Asphyxia 'likely cause' of Soham deaths

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The court trying Ian Huntley for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman has been told the two girls were probably asphyxiated.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said it was impossible to determine the precise cause of death, or whether the girls were sexually assaulted, because of decomposition.

But he said there were no sign of broken bones, "compressive neck injuries", significant cuts, or drugging or poisoning.

Former school caretaker Mr Huntley, 29, denies killing the 10-year-olds, who went missing in the Cambridgeshire town of Soham on 4