Cracking the Case
Throughout the police investigation there where many possible leads as to what had happened to Holly and Jessica, the last known sighting of Holly and Jessica was at 18:30pm when they were seen walking along Sand Street by a member of the public. False leads where given to the police into the investigation of the missing girls which were followed up by the police, these being; when a women spotted two girls walking past her house on the main A10 road on the 5th of August 06:45 am, when a jogger tells the police that on Sunday the 4th of August between 22:40pm and 23:10pm he heard what he believed was teenagers screaming, when the police seized a white van 10 miles from Soham as they believed it had something to do with the disappearance of the two girls, when two men were arrested as they refused to cooperate in the investigation and when they had a possible sighting of the girls when a taxi driver seen another motorist struggling with two kids as he swerved across the A142 out of Soham. Through following up with each of these five leads it was clear that there was no proof to link them to the disappearance of Holly and Jessica and the police where then left without any further leads.
Due to having no evidence at the beginning of the case to bring a suspect in for questioning the police had no exact leads into the disappearance of Holly and Jessica. When important pieces of evidence where eventually found by the police Ian Huntley was linked to the case, Ian Huntley helped within the investigation of the missing girls as he was seen on SKY News with his girlfriend Maxine Carr appealing for both girls to come home safely. He also volunteered to help at the incident room and was seen comforting both the parents of Holly and Jessica. Huntley admitted to the police voluntarily that he had seen the girls on the day of their disappearance but stated they had left his company and didn’t know what had happened to them after his sighting, due to him being exceptionally close to the case the police didn’t believe he was a suspect. When appealing for the missing girls on SKY News it was noted that Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr where speaking about the children in the past tense and his body language gave off many signs when being interviewed outside his home, the news reporter analysed this and informed the police although this was not sufficient enough evidence to bring either of them in for questioning. Evidence was found in a small building outside of Soham College, police identified Huntley as having keys to this building as they were earlier found at Huntleys home address when it was searched by police. Within this building important pieces of evidence were found which were later able to prove what had happened to Holly and Jessica, located inside the building was a bin; pieces of clothing belonging to both girls where found partially cut and burned. These pieces of clothing where further analysed and DNA samples where found that belonged to Huntley, these DNA samples consisted of finger prints and hair strands. Huntley denied having any access to the building but due to the police earlier finding the keys within his home they were able to follow up an investigation on him. After this evidence was found it was justified that the police didn’t need to look for any further suspects as it was clear that Ian Huntley played a big role in their disappearance and the death of both girls.
Huntleys past convictions weren’t analysed by the police when looking for further leads within the investigation before any evidence was found. If the police had done this they would have identified that Huntley shouldn’t have been working as a caretaker in Soham College as he had been charged in the past as being a sex offender they would have also seen Huntley as a lead within the investigation which could have helped them reach a verdict quicker. His past convictions also weren’t identified by Soham College when applying for the job as this would have resulted in him not being employed. Huntley was earlier seen to have an interest in younger girls when he was spotted with a 13 year old at the age of 18. In 1994 Ian Huntley met 18 year old Claire Evans, this relationship later followed with a marriage this marriage was short lived and Claire left Ian to move in with his younger brother Wayne. Ian refused to grant his wife a divorce preventing her to marry his brother, in 1999 Ian finally gave in and allowed the divorce to go ahead. Following the end of his marriage Huntley moved continuously from one flat to another constantly changing jobs; he then began a relationship with a 15 year old girl in which she fell pregnant with his daughter. Through a police inquiry it was noted that between 1995 and 2001 Huntley had sexual contacts with eleven underage girls between the ages of eleven and seventeen. Within 1998 Huntley appeared in Grimsby Crown Court on two occasions one being that he was charged with burgling a neighbour’s home and the other being that he was charged with the rape of an 18 year old girl in Grimsby, both of these cases didn’t make it to court due to the lack of evidence they both held. In February 1999 Huntley then met Maxine Carr, which embarked on them moving in together after a month of them being in a relationship, in 2001 Huntley and Carr moved to Littleport near Soham where Huntley became manager of the caretakers at Soham College. Due to the evidence of Huntley and Carr speaking about the girls in the past tense on a new report and Huntley holding eleven sexual contacts with under aged girls the police's conclusion was justified to look into Huntley and if he was involved in the case of the missing girls.
