It's 20 years since the murder of 10-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman horrified the nation. Ian Huntley, now 48, was a caretaker at a secondary school in Soha. Humberside Police said he was reported to them eight times by alleged victims, and he was also arrested once for failure to appear at court. He denied guilt to the formal charges of two counts of murder. READ MORE: The best true crime podcasts to listen to, WATCH: Martin Lewis tells everyone to do these three things before energy prices rocket, Click here for the latest TV, celebrity and showbiz headlines, Holly Wells (left) and her best friend Jessica Chapman were murdered by Ian Huntley. Holly and Jessica's bodies were not discovered for a further two weeks, on August 17 2002, in what was an agonising time for their families. 20 years on from the Soham murders, the Times' Sean O'Neill reflects on their impact. Professor Patricia Wiltshire on how pollen can solve crimes. His girlfriend Maxine Carr was also jailed in 2003 after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice for giving him a false alibi. 8.30pm: Holly's parents, Nicola and Kevin Wells, think the girls are playing upstairs but go to . England and Wales company registration number 2008885. New Channel 5 Documentary Looks At Chilling Case Of Ian Huntley Share your email to get all the latest Court and Crime news from Birmingham Live directly to your inbox. Today marks 20 years since Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman lost their lives at the hands of evil killer Ian Huntley . He evidently lured the girls into his house, stating that his girlfriend, Maxine Carr the girls teaching assistant at St Andrews Primary School was also present in the house. Radio 4 in Four - How pollen cracked these mysteries - BBC In 2007, Ian finally confessed that he is a paedophile. The courts handed her a new secret identity amid concerns she would be attacked. Maxine was the girls teaching assistant at St Andrews Primary School, the school Holly and Jessica attended. Sharon and Leslie have kept their grief largely private. And the intensity of your grief does diminish as the years pass., He added: Grief Encounter helped us learn how to manage our grief and that is why I will never stop supporting this charity.. 31st January 1974: Ian Huntley is born in Grimsby. Unsolved Mysteries. Channel 5 documentary looks at Soham murder case 20 years on But what they hadnt located was the approach path. In press photographs the police also noticed new tyres on Huntley's car and when they tracked down the old ones, found forensic evidence linking the car to the area the girls bodies were disposed of. But that comes back to training and desire. However, it wasn't until August 17, 2002, that their bodies were discovered. Patricia Wiltshire - Wikipedia 60 min | Documentary. On 4th August 2002, Ian Huntley murdered 10-year-old friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Read about our approach to external linking. Maxine overlooked his controlling and abusive behaviour, because she was besotted with him. And thats the kind of girl she was. She gave me this with a poem on the inside saying to a special teaching assistant really, and well miss her a lot and well see her in the future. Ian Huntley was convicted of the murders of both Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman on December 17, 2003. The chief constable of Humberside Police admitted that the force made several mistakes before clearing Ian Huntley to work with children in Soham. Is a Sling TV free trial still available? In one interview Huntley, 48, gave a detailed account when asked how the girls might react to a stranger. Soham murders: the full story | Daily Mail Online The judge said: "You murdered them both. Finally, episode one documents the moment local man Ian Huntley became the prime suspect in the case. True Crime | Netflix Official Site Forensic scientist Dr Mark Spencer explains why brambles are a useful tool in his work. His house was searched by a single police officer on August 05. The murder took its toll on their marriage for a while, the pair have admitted. Twenty years ago a community was ripped apart when Soham murderer Ian Huntley brutally killed schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Documentary. She walked along the perimeter of the field and what she saw simply didnt match the pollen profile she had found in the vehicle. It was one, almost two years before we found each other again, but grief gives you a different sense of the passage of time and it slipped by unnoticed.. Noticing Holly and Jessicas matching Manchester United shirts, he told his wife they looked like two little Beckhams. He was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment, with the High Court later setting 40 years as the minimum term to be served. Dennis Nilsen arriving at Highgate Magistrates Court in 1983 (Credit: PA) The brave teenager waived her anonymity to speak publicly about the monsters impact on her familys life. Maxine Carr on BBC's Look East after Holly and Jessica's disappearance (Image: Channel 5). Ian claimed that Holly had suffered a nosebleed and he had offered to help staunch the blood loss. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk, Fenland bosses fly staff of two companies to Spain for thank-you treat, David Landon Cole writes about his year as Huntingdon's mayor, MP Steve Barclay pays Chatteris firm a fact finding visit, Care home supports food bank with large donation, My Story: read how Levi recovered from a traumatic brain injury, Book lovers celebrate 20th anniversary of Cambridge Literary Festival, AI chatbots 'may soon be more intelligent than us', Russia troop deaths hit 20,000 in five months - US, Palestinian hunger striker dies in Israel prison, 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult', On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. Every contact leaves a trace, as the saying goes, says palynologist Professor Patricia Wiltshire. Wednesday December 17 2003. Police officers and members of the local . The reporter recalled Huntley was quite agitated and emotional during the interview. Patricia assessed the area, and she could detect what wasnt immediately obvious to the untrained eye. Them and Finding You actor Natalie Britton will star as tabloid journalist Jane Kerrigan while Kate OToole, Barry John Kinsella and The Vikings actor Laurence Foster also feature. As the verdicts came in, it emerged Huntley, 29, had been accused of having sex with underage girls and of rape several times in the past. "The research team worked so hard to create a timeline of events that was as accurate as possible so we could tell this story truthfully.". This story focuses on Huntley and Carr's difficult relationship and examines why she decided to lie for him, which led to her imprisonment in 2003 for perverting the course of justice. Forensic botany can be a useful tool in investigating violent crime. When told about Huntley's past contact with the police and social services, Rev Alban Jones said had that been known he would not have been employed at the school. Ian Kevin Huntley was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, on January 31 1974. They never came home. They have stayed out of the spotlight, and tried to protect their remaining two children. She established that pollen found on Huntley's shoes and his car exactly matched the type at the scene. The two ten-year-old girls, who were best friends, vanished from a family barbecue at Holly's house in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on 4 August 2002. Huntley had admitted Holly and Jessica had died at his home and he dumped their bodies, but claimed it was an accident. At around 8pm, Hollys mum Nicola realised the girls were missing. On 4th August 2002, 10-year-old school friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman left a family BBQ, in matching Manchester United football shirts, to buy sweets. Ian Huntley ''The Soham Murderer''. The girls went missing from Soham, Cambridgeshire. He described them as being happy as Larry. He admitted sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl called Hailey Giblin. Steve Edge as a journalist Brian Farmer hunting the big story in Maxine. These officers conducted extensive house-to-house enquiries across Soham. He also starred in Line of Duty, Still Game, Carnival Row and Deadwater Fell, plus he played Nigel in the 2020 movie The Forgotten Battle. Terrorism Close Calls. In the bathroom, Ian had slipped and accidentally knocked Holly Wells into his full bath, he claimed. In fact, police arrested Ian Huntley on suspicion of raping an 18-year-old woman in 1998. Two weeks later the girls burnt bodies were discovered by walkers next to a dirt track, approximately 40 miles away. Huntley is sentenced to . Dark Land: Hunting the Killers. More than 400 officers searched full-time for the girls in Operation Fincham. It delves into Maxines tumultuous relationship with Huntley, examines why she lied to the police for him and shows how she came to be regarded as "the most hated woman in Britain".