[136], On 1 December, Huntley testified before the court in his defence. This four-minute phone call escalated into a heated argument, culminating in Huntley angrily terminating the phone call after she informed him of her intentions to socialise in Grimsby that evening. [221] This resulted in his hospitalisation and a thorough search of his cell, in which a cassette tape was recovered. This vehicle was last seen turning into the Studlands Park housing estate. In 2015 it was reported that Nicola and Kevin had moved back into the home that held so many precious memories of their beloved daughter. She preferred to do what she could to make the best of the position she was in. Latham stated neither body showed signs of compressive neck injuries, knife wounds, drugging or poisoning, and that both girls had most likely died of asphyxiation. 15 August 2002[61], At about 12:30p.m. on 17 August,[62] a 48-year-old gamekeeper named Keith Pryer discovered the bodies of both girls lying side by side in a 5-foot (1.5m) deep irrigation ditch close to a pheasant pen near the perimeter fence of RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk,[63] more than 10 miles (16km) east of Soham. ", "Police Reveal Horrors of Bodies in Ditch", "Last Farewell: Holly Buried in Private Service with Flowers from The Beckhams; Jessica is Laid to Rest 24 Hours Earlier as The Two Families Grieve Alone", "Police Identify Holly and Jessica's Bodies", "Soham Murders: Why Did Ian Huntley Kill Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman? Holly and Jessica's families still live in Soham. [138] The bath was already filled with water as he had been cleaning his dog that afternoon. [192][195][n 14], While Capp resided with her mother in Grimsby, she unofficially adopted the surname Benson. [125][126][6], At a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey on 16 June 2003, Huntley pleaded not guilty to the charges of murdering Wells and Chapman, and guilty to the charge both stood accused of: conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Coronation Street: Killer twist for rapist Aaron when Tracy finds out? [68] ", "Caretaker Charged With Murder of Two Girls and Sent to Rampton", "Holly and Jessica: Two Bodies Found in Woods", "The Whole Town is Weeping: A Community Dazed by Grief and Disbelief", "Chatroom Contact Dismissed as False Lead", "Reconstruction of Children's Walk Too Painful for Parents to Watch", "Walking in the Last Known Footsteps of Holly and Jessica", "Abduction of Six-year-old May be Linked to Missing Girls", "A Long Night Waiting for News That Never Came", "Countdown to Murder of 'Two Little Beckhams', "Soham Murders: Why did Ian Huntley Kill Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman? Messages and flowers in remembrance of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells lie on the ground August 18, 2002 outside St Andrew's Church in Soham,. "[111] Despite these revelations, Carr initially remained emotionally attached to Huntley and professed her belief in his innocence to both the police and her family. [192], In February 1999, Huntley met 22-year-old Maxine Carr in a Grimsby nightclub. [96], When questioned about his failure to call emergency services and subsequent, extensive efforts to destroy evidence and divert suspicion from himself, Huntley insisted he had first become preoccupied with whether the police and public would believe the girls' deaths had been accidental, and he had decided to conceal all evidence of the deaths as opposed to either notifying police or paramedics. Ian Huntley brutally murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in the Soham murders of 2002 - and persuaded his girlfriend Maxine Carr to cover for him. "[28], Suspecting the children had been kidnapped, investigators questioned every registered sex offender in Cambridgeshire and neighbouring Lincolnshire. It was not until 8 p.m. that Holly's parents found out she was missing. [110] She had therefore later agreed to concoct a false story with her partner to support his version of events. [13], The precise events after the girls entered 5 College Close are unknown, but investigators believe sections of Huntley's later claims in initial interviews granted to the media prior to his arrest and his later trial testimonysuch as that he had been cleaning his dog at the time the girls passed by his house around 6:30p.m. and that one girl had been suffering from a nosebleedmay have been true. The family had just arrived home from a sunshine holiday before Jessica rushed round to see her friend at the barbecue at her house. [121][122] On 8 October, Huntley was deemed mentally competent to stand trial.[122]. DESCRIPTIONOn the 4th of August 2002, best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared from the small town of Sohom in England.One of England's bigge. Sharon and Leslie have kept their grief largely private. None were alive when Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman died on this day 20 years ago . [82], In a reference to Huntley's claims both girls' deaths had been accidental, Latham stated that "only one person knows what happened" after the friends entered his home. [162] The bullying Huntley endured escalated when he entered Healing Comprehensive School aged 11, resulting in his academic performance waning. [139] In the bathroom, he had slipped and accidentally knocked Wells into his bath while helping her stanch her nosebleed, and this unintentional act had caused her to drown as he "panicked and froze". These disclosures revealed that not only had police failed to pursue numerous previous criminal complaints of sexual offences against underage girls and young women by Huntley, but he had then secured a job in Soham allowing him access to children. Two girls go missing in August of 2002, leaving their community reeling. [242] This recommendation later led to the foundation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority. [24] One of these officers observed three vertical scratches on Huntley's left jaw, each measuring approximately three centimetres (1.2in), which he claimed had been recently inflicted by his dog. The Bichard Inquiry Report of 2004 was commissioned by the government following the conviction of Ian Huntley for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2003. