The mother of moors murder victim Keith Bennett has died, still not knowing where her son's body is buried.
By a tragic coincidence, her death comes just days after revelations that a bombshell letter written by Ian Brady supposedly reveals where he and Myra Hindley buried her 12-year- old son in 1964. She died not having been told about the letter.
Tragic: Winnie Johnson, the mother of moors murder victim Keith Bennett, has died
Winnie Johnson, 78, passed away peacefully last night and surrounded by her family at a Manchester hospice after suffering from cancer for a number of years.
Keith was one of five children aged between 10 and 17 who were murdered between July 1963 and October 1965 in what is now Greater Manchester by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. The two killers were jailed for life in 1966 for the murders. However, if the murders took place just a few years earlier, the killers would have been hanged, but the death penalty was outlawed in 1964.
At least four of the victims of the moors murders - which still scar the nation's psyche - were sexually assaulted. One of the youngsters was gagged, undressed and forced to pose for photos before being strangled to death with a piece of string. Two of the victims' bodies were discovered buried on Saddleworth Moor, a vast expanse of moorland and peat on the outskirts of the town of Oldham, near Manchester, in Greater Manchester (though it was in Yorkshire at the time of the murders). Another grave was discovered in 1987.
However, the body of Keith Bennett, also supposedly buried on the moors, is not known as Brady has always refused to reveal where his body is.
Killer: Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley went on a killing spree but the location of one of their victims, Keith Bennett, right, has never been found. Hindley died behind bars in 2002. Brady will also die behind bars.
His mother, Winnie, had tried for years for Brady to reveal her son's whereabouts so that she can give him a Christian burial, but to no avail. She often went onto the vast moors with a shovel digging in vain for his body.
The timing of Winnie's death is particularly tragic because it comes just days after revelations that a bombshell letter written by Ian Brady supposedly reveals where he and Myra Hindley - who died in 2002 - buried her 12-year- old son in 1964.
Determined: Mrs Johnson, pictured in 2010, made several thousand trips to the Moors in search of her son
Missing: Toys and tributes left by the family of Moors murder victm Keith Bennett are seen here and below today tied to a fence on Saddleworth Moor, near where they believe his body is
Map of Greater Manchester showing location of Saddleworth Moor
Hunt: Police officers search Saddleworth Moor for the bodies of the children killed by Ian Brady and his girlfriend Myra Hindley
Brutal killers: Policemen digging at the scene where the body of Moors murder victim Lesley Downey was found in the 1960s
Hard work: Teams of searchers at Doctor's Gate at Snake Pass, between Manchester and Sheffield, searching for graves after the Moors Murders, and the search for one of the victims continues to this day
Killer: Ian Brady in police custody prior to his court appearance for the Moors Murders for which he was later convicted
By a tragic coincidence, her death comes just days after revelations that a bombshell letter written by Ian Brady supposedly reveals where he and Myra Hindley buried her 12-year- old son in 1964. She died not having been told about the letter.
Tragic: Winnie Johnson, the mother of moors murder victim Keith Bennett, has died
Winnie Johnson, 78, passed away peacefully last night and surrounded by her family at a Manchester hospice after suffering from cancer for a number of years.
Keith was one of five children aged between 10 and 17 who were murdered between July 1963 and October 1965 in what is now Greater Manchester by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. The two killers were jailed for life in 1966 for the murders. However, if the murders took place just a few years earlier, the killers would have been hanged, but the death penalty was outlawed in 1964.
At least four of the victims of the moors murders - which still scar the nation's psyche - were sexually assaulted. One of the youngsters was gagged, undressed and forced to pose for photos before being strangled to death with a piece of string. Two of the victims' bodies were discovered buried on Saddleworth Moor, a vast expanse of moorland and peat on the outskirts of the town of Oldham, near Manchester, in Greater Manchester (though it was in Yorkshire at the time of the murders). Another grave was discovered in 1987.
However, the body of Keith Bennett, also supposedly buried on the moors, is not known as Brady has always refused to reveal where his body is.
His mother, Winnie, had tried for years for Brady to reveal her son's whereabouts so that she can give him a Christian burial, but to no avail. She often went onto the vast moors with a shovel digging in vain for his body.
The timing of Winnie's death is particularly tragic because it comes just days after revelations that a bombshell letter written by Ian Brady supposedly reveals where he and Myra Hindley - who died in 2002 - buried her 12-year- old son in 1964.
In a statement, John Ainley, a senior partner at Oldham-based solicitors North Ainley Halliwell, said:
'She died not knowing of the letter's possible existence but the steadfast conviction Ian Brady can resolve the situation.'
Today Martin Bottomley, Head of Investigative Review of Greater Manchester Police's Major and Cold Case Crime Unit, appealed to Brady to reveal the location of Keith's grave.
'There is only one person who knows where Keith is buried and that is Ian Brady himself. I would implore him at this extremely sad time and knowing that Winnie has died not knowing where Keith is buried to at last do the decent thing and tell us where he is.'
The sealed ‘confession’ could end 48 years of torment for Keith’s family, who are in a desperate race to find his remains.
Detectives have spent nearly two days searching in vain for the note among the belongings of one of the Moors Murderer’s closest confidantes, Jackie Powell.
Last night Miss Powell's ex-husband Stephen claimed she had known about the existence of the letter for at least ten years and that authorities had been told about the letter at the time.
Police arrested Miss Powell – Brady’s ‘mental health advocate’ – on Thursday on suspicion of preventing the lawful burial of a body.
Speaking at his home in St Helens, Merseyside, Mr Powell, 52, told the Mirror: 'I did tell the authorities 10 years ago that this letter existed,' and said it was 'certainly on social services records.'.
He would not reveal if his ex-wife had told him about the letter.
Winnie Johnson never stopped her fight to find her son's body and hold a proper funeral for him before she died. Right, digging with her son Joey, on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester years ago
Determined: Mrs Johnson, pictured in 2010, made several thousand trips to the Moors in search of her son
He added: 'There’s lots to tell but I have to be careful because of my work. I am employed by the same Trust that Ashworth is under.'
But there are suspicions it could be yet another twisted stunt by the serial killer, who for decades has enjoyed taunting his victims’ families.
Missing: Toys and tributes left by the family of Moors murder victm Keith Bennett are seen here and below today tied to a fence on Saddleworth Moor, near where they believe his body is
Martin Bottomley, of Greater Manchester Police, said of the letter: ‘We do not know if this is true or simply a ruse but we clearly have a duty to investigate such information on behalf of Keith’s family.’
Brady, who has been on hunger strike for 12 years, wants to be moved from Ashworth psychiatric hospital (below) in Maghull, Merseyside, to a Scottish prison so the authorities will no longer have the power to force-feed him and he can starve himself to death.
Hunt: Police officers search Saddleworth Moor for the bodies of the children killed by Ian Brady and his girlfriend Myra Hindley
Brutal killers: Policemen digging at the scene where the body of Moors murder victim Lesley Downey was found in the 1960s
Hard work: Teams of searchers at Doctor's Gate at Snake Pass, between Manchester and Sheffield, searching for graves after the Moors Murders, and the search for one of the victims continues to this day
Killer: Ian Brady in police custody prior to his court appearance for the Moors Murders for which he was later convicted
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