came not to be revolted by some of the things she was engaged in.'
Before meeting Brady, Hindley was engaged to another man and worked as a secretary. Detective Chief Superintendent Geoff Knupfer, who took her confession in 1986, said: 'I think she was a perfectly normal girl prior to meeting Brady. Had she not met Ian Brady and fallen in love with him, she would have fallen in love and got married and had a family and been like any other member of the general public.'
Brady's Grooming and Control
Hindley first met Brady at Millward's Merchandise. She said: 'I'd always been a romantic dreamer... But as soon as Ian Brady looked at me and smiled shyly, that's exactly what happened.' At 21, Brady had already served time in borstal and Strangeways prison. Hindley admitted she was instantly attracted but found him difficult to understand. She said: 'That first year of working in the same office as Ian was mental torture. Sometimes he would speak to me normally, other times he ignored me completely.'
She claimed Brady started brainwashing her, spreading hatred about Black people and the Jewish community, and targeting her faith. She revealed: 'He scorned me for believing all the crap in the Bible, for going to church, Mass, with its mumbo jumbo and incense and confession.' Hindley described their first sexual encounter as brutal, and maintained that Brady consistently raped, battered, and sexually degraded her.
The First Murder: Pauline Reade
Hindley claimed Brady introduced her to the concept of murder by handing her a book called Compulsion, where a 12-year-old is kidnapped and killed. She said: 'One evening... he told me he wanted to do a perfect murder and I was going to help him.' On July 12, 1963, Hindley left her home in Gorton, Manchester, in her van, with Brady trailing on his motorbike. She saw Pauline Reade walking alone and lured her to search for a glove on Saddleworth Moor. Hindley alleged that Brady led Pauline away, violated her, and slit her throat.
Hindley said: 'He led me to her body, which I tried not to look at... He told me to look at her. I'll never be able to forget what I saw. I moved as far away from her as possible... I stood and looked at the dark outline of the rocks against the horizon of the dark sky and three people died that night: Pauline, my soul and God.'
Aftermath and Reflections
Professor MacCulloch noted inconsistencies in Hindley's accounts, saying: 'The letters contain some interesting points of inconsistency in that they seem to be verbatim the accounts she gave to the police, but embellished to develop the theme of Brady terrorising and demeaning her.' Knupfer added: 'Clearly, she was absolutely besotted by this man. I guess like many other women I've met in the course of my career, they do all sorts of things for the love and respect of their partner.'
Regarding the murder of 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey, Hindley commented: 'I'm having a great deal of difficulty with the Lesley Ann Downey thing. I think I'll just have to keep it brief. I just find it hard to believe that I could have been such a cruel, cruel bastard.'