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Testimony from Carr had indicated her suspicions sexual activity had occurred in their home in her absence as, although Huntley had insisted throughout their relationship that Carr perform all domestic chores, she noticed that he had washed the quilts, pillow cases and sheets of their bed in her absence. Heartbreak of Ian Huntleys daughter as father shows no remorse for Holly and Jessicas murder, Ian Huntleys jail term run-in with Yorkshire Ripper, suicide attempts and a near-fatal stabbing, Peter Andre issues strict rule for daughter Princess as she lands massive modeling contract, Eamonn Holmes fans baffled over his unrecognisable appearance in new photo as they make plea. Ian was sentenced to life sentences. By Huntley's own later admission, he had become sexually frustrated, and had unsuccessfully attempted to persuade a married colleague to date him on the weekend Carr visited her mother in Grimsby. His explanation for this was that he wanted to convey to the media the frustration and despair the community was feeling. She had shunned the company of boys as a child, but as a teenager cravedbut seldom receivedthe attention of boys her age, occasionally leading to bouts of binge eating[190] in addition to her developing the habit of self-harming. Shortly before the two returned to College Close,[58] a neighbour of Carr's mother named Marion Clift saw the couple standing at the rear of the vehicle, with the boot open. [81], The inquest into the children's deaths was held at Shire Hall, Cambridge, on 23 August 2002. Leslie, meanwhile, was due to start work at a new engineering job on Monday August 5 the day after his daughter and her friend went missing. We suggest that this whole business in the house was motivated by something sexual. [189], By the time Capp entered adolescence, she was slightly overweight, leading her to become insecure about her physical appearance. Jessica Chapmans parents, Leslie and Sharon, have rarely spoken publicly about the murder. [78] This service was attended by about 2,000 people, including the girls' classmates, teachers and the six family liaison officers who had provided 24-hour service for both families. [180] The youngest girl Huntley is known to have raped was 12 years old, with another girl he had attempted to rape being 11. "[155], On 29 September 2005 High Court judge Mr Justice Moses announced that Huntley must remain in prison until he had served a minimum of 40 years' imprisonment; a term which would not allow parole eligibility until 2042, by which time he would be 68 years old. None were alive when Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman died on this day 20 years ago . She was murdered alongside her best friend, Jessica Chapman. Almost two weeks after Holly and Jessica went missing, their bodies were found - dumped in a ditch and badly burned. "[225], Carr was released on probation from HM Prison Foston Hall on 14 May 2004 after serving a total of 21 months' imprisonment (including the 16 months she had been detained while on remand). [207][n 16] No background check was conducted before or after this job interview,[108] and although Huntley lacked extensive experience in this form of employment, his application for this position was successful. Best friends Holly and Jessica were just 10 years . He further elaborated that a deciding factor to dispose of the bodies in this particular location had been that RAF Lakenheath was just two miles from the home of his disabled grandmother, and that if eyewitnesses spotted his vehicle, he could falsely claim his purpose for being in this vicinity had been his decision to visit his grandmother. Rating: PG. Following a heated argument in mid-1979, Shirley ordered her husband to leave the household. This cassette tape contains a very different account of the murders of Wells and Chapman than that to which Huntley had testified at his trial. The girls were big David Beckham fans and were wearing matching red Manchester United tops with his name on when . He conceded his client was guilty of physical responsibility for the girls' actual deathsas Huntley had admittedand therefore deserved punishment, but argued that the prosecution had failed to provide definitive proof that Huntley had intended to murder the children or cause them bodily harm. Both services were held at St Andrew's parish church and officiated by Tim Alban Jones, and the girls were buried in adjacent graves in Soham's Fordham Road Cemetery, following ceremonies attended by only family and close friends. The Wells family still live in Soham, the village where Holly was killed. e-mail; 18. shares. In August 2002, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells attended a family barbecue at Holly's house and after the barbecue they left Holly's home at around 6.15pm to buy sweets from the vending machine at . Both girls had been missing for thirteen days when their bodies were found, and their corpses were in an advanced state of decomposition.