Moors murderer Ian Brady, who killed five children with Myra Hindley, died yesterday in a high-security hospital aged 79. In north-west England, the couple violently kidnapped, molested and murdered the children between July 1963 and October 1965.
The children were, Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans, and were aged between 10 and 17. In 2001, Brady's book was published by American firm, Feral House. It was called The Gates of Janus: Serial Killing and Its Analysis, and was met with outcry in Britain. In the book Brady explores human violence and critiques other serial killers.
The hospital where Brady was held, Ashworth Psychiatric Hospital, won an injunction to prevent the book being published in Britain, at the time.
David Schmid is an English professor at the University of Buffalo in New York. He is the author of Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture and The Secrets of Great Mystery and Suspense Fiction. David is in Auckland to speak at the Auckland Writers Festival and to give a talk on Brady's book, at the University of Auckland.
Mug shots of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in October 1965. Photo: Wikipedia
