Myra Hindley The Moor Murderer Brooke Schoeffel “I ought to have been hanged. I deserved it. My crime was worse than Brady's because I enticed the children and they would never have entered the car without my role ... I have always regarded myself as worse than Brady”-Myra Hindley

Background Her father was an abusive alcoholic and a hard man and taught her how to fight When living with parents, lived in a small house and all slept in the same room Grew up in Manchester, London At the age of five, she was sent to live with her grandmother when her sister was born When she was eight, a boy scratched her and her father made her fight him or he would “leather” her She went back and beat the boy up At 15, her close friend asked her to go swimming. She declined, but he drowned She blamed herself for his death because she was a good swimmer and could have saved him if she was there. After her friend died, she left school converted to Roman Catholicism Was considered to be a very smart girl in school First job was a junior clerk Was really well liked, they even helped her replace her first check after she lost it Was engaged at 17, but broke it off because she thought he couldn’t provide her with the life she wanted At 18, she met Ian Brady and soon became infatuated and obsessed with him and completely submitted to him Wrote about him in her dairy a lot before and after they started dating

Not enough evidence for conviction Victim Date Crime Punishment Pauline Reade July 12, 1963 Luring Pauline and driving the van Speculation- assisting Brady in murderer and sexual assault Not enough evidence for conviction John Killbride November 23, 1963 Harboring Ian Brady, with knowledge of the murder Seven year sentence Keith Bennett June 16, 1964 Myra- Luring and driving the van Brady- murder and sexual assault Lesley Ann Downey December 26, 1964 Luring, murder, sexual assault, rape Life Sentence Edward Evans October 6, 1965 Murder

Most Recent Crime -Involved with Ian Brady in the murder and sexual assault of Lesley Ann Downey Charged with 1st Degree Murder -They lured the young girl (age 10) from the fair and then took her to their house to kill and rape her. Buried her in the Saddleworth moor

Evidence A 16 minute tape recording that has been confirmed to be the voices of Lesly Ann, Myra, and Ian. Recorded the events of that night Horrific to hear Photographs of Lesley Ann were found She was bound, gagged, and naked Photographs of Myra at the moor, near the graves, lead them to find Lesley’s body

Sentence Sentenced to life imprisonment Denied parole Served at Holloway Prison In 2002, she died of bronchial pneumonia at age 60

Cultural Reference Books: Movies Songs: Myra Hindley- Inside the Mind of A Murderess Jean Ritchie Beyond Belief in the Moors Murderers Emlyn Williams Movies Longford See No Evil: The Moors Murders Songs: Suffer Little Children The Smiths No One Is Innocent The Sex Pistols

Differential Association Theory It’s important to take the criminal’s background into consideration when analyzing their criminal deviance. The life that he/she lived, and their psychological state, is a very important factor when seeing how they act in the present. Myra Hindley, an accomplice in the ‘Moors Murders’, seems to show signs of the differential association theory. The differential association theory shows and proves that crime is learned from the interactions with people around you. Someone is more likely to become a criminal if the people or person they highly value or have a strong influence over them has criminal tendencies. Myra Hindley had completely given herself over to Ian Brady and was overly obsessed with him. She claimed that he could make her do anything. Before meeting Brady, Myra was well liked at work, coworkers even helping her replace her first check when she lost it. Many described her as a good kid in school as well. Myra became obsessed with Brady, even though she knew that he had already had a criminal record. The relationship started out with reading about crimes and Nazi atrocities aloud to one another and watching X-rated films. Myra had even said that Brady could convince her anything and she would believe it. She became completely submitted to him. Because of this commitment and Brady’s dream to complete the perfect murder, Myra would do anything for him, including becoming his partner in crime. It’s not hard to believe that the murder of the five children soon followed.

Vocab Sexual Assault-an incident that involves sexual contact that is forced on somebody 1st Degree Murder- an unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated, meaning that it was committed after planning Life imprisonment- a punishment in which somebody convicted of a crime must remain in prison for the rest of his or her life, or for a very lengthy period Parole- the release of a prisoner temporarily (for a special purpose) or permanently before the completion of a sentence, on the promise of good behavior Bronchial pneumonia- refers to a severe inflammation or swelling of the walls of the bronchioles