Maxine Carr: In an old video, Ian Huntley’s fiancee can be heard laughing as she discusses Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman
Huntley killed Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both 10 years old, in Soham, England, in August 2002.
It was startling to see the former fiancée of Ian Huntley grinning in an old interview film as she discussed the victims, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, with a BBC reporter. On August 4, 2002, Huntley murdered Wells and Chapman in Soham, England. The killer’s girlfriend, Maxine Carr, attempted to obstruct justice by lying.
Although Wells and Chapman were still just listed as missing at the time of the interview, the woman also appears to have spoken about the girls in the past tense in the newly-surfaced video. Huntley was not detained at that time either. The teaching assistant for the girls, Carr, was reportedly interviewed by BBC Look East in 2002 with the murderer, according to The Daily Mail.
The woman told journalist Rachael Dane that the two 10-year-old schoolgirls “often used to come up to me and confide in me and show me their lovers,” while openly grinning. She continued by stating that the other girl was “really funny,” whereas Wells “was just like a little angel.”
Shaun Whitmore, the cameraman, allegedly interrupted Carr during the interview and pointed out that she was referring to the duo in the past tense. The woman merely said, “God,” and grinned. She continued speaking after that before committing the same error once more. Chapman “never appeared feminine; she always seemed more tomboyish,” according to Carr.
According to accounts, the courtroom heard the interview as Carr and Huntley’s trials were ongoing. She insisted that she was not aware that her ex-boyfriend had killed the two girls at the time. Data from her cellphone that was given to the jury throughout the trial revealed that she was visiting her mother in Grimsby at the time the victims went missing. On August 5 in the early hours, Huntley also gave her a call.
The murderer was very upset when making the phone call, Carr reportedly told the jury at the time. She had been informed by him that he was assisting police with their hunt. She claimed that Huntley informed her, “I’m going to get fitted up like I did before. In addition, the woman said in her defense that she gave the false alibi because she trusted the murderer. “I just knew Ian, I knew he wouldn’t have done it,” she remarked. If I could have, I would have quickly left the house. Directly to the police or the closest person to inform them.
She shared a bed with Huntley, Carr’s QC Michael Hubbard had previously noted. Would she have permitted the hand that had killed Jessica and drowned Holly to wander over her body the days after? Isn’t that against every female instinct? Did she suspect or know that he had slain those kids? No, based on the evidence.
Carr was ultimately found guilty of conspiring to tamper with the course of justice by providing a fake alibi, though. She received a three and a half year sentence in 2003. However, she was only imprisoned for 21 months, and a lifetime order of anonymity provided her with protection.