Moors murderer Ian Brady made dying demand his ‘secret files which could point to victim Keith Bennett’s grave’ be taken from his room and locked away
CHILD killer Ian Brady demanded his locked files be seized from his room and stashed away as he lay in his deathbed.
Brady, 79, who - alongside depraved girlfriend Myra Hindley - murdered and tortured five children, died in May.
The Moors Murderer never revealed where he buried Keith Bennett, 12, despite desperate appeals from the child's mum Winnie Johnson.
But it was hoped letters and maps would be released today to finally help police point to victim Keith's grave - the only victim whose remains have never been found.
The serial killer kept notes, maps and pictures of Saddleworth Moor in his secret collection.
Brady's inquest heard today that one of his last requests was for two locked briefcases to be taken from his room and kept hidden away.
Dr Noir Thomas told the hearing: "These were sealed by security staff and locked in the director of security’s office.”
It remains unclear what is in the briefcases taken away from his hospital room.
The inquest at Bootle Town Hall heard the serial killer died of heart failure on May 15 and his death was "predictable, irreversible and inevitable".
Dr Thomas revealed the Moors Murderer had vile sexual desires including paedophilia and sadism.
Lifting the lid on the killer's life behind bars, the consultant forensic psychiatrist said Brady was plagued by paranoia and often refused to take anti-psychotic medication.
Brady staged a hunger strike on and off for 32 years and had "intractable narcissism".
But the hearing, which lasted 45 minutes, failed to reveal what happened to his body.
In May, the coroner said that Brady's ashes could not be scattered on Saddleworth Moor where four of his five victims were found.
Coroner Christopher Sumner today ruled he died of natural causes and dismissed neglect and self-neglect as contributing factors.
The monster, who died in Ashworth Hospital, Merseyside, after a cancer battle, requested his photos and paintings be sold.
Last night experts had hoped the new information would emerge today which could potentially finally solve the mystery.
Erica Gregory, who has spent years investigating the Moors murders, told the : "He had boxes of letters that could hold the key.
“Over the years, several people wrote to him but there will be dozens in there from Myra Hindley and [Hindley's brother-in-law] David Smith.
“These ones will have clues in that could help lead us to Keith – clues Brady wanted to keep to himself.
“I would love to see them and see what I can pull out.
"I really hope they are released to the public.”
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.
He pursued new interests in a bid to “better himself” – building up a library of books on Nazi Germany, sadism and sexual perversion.
Brady first met Myra Hindley when she worked as a secretary at the same company in Manchester where he was working as a stores clerk.
It was love at first sight and Brady impressed her by reading Mein Kampf in the original German.
On July 12, 1963, Brady told Hindley he wanted to “commit his perfect murder”.
He told her to drive a van around the local area while he followed on his motorbike.
After spotting Pauline Reade, 16, the couple stopped and Hindley asked her if she would help her locate an expensive glove she had lost on the Moor.
Hindley claimed Brady then took Pauline on to the Moor, where he slashed her throat twice and sexually assaulted her.
Brady claims that Hindley helped.
On November 23, 1963, Hindley approached John Kilbride in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancs, and offered him a lift home.
Brady told the 12-year-old he would give him some sherry, but they would have to make a detour on the Moor first.
He sexually assaulted the youngster and attempted to slit his throat with a six-inch serrated blade before strangling him with a piece of string.
Keith Bennett, 12, was on his way to his grandmother’s house on June 16, 1964, when Hindley lured him into her van.
She drove to a lay-by on the Moor and Brady took the boy while Hindley kept watch.
Brady reappeared 30 minutes later having sexually assaulted and strangled Keith.
His body was never found.
In search of another victim, the couple visited a fairground on Boxing Day, 1964, and came across Lesley Ann Downey.
They approached the 10-year-old and lured her back to their house, where she was undressed, gagged and forced to pose for photographs before being raped and killed.
The following morning Brady and Hindley drove with Downey’s body to Saddleworth Moor, where she was buried, naked with her clothes at her feet, in a shallow grave.
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How monster's health deteriorated
The exact cause of Brady’s ill health has not been revealed.
However he was a heavy smoker for years.
In December he claimed to be suffering a lung and chest condition.
He said in a letter: "I’m still bedridden and have been for over two years.
"It is terminal."
On 6 October 1965 Brady met 17-year-old apprentice engineer Edward Evans at Manchester Central railway station.
He invited him to his home where Brady beat him to death with an axe.
David Smith - who was married to Hindley's sister - stopped the Moors murderers after he saw Brady killing Evans.
He called the cops and became the prosecution's chief witness against the evil duo.
Eventually Brady and Hindley were arrested and then jailed for life for three murders in 1966.
They also later confessed to the others. Hindley died in hospital aged 60 in 2002.
In 1985, Brady was transferred from jail to Ashworth.
He has been on suicide watch for years and went on hunger strike in 1999 in protest at being declared insane.
Since then he has been kept alive by being force fed a liquid diet by nasal tube.
In 2013, Brady forced a £250,000 mental health tribune in which he claimed he was no longer a paranoid schizophrenic and should be moved to a jail in his native Scotland and allowed to die.
But he lost the ruling and was returned to Ashworth.
Brady, who died of cancer on May 15, had been getting round-the-clock care from cancer nurses.
Hindley died in West Suffolk Hospital in November 2002, aged 60, after she suffered a heart attack.
She was a 40-a-day-smoker and three years earlier had been diagnosed with angina.
A PROFOUND INHUMANITY
By BRIAN MASTERS, Criminologist
At the Moors Murders trial they played the tape Ian Brady made of the screams of Lesley Anne Downey as she begged for her life and called for her mummy.
In court Brady was asked why did you make two copies of that tape, which was found in the left luggage locker at Manchester railway station?
Brady replied: “Because it was interesting and unusual.”
This illustrates perfectly his profound inhumanity.
Brady could not understand why the question was asked.
He was a psychopath – totally beyond human moral understanding.
Throughout his life he never understood the emotional impact of his actions.
Brady buried all his victims by himself.
The reason he did not reveal the location of the last of his six victims, Keith Bennett, is because he simply did not care.
His refusal to reveal to Keith’s family where the body is buried means, I fear, that sadly he will never be found.
Brady did not care about the heartache of the families and their need for closure. He only cared about himself.