The bodies were a key pieces of evidence to link Huntley to the murders, they were found in Woodlands near an air force base on the 17th of August 2002. Huntley and Carr were later arrested at 4am through the findings of the bodies and the sufficient evidence to link them to this. As both bodies where burnt they consisted of more flesh left on the bottom half of the bodies than the top most/ all organs had decomposed due to the burning of them. The bodies where examined to see how they had been burnt and a petrol fluid was lifted from them to be further examined through forensic analysis, both a autopsy and test for sexual assault where carried out on the bodies. The autopsy wasn't able to predict the cause of death due to little amount of flesh being left behind, but there was no evidence to state sexual assault had occurred. Ian and Maxine both gave witness statements admitting to have seen the girls that day but said they didn't know where they had went after this, as the girls where passing by Huntleys home he had described them as being "happy as Larry". Huntley was interviewed on other occasions while police where gathering witness statements it was known that Huntley cried through these interviews blaming himself on not knowing where the children were heading. There were other pieces of key evidence although none were able to be linked to the killings of Holly and Jessica. It had appeared that Huntley had changed the tyres on his car and replaced the lining in the boot with a new carpet, due to where the bodies had been found this made the police question on why he had changed the tyres. Did he transport the bodies through his car and had to remove all vital evidence, which could have been tyre tracks as well as pieces of the scene being left on the tyres. If the police's predictions were true and he did transport the bodies to the field this will mean that he done this through the boot, it was shown that he removed all evidence from the boot of the car to ensure there were no traces left behind. A petrol can was also found located in the trunk of the car, due to the bodies being burnt it was believed that the fluid from inside the can was the same used to burn the bodies. CCTV footage showed Ian purchasing the fluid from a nearby garage which proved that he did burn the bodies due to the type of fluid he was seen purchasing.
The Soham Murder trial for Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr began on the 5th of November 2003, over one year after Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells where murdered. This trial was justified due to the high amounts of evidence that where able to link Huntley to the bodies and clothing of the victims. Huntley denied all charges and said he had nothing to do with the murder or either girls, although when the CPS released the evidence they had about Huntley to link him the double murder he changed his story. Huntley admitted that the girls did enter his house but he didn't intend to kill them, and that he was only part of Jessica's murder. He said that Holly Wells had died in the filled bath tub while controlling a nose bleed and that he had strangled Jessica while attempting to make her quiet but this was not deliberate. Although the police didn't believe this due to the lack of evidence to support it; if Holly had fell into the bath and drowned the t-shirt she was wearing would have had blood and water samples on it, these weren't shown. The judge and Jury called Ian a liar and said that what he was admitting to couldn't have been true. Huntley was integrated by Mr Latham that quoted "the only way Holly could have drowned in the bath is if you were holding her under water" Huntley then replied "I wasn't holding her". Holly Wells could have banged her head and drowned trying to control a nose bleed if there was no pressure pushing her under the water. Huntley was then asked by Mr Latham "you watched Holly drown?" Huntley replied "I just froze" Mr Latham then replied by saying "Jessica would have pulled her friends head out of the bath". Huntley was described as "rattled" when Mr Latham questioned him about his story. Huntley's story wasn't believed by anyone due to his past convictions and the way he tried to cover the double murder up, he was jailed for at least 40 years and is still serving time there is little possibility he will leave prison throughout his life. To this day Ian Huntley still shows a lack of remorse to his victims’ families and hasn't apologised for his actions, he walks around jail in a replica of the Manchester United shirt both girls wore when they were murdered which shows disrespect.
Maxine Carr was also questioned on the 5th of November 2003 in court; this was for perverting the course of justice. Maxine gave Huntley a false alibi clamming she was with him at the time of the murders when she was in fact away visiting family. As Huntley was being question he quoted that Maxine did not know that he had killed Holly and Jessica, Maxine was question by Mr Coward and admitted to him that she was "trying to make Ian look better than he actually is". She stood up in court and said "he is an abusive man that controls you" Maxine made out to the judge and jury that Ian had made her give a witness statement for him but this has never been actually confirmed. It was seen that Maxine was in love with Ian and would do anything he said, she also made out she was made to do this by saying "I was conscious I was going home to that man at the end of the day" if Maxine were to tell the police the correct story Ian would have been arrested and may never have seen Maxine again. This shows Maxine's story didn't add up, Maxine was also not believed by either the jury or judge and was jailed for three and a half years but was granted bail in May 2004; due to Carr being in danger through her actions she was given a new identity and was protected by the High Court.
The conclusion reached by the police was highly justified due to the amount of evidence there was to link Ian Huntley to the murder of the two girls, the DNA samples that linked Huntley to the clothing of the girls was able to prove that Huntley had lied to the police by saying he didn't know what had happened to them after they wandered off from out side his home on the night of there disappearance. By also examining Ian's past the police where able to see that Ian should have been a suspect into the case of the missing girls, but due to this being missed they where highly criticized by other police forces. Due to being criticized for this it was important there was no more mistakes made within the investigation which allowed the police to reach the right conclusion, that one Huntley was identified as being involved in the case there was no more leads to look for. The arrest of Maxine Carr was also highly justified as the police had evidence to prove she was perverting the course of justice due to giving Huntley a false alibi for the night of the disappearance of both young girls. If the police where to see Huntley as a suspect and follow up from the leads they had of SKY News and his past life they would have been given a quicker conclusion to the case and Huntley would have been prosecuted quicker due to the high amount of evidence they would have found.
Due to having no evidence at the beginning of the case to bring a suspect in for questioning the police had no exact leads into the disappearance of Holly and Jessica. When important pieces of evidence where eventually found by the police Ian Huntley was linked to the case, Ian Huntley helped within the investigation of the missing girls as he was seen on SKY News with his girlfriend Maxine Carr appealing for both girls to come home safely. He also volunteered to help at the incident room and was seen comforting both the parents of Holly and Jessica. Huntley admitted to the police voluntarily that he had seen the girls on the day of their disappearance but stated they had left his company and didn’t know what had happened to them after his sighting, due to him being exceptionally close to the case the police didn’t believe he was a suspect. When appealing for the missing girls on SKY News it was noted that Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr where speaking about the children in the past tense and his body language gave off many signs when being interviewed outside his home, the news reporter analysed this and informed the police although this was not sufficient enough evidence to bring either of them in for questioning. Evidence was found in a small building outside of Soham College, police identified Huntley as having keys to this building as they were earlier found at Huntleys home address when it was searched by police. Within this building important pieces of evidence were found which were later able to prove what had happened to Holly and Jessica, located inside the building was a bin; pieces of clothing belonging to both girls where found partially cut and burned. These pieces of clothing where further analysed and DNA samples where found that belonged to Huntley, these DNA samples consisted of finger prints and hair strands. Huntley denied having any access to the building but due to the police earlier finding the keys within his home they were able to follow up an investigation on him. After this evidence was found it was justified that the police didn’t need to look for any further suspects as it was clear that Ian Huntley played a big role in their disappearance and the death of both girls.
Huntleys past convictions weren’t analysed by the police when looking for further leads within the investigation before any evidence was found. If the police had done this they would have identified that Huntley shouldn’t have been working as a caretaker in Soham College as he had been charged in the past as being a sex offender they would have also seen Huntley as a lead within the investigation which could have helped them reach a verdict quicker. His past convictions also weren’t identified by Soham College when applying for the job as this would have resulted in him not being employed. Huntley was earlier seen to have an interest in younger girls when he was spotted with a 13 year old at the age of 18. In 1994 Ian Huntley met 18 year old Claire Evans, this relationship later followed with a marriage this marriage was short lived and Claire left Ian to move in with his younger brother Wayne. Ian refused to grant his wife a divorce preventing her to marry his brother, in 1999 Ian finally gave in and allowed the divorce to go ahead. Following the end of his marriage Huntley moved continuously from one flat to another constantly changing jobs; he then began a relationship with a 15 year old girl in which she fell pregnant with his daughter. Through a police inquiry it was noted that between 1995 and 2001 Huntley had sexual contacts with eleven underage girls between the ages of eleven and seventeen. Within 1998 Huntley appeared in Grimsby Crown Court on two occasions one being that he was charged with burgling a neighbour’s home and the other being that he was charged with the rape of an 18 year old girl in Grimsby, both of these cases didn’t make it to court due to the lack of evidence they both held. In February 1999 Huntley then met Maxine Carr, which embarked on them moving in together after a month of them being in a relationship, in 2001 Huntley and Carr moved to Littleport near Soham where Huntley became manager of the caretakers at Soham College. Due to the evidence of Huntley and Carr speaking about the girls in the past tense on a new report and Huntley holding eleven sexual contacts with under aged girls the police's conclusion was justified to look into Huntley and if he was involved in the case of the missing girls.
The bodies were a key pieces of evidence to link Huntley to the murders, they were found in Woodlands near an air force base on the 17th of August 2002. Huntley and Carr were later arrested at 4am through the findings of the bodies and the sufficient evidence to link them to this. As both bodies where burnt they consisted of more flesh left on the bottom half of the bodies than the top most/ all organs had decomposed due to the burning of them. The bodies where examined to see how they had been burnt and a petrol fluid was lifted from them to be further examined through forensic analysis, both a autopsy and test for sexual assault where carried out on the bodies. The autopsy wasn't able to predict the cause of death due to little amount of flesh being left behind, but there was no evidence to state sexual assault had occurred. Ian and Maxine both gave witness statements admitting to have seen the girls that day but said they didn't know where they had went after this, as the girls where passing by Huntleys home he had described them as being "happy as Larry". Huntley was interviewed on other occasions while police where gathering witness statements it was known that Huntley cried through these interviews blaming himself on not knowing where the children were heading. There were other pieces of key evidence although none were able to be linked to the killings of Holly and Jessica. It had appeared that Huntley had changed the tyres on his car and replaced the lining in the boot with a new carpet, due to where the bodies had been found this made the police question on why he had changed the tyres. Did he transport the bodies through his car and had to remove all vital evidence, which could have been tyre tracks as well as pieces of the scene being left on the tyres. If the police's predictions were true and he did transport the bodies to the field this will mean that he done this through the boot, it was shown that he removed all evidence from the boot of the car to ensure there were no traces left behind. A petrol can was also found located in the trunk of the car, due to the bodies being burnt it was believed that the fluid from inside the can was the same used to burn the bodies. CCTV footage showed Ian purchasing the fluid from a nearby garage which proved that he did burn the bodies due to the type of fluid he was seen purchasing.
The Soham Murder trial for Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr began on the 5th of November 2003, over one year after Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells where murdered. This trial was justified due to the high amounts of evidence that where able to link Huntley to the bodies and clothing of the victims. Huntley denied all charges and said he had nothing to do with the murder or either girls, although when the CPS released the evidence they had about Huntley to link him the double murder he changed his story. Huntley admitted that the girls did enter his house but he didn't intend to kill them, and that he was only part of Jessica's murder. He said that Holly Wells had died in the filled bath tub while controlling a nose bleed and that he had strangled Jessica while attempting to make her quiet but this was not deliberate. Although the police didn't believe this due to the lack of evidence to support it; if Holly had fell into the bath and drowned the t-shirt she was wearing would have had blood and water samples on it, these weren't shown. The judge and Jury called Ian a liar and said that what he was admitting to couldn't have been true. Huntley was integrated by Mr Latham that quoted "the only way Holly could have drowned in the bath is if you were holding her under water" Huntley then replied "I wasn't holding her". Holly Wells could have banged her head and drowned trying to control a nose bleed if there was no pressure pushing her under the water. Huntley was then asked by Mr Latham "you watched Holly drown?" Huntley replied "I just froze" Mr Latham then replied by saying "Jessica would have pulled her friends head out of the bath". Huntley was described as "rattled" when Mr Latham questioned him about his story. Huntley's story wasn't believed by anyone due to his past convictions and the way he tried to cover the double murder up, he was jailed for at least 40 years and is still serving time there is little possibility he will leave prison throughout his life. To this day Ian Huntley still shows a lack of remorse to his victims’ families and hasn't apologised for his actions, he walks around jail in a replica of the Manchester United shirt both girls wore when they were murdered which shows disrespect.
Maxine Carr was also questioned on the 5th of November 2003 in court; this was for perverting the course of justice. Maxine gave Huntley a false alibi clamming she was with him at the time of the murders when she was in fact away visiting family. As Huntley was being question he quoted that Maxine did not know that he had killed Holly and Jessica, Maxine was question by Mr Coward and admitted to him that she was "trying to make Ian look better than he actually is". She stood up in court and said "he is an abusive man that controls you" Maxine made out to the judge and jury that Ian had made her give a witness statement for him but this has never been actually confirmed. It was seen that Maxine was in love with Ian and would do anything he said, she also made out she was made to do this by saying "I was conscious I was going home to that man at the end of the day" if Maxine were to tell the police the correct story Ian would have been arrested and may never have seen Maxine again. This shows Maxine's story didn't add up, Maxine was also not believed by either the jury or judge and was jailed for three and a half years but was granted bail in May 2004; due to Carr being in danger through her actions she was given a new identity and was protected by the High Court.
The conclusion reached by the police was highly justified due to the amount of evidence there was to link Ian Huntley to the murder of the two girls, the DNA samples that linked Huntley to the clothing of the girls was able to prove that Huntley had lied to the police by saying he didn't know what had happened to them after they wandered off from out side his home on the night of there disappearance. By also examining Ian's past the police where able to see that Ian should have been a suspect into the case of the missing girls, but due to this being missed they where highly criticized by other police forces. Due to being criticized for this it was important there was no more mistakes made within the investigation which allowed the police to reach the right conclusion, that one Huntley was identified as being involved in the case there was no more leads to look for. The arrest of Maxine Carr was also highly justified as the police had evidence to prove she was perverting the course of justice due to giving Huntley a false alibi for the night of the disappearance of both young girls. If the police where to see Huntley as a suspect and follow up from the leads they had of SKY News and his past life they would have been given a quicker conclusion to the case and Huntley would have been prosecuted quicker due to the high amount of evidence they would have found.