Murdered in cold blood two schoolgirls and one of Britain’s biggest ever manhunts. Hiding in plain sight – the killer. A man who thought he could hoodwink the police, the media and the entire country. Ian Huntley: 5 Mistakes Caught a Killer, Channel 5 2019
The girls walked out of the house sometime after 6.15 p.m. without telling Holly’s parents. At 6.28 CCTV captured them going across the car park of a sports centre possibly on their way to buy sweets. Then they walked along a path towards the local high school – Soham Village College. After that they passed College Close. At 6.33 they were seen in neighbouring College Road before vanishing. ibid.
‘If Huntley hadn’t made those critical mistakes then a guilty man could well have walked free.’ ibid. rozzer expert
School caretaker Ian Huntley murdered 10-year-old friends Jessica and Holly in Soham on 4th August 2002. As the police searched for the missing girls, Huntley pretended to be a concerned member of the community. The Killer in My Family s1e3: Ian Huntley, Quest Red 2019
‘From a very young age was a high level sexual predator paedophile. But also he had the hallmarks of a serial killer.’ ibid. Emma Kenny, psychologist
A massive search is underway tonight for two ten-year-old girls who have been missing for twenty-four hours. Soham: The Murder of Holly & Jessica aka Soham: Evil in a Small Town, news, Channel 5 2022
In August 2002 two school friends went missing. The hunt for the missing girls became front-page news around the world. Hiding in plain sight … This is the story of two innocent lives lost. And evil killer’s secret past. And the girlfriend who gave him an alibi. ibid. captions
Extensive searches have provided no trace of the girls leaving police with only one conclusion. ibid.
One man continues to show an unusual interest in the investigation … college caretaker Ian Huntley. ibid.
Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr are interviewed in separate locations. Both stick to the same story. ibid.
As well as the Gas Alley rape charge Huntley also faced two other allegations of rape and one of indecent assault. None of them resulted in a prosecution. ibid.
‘Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr weren’t local but they had lived in Soham for a year or so and they were absolutely at the heart of that community.’ Soham: The Murder of Holly & Jessica II, Nicci Gerrard, author ‘Soham: A Story of Our Times’
As the police carry out painstaking forensic work, the town of Soham is in mourning. ibid. caption
Despite the mounting evidence against him, Huntley is steadfastly refusing to speak to the police. ibid.
Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice but not guilty of assisting an offender. She is sentenced to three and a half years. Huntley receives two life sentences. ibid.
Ian Huntley’s jail sentence was later changed to a minimum term of 40 years. He remains in Frankland Prison in Durham. He has repeatedly been attacked by other inmates. Maxine Carr was released from prison in May 2004, 21 months after Holly and Jessica died. She was given a secret identity and has since been granted lifelong immunity. ibid.
The charred bodies of both girls were found side by side in a waterlogged ditch near an Air Force base 10 miles away from home, and the man who did it was someone they suspected. True Crime Recaps: School Caretaker Commits Horrific Crimes! Youtube 9.00, 2022
Their path home took them past the doorstep of 28-year-old Ian Huntley. He was the caretaker for the local secondary school. ibid.
He [Huntley] had a dark and violent history. ibid.
He had three scratches on his jaw. ibid.
They [rozzers] realised Maxine was lying about her alibi. ibid.
On 17th August 2002 detective superintendent Russian Wate of Cambridgeshire Constabulary arrived at a track at a remote countryside field for the first time. Forensics: Catching the Killer s3e1: The Soham Murders, Sky Crime 2023
It had just been under two weeks since the small Cambridgeshire town of Soham and most of the world’s media had been desperately waiting for two little girls to come home. ibid.
‘Such an ordinary nondescript little place on a sunny afternoon in August. It’s difficult to believe they could go missing.’ ibid. reporter
From that day the whole world would know of Soham where two ten-year-old girls, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells went for a walk but didn’t come home. ibid.
His name was Ian Huntley. He was thought to be the last person to have seen and spoken to Jessica before they disappeared. ibid.
Ian Huntley was now on the radar of journalists. Police however had been suspicious of him from the start. ibid.
Finally, evidence pointed to one location and one man. ibid.
While this interview was taking place, Chris’s team was simultaneously questioning Ian Huntley’s girlfriend, Maxine Carr. ibid.
16th August 2002: girls’ clothing found. ibid.
18th August 2002: Recovery of bodies. ibid.
A compelling case for prosecutors. And most of it had come from the very place Huntley had chosen to leave Jessica and Holly. It was the nature there: pollen, spores, soil and microfossils which bore witness to Ian Huntley’s crime and which he unwittingly brought back into the hands of investigators. ibid.
It was a crime that horrified the nation … Now we step inside the courtroom. A caretaker charged with double murder. The Soham Murder Trial, Channel 5 2024
I remember Maxine Carr as being a very cowed broken individual. ibid. journalist
For the first time Huntley admits he was in the house with the girls. ibid.
After nearly six weeks in court the jury are sent out to reach their verdict. ibid.
HUPP, PAM [see Miscarriages of Justice: Russ Faria]: People Magazine Investigates TV - Toronto Sun online - True Crime Recaps 2022 -
An incredible saga in a small town continues to grab national headlines. People Magazine Investigates s6e12: Infamous Pam Hupp, ID 2023
Betsy [Faria] goes to her weekly chemo session like normal … After her chemo treatment Betsy would go to my mom’s house for a short visit … Her friend Pam Hupp would take her home. ibid.
She [Betsy] had been stabbed multiple times and there was a black-handled kitchen knife sticking out of the left side of her neck … Definitely a homicide … 55 stab wounds. ibid. rozzer
Russ Faria’s was convicted of murdering his wife Betsy. ibid.
This time [retrial] the judge sides with the defense. ibid.
Then detectives learned the identity of the female 911 caller [shot supposed home invader]: Pam Hupp. ibid.
Detectives decide to re-examine all the evidence. ibid.
Police say Hupp lured victim into scheme to divert attention in Faria case. ibid. newspaper headline
Hupp stabs herself repeatedly while in custody. ibid.
Police haven’t charged Pam in her mother’s suspicious death. ibid.