Mystery over Ian Brady’s missing letter which could finally reveal where he buried 12-year-old victim Keith Bennett
A MISSING letter reportedly penned by evil Ian Brady could hold the key to discovering where he buried Keith Bennett.
Monster Brady - who killed five children in the 1960s - died last night in Ashworth Hospital, Merseyside, aged 79.
The serial killer took the secret of where he buried 12-year-old Keith to his grave.
But twisted Brady is believed to have written a letter to Keith's mum Winnie Johnson - to be opened when he died.
The Moors Murderer's mental health advocate Jackie Powell claims she received the letter in a sealed envelope.
Most read in news
She told a Channel 4 documentary it should only be passed onto Winnie in the event of his death.
Police investigating the claims arrested Ms Powell on suspicion of preventing the lawful burial of a body.
Officers carried out a 10-hour search of her home near Llanelli, South Wales, and seized piles of documents.
Ms Powell was later released and no further action taken.
It is believed she told cops she had since returned the letter to Brady.
Greater Manchester Police today said Brady's death won't stop them acting on new information which could help them find Keith's body.
Keith was murdered by Brady and Myra Hindley on June 16, 1964.
In December 2012 police discovered an envelope with the words "to be opened in the event of my death" written on the front.
However, there was no letter inside.
Speaking in February 2013, Martin Bottomley, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "As soon as we were made aware of the existence of this alleged letter, we made exhaustive attempts to obtain it to establish whether or not its contents would assist us in finding Keith's body.
"That resulted in the warrants we carried out in the South Wales area and at Ashworth Hospital in August 2012.
"However, despite seizing numerous documents and a search of Brady's cell, no such letter has been recovered.
"That in itself does not prove or disprove the letter's existence - it might have been destroyed, it might be hidden elsewhere, it may be in someone else's possession, or it may simply never have existed in the first place and this has been yet more mindgames by Brady."
Winnie, of Manchester, died died from cancer in 2012 having never learnt the truth.
Brady never revealed where he buried Keith — the only victim whose remains are undiscovered.
The brother of Ian Brady victim John Kilbride last night told The Sun he felt “numb” when he heard the Moors Murderer had finally joined accomplice Myra Hindley in hell.
Terry Kilbride, 63, said: “It’s a lot to take in. It’s been years and years of anguish and pain for us and the families of the victims.
“But nothing will change. He’s dead but we will have to still live with the nightmare that he left behind.
“He’s ruined our lives all these years and he’ll still ruin it even though he’s gone. I feel numb.
“He was a murderous psychopath. There are no other words to describe what he was. A complete lunatic. Good riddance.
“I don’t drink, but I’ll have a pint.”
A spokesman for the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust said: "We can confirm a 79-year-old patient in long term care at Ashworth High Secure Hospital has died after becoming physically unwell."
Brady was not found dead in his room in the Merseyside unit, the spokesman said, but he was unable to confirm if anyone was with him when he died, adding: "Quite possibly. I don't know."
The crimes of Brady and Myra Hindley - who died in prison in 2002 - shocked the nation as details of how the pair snatched children off the street, abused and tortured them to death were recalled during their trial at Chester Assizes.
Brady escaped the hangman's noose as the death penalty was abolished just months earlier and was handed three life sentences.
The vile killer was born in Glasgow in 1938 and attended Shawlands Academy – a school for above-average pupils.
His violent personality was shaped by an unstable background.
His mother neglected him and he was raised by foster parents in the Gorbals – Glasgow’s toughest slum.
After a spree of petty crime as a teenager the courts sent him to Manchester to live with his mum and her new husband, Patrick Brady.
Ian took his stepfather’s name, continued his criminal activities and developed into a teenage alcoholic.