Child-killer Ian Huntley's daughter tells of toll 'bogeyman' dad had on her life

03 December 2023 , 10:20

907     0

Samantha Bryan only discovered Ian Huntley was her dad as a teenager (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Evil child-killer Ian Huntley's daughter has revealed the horrific toll having the notorious 'bogeyman' for a dad has had on her life.

Samantha Bryan says she has been "haunted" by the deaths of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman ever since first learning about what her dad did. The 10-year-old friends were lured into school caretaker Huntely's home in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002 where he murdered them.

A major police hunt was launched, with Huntley himself even featuring in an interview during the search as he pretended to be helping to find the missing girls, whose bodies were eventually found, having been disposed of in an irrigation ditch close to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.

Ian Huntley murdered Holly and Jessica in 2002 (PA)

Samantha has written to her dad in prison (PA)

Samantha, 25, has written a letter to the murderer, now 49, requesting a prison meeting, having never met him before. She also wants him to "finally reveal the whole truth" about the murders to give their grieving families "some peace”. She lives in fear Huntley will take the truth to his grave, with the inmate having suffered various health problems, suicide attempts and attacks while inside.

She told the Sun: “I have been haunted by the death of Holly and Jessica. I’ve had counselling and it has affected everything from my jobs to relationships. I have suffered constant nightmares. People still stop me in the street and say, ‘Your father is a monster’ or ‘I know who your dad is’, so by meeting him I have nothing to lose.

The full story of horrific serial killer Dennis Nilsen - 40 years on

“He has become a bogeyman, like the Yorkshire Ripper or Fred West. But you have to confront your demons.” In court, Huntley said both his victims died accidentally, claiming Holly drowned in the bath and he suffocated Jessica while trying to stop her screaming.

Huntley sitting in his car outside his house during the search for the missing girls (PA)

However, in prison tapes from 2018, he was recorded confessing that he deliberately killed Jessica to prevent her raising the alarm, but still insisted Holly's death was an accident. Samantha only found out by accident when she was 14 that Huntley - who is serving his time at HMP Frankland in Durham - was her biological father.

When he was 23 he had groomed her 15-year-old mum Katie and made her pregnant. They separated before Samantha was born and she later got married to someone else. Samantha, who lives in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, is currently training to be an administrator and said it is important to "know for myself if he feels any remorse".

Jessica Chapman (left) and her best friend, Holly Wells, both 10 (PA)

Huntley is around halfway through his minimum 40-year sentence for the two murders. His then fiancée Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant at Holly and Jessica’s school, gave him a false alibi. She was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ jail for perverting the course of justice and issued with a new identity on release.

The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email [email protected] or head to the to find your nearest branch. You matter.

Ryan Merrifield