Updated on: March 7, 2026 / 10:40 AM EST / AP
One of Britain’s most notorious child killers died Saturday, days after being attacked by a fellow inmate in a maximum-security prison workshop.
Ian Huntley, 52, a former school caretaker convicted in 2003 of murdering two 10-year-old girls, had been on life support after being struck repeatedly over the head with a metal bar at Frankland prison in northeast England on Feb. 26.
Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman vanished from the village of Soham in eastern England on Aug. 4, 2002, after leaving a barbecue to buy sweets. For 13 days police and the public searched for the girls; their image in matching red Manchester United shirts dominated front pages as detectives mounted a major inquiry. Hikers eventually found the girls’ remains beside a path in a nearby wooded area.
“The murders remain one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our thoughts are with their families,” the U.K. Ministry of Justice said in a statement.
Huntley denied killing the girls but was convicted at London’s Central Criminal Court in 2003 and given a life sentence with a recommended minimum term of 40 years. While in custody he survived repeated attempts on his life and was kept under close protection. In 2010 another inmate slashed his throat.
At the time of the killings Huntley lived with Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant at the girls’ school, who provided him with a false alibi. Carr was jailed for 21 months for perverting the course of justice and is now living under a new identity.
British media reported that murderer and rapist Anthony Russell, 43, carried out the attack that led to Huntley’s death. Durham Constabulary is investigating the circumstances of the incident and preparing a file for the Crown Prosecution Service to consider charges.
