Reporter Who First Interviewed Soham Killer Reveals Why He Alerted Police
The first journalist to interview Ian Huntley before his arrest for the murder of two 10-year-old girls has detailed the suspicious circumstances that prompted him to report the former school caretaker to authorities. Brian Farmer, who worked for the Press Association in East Anglia at the time, spoke exclusively to BBC News about his pivotal role in the investigation into the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
The Initial Interview and Growing Suspicion
Mr Farmer explained that he went to speak to Huntley after police issued a list of last sightings of the girls on August 4, 2002. He knew where the caretaker's house was located in Soham, Cambridgeshire, and recognized that Huntley appeared to be the last person to see the children alive. "Though, it's always possible that the last man to see missing children or missing women is the culprit," Mr Farmer stated. "So for those two reasons, I went to knock on the door."
During the interview on August 8, 2002, both Huntley and his partner Maxine Carr seemed reluctant to allow the reporter inside their home. "What first took me by surprise was that both Maxine Carr and Ian Huntley seemed a little reluctant to let me in to talk about it," Mr Farmer recalled. "It took a little bit of persuasion for them to allow me to go in and sit down and talk."
Inconsistencies in Huntley's Account
Huntley, then 28, claimed he had been washing his Alsatian dog named Sadie on that Sunday evening after a muddy walk. He asserted that Holly and Jessica had approached him to ask about their teaching assistant, Maxine Carr, who worked at St Andrews Primary School where the girls were students. However, Mr Farmer noticed crucial omissions in their story.
"It wasn't what they'd said that I thought was strange. It was what they hadn't said," the journalist explained. "They didn't seem to have mentioned the dog, and I couldn't really believe that there would be two 10-year-old girls anywhere on Earth who would be wandering about carefree on a summer's day, who come across a man washing the dog with soap and water, who wouldn't see the dog."
Mr Farmer emphasized the absence of any natural reaction from the girls toward the animal. "There were no: 'How cute is that dog' or oohs and aahs. Nothing like that. I simply didn't believe what he was saying. It simply didn't seem possible."
The Critical Moment That Raised Alarm
The reporter's concern intensified when he asked Carr whether the girls had been taught about stranger danger in school. To his astonishment, Huntley interjected to answer the question despite having no apparent connection to the children.
"Ian Huntley answered the question, and he said that Holly would probably go quietly, but Jessica would put up a fight," Mr Farmer recounted. "I didn't show it at the time, but I couldn't understand how he could know that. He was the caretaker at a secondary school, a school they didn't go to. Their parents might know how they'd react. Maybe a teacher could speculate on how they'd react. But how could the caretaker at another school possibly know how they'd react?"
This specific detail proved particularly troubling. "I came to the conclusion fairly quickly that I didn't think he was telling the truth," Mr Farmer stated decisively.
Reporting to Authorities and Subsequent Arrests
After filing his initial story, Mr Farmer contacted his elder brother Derek, a retired senior detective, to discuss his concerns. "My brother Derek told me that I should contact the police and he agreed that what Huntley had said was very strange and maybe even grounds for arrest if he'd been there himself," the journalist explained.
Following this advice, Mr Farmer reached out to Cambridgeshire Police and detailed why he believed Huntley's account was suspicious and untrue. This crucial intervention occurred before Huntley and Carr were arrested on August 17, 2002.
Trial Testimony and Lasting Impact
Mr Farmer was subsequently called to give evidence at the Old Bailey trial of Huntley and Carr in 2003. Huntley denied murdering the two 10-year-olds but was ultimately convicted following the trial. Carr, who had provided Huntley with a false alibi, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for perverting the course of justice and now lives under a new identity.
Reflecting on Huntley's recent death following an attack at HMP Frankland, Mr Farmer expressed his thoughts for the victims' families. "I've been thinking today about the parents, not about me or about my experiences," he said solemnly. "It simply can never go away for them, and this must be a day that's just beyond belief for them, isn't it, that they have to go through it again."
The former school caretaker had been serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for the Soham murders, meaning he would not have been eligible for parole until the 2040s. Mr Farmer's early intervention and keen observational skills played a significant role in the investigation that ultimately brought Huntley to justice.
