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So sad

The mother of Moors Murder victim Keith Bennett has died without ever finding out where her son was buried.

Winnie Johnson, 78, died on Friday night after a long campaign to get her son's killer, Ian Brady, to reveal the location of his body.

Twelve-year-old Keith was abducted on his way to visit his grandmother in Manchester on 16 June 1964.

Mrs Johnson's death comes after police said they were looking at claims Brady had revealed details about his grave.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-19305055

Posted: 18-08-2012 17:32 Post subject:

One small consolation is that Brady will be absolutely livid. He'd probably hoped to time his latest 'revelation' (if that's what it is) to coincide with Winnie's final decline, and so gain the fresh attention he craves so much.

Posted: 18-08-2012 22:03 Post subject:

Obviously it was unavoidable in this case, but this is why the way the media obsess over Brady makes me very uncomfortable because it's playing right into his hands and his twisted delusions of grandeur.

Posted: 18-08-2012 22:44 Post subject:

Yup, the tabloids love him. They loved Myra too. Bet there was some mourning when she died. No more lurid Myra stories, how tragic for them. Sad

In this case though it's the TV company who have seen the potential for some lucrative exploitation of the letter in the context of Winnie's terminal illness. Bet they're cursing her for inconsiderately dying before they could engineer that final dig on the right spot on Saddleworth Moor. Now she's gone, nobody can film her face when the poor little bones are found.

Yes, I'm cynical.

Posted: 18-08-2012 22:54 Post subject:

Am I alone in thinking it hugely coincidental that she dies the day after this whole carry on with the letter etc. I'm not saying there are is conspiracy afoot but it just seems odd.

In other news my friend assisted with Myra Hindly's autopsy. I do have the strangest claims to fame!

Posted: 19-08-2012 11:05 Post subject:

The reason it'a all blown up now is that although the letter may have been in existence for 10 years or more, its existence was only recently reported to the police by a production company. You know, the same one that made the documentary about Brady that's on tomorrow night. They asked this Jackie to hand it over to the police but she refused so the grassed her up themselves.

Winnie had been ill for some time. Any news about her is good news for the documentary makers.

Posted: 19-08-2012 14:55 Post subject:

Posted: 20-08-2012 07:39 Post subject:

BBC Radio Manchester has an interview with a friend of the family at 07:45 today - BBC Radio

There's a red 'Live' link on the right of the page.

Edit - it was an interview with a very dignified lady, the mother of Helen McCourt.

Helen disappeared in 1988 and the landlord of the pub where she worked, Ian Simms, was convicted of her murder. Her mother became friends with Winnie Johnson through a charity called SAMM (Support after Murder and Manslaughter) and would discuss the pain of not having the body of their child recovered for burial.

Mrs McCourt wrote one letter to Simms a couple of years after his conviction, asking to be told where her daughter's body is hidden. He sent back a 'terrible' reply.
We weren't told of its contents but one assumes that it does not express remorse. It wasn't a clever move, as it's kept on his file, ready for inspection by the parole board.

She showed the letter to a psychologist who told her that any further communication would be futile. As she put it, Simms would treat her like a cat playing with a mouse. Sounds very much like Brady's way of thinking.

Mrs McCourt is now on BBC Breakfast TV discussing her daughter's murder.

Posted: 20-08-2012 08:26 Post subject:

The sooner they stop giving Brady the oxygen of publicity and the longer they keep him alive, the better.

Posted: 20-08-2012 08:53 Post subject:

Without Winnie, there's not going to be much tabloid interest. The family will still be hoping for news but the grieving mother's face is the money shot.

Incidentally, Winnie's family and other volunteers still dig on the moors for clues - it's an ongoing effort. You never see that in the tabloids though. Years of mud and grim determination don't come across too well, compared to a bereaved mother's tears.

Brady should be forgotten now. However, as his ego is constantly fed by his many creepy penpals he is always going to feel important.

I used to be a member of a moors murders-themed Yahoo discussion group. Most subscribers were generally interested in the subject - it was a huge news story all those years ago, after all, just after the abolition of the death penalty - but a few were truly alarming. They were Brady penpals and would brag about having letters and cards from him, and would comment on his dry sense of humour.

The group was closed by its owner after one of Keith's brothers joined and was presumably horrified by the 'Brady bunch'. It was the right thing to do.

Posted: 20-08-2012 10:21 Post subject:

Posted: 20-08-2012 12:52 Post subject:

That's more or less where he is now, except that the tabs keep rattling his cage. And ours.

Posted: 20-08-2012 13:10 Post subject:

Posted: 16-10-2013 13:41 Post subject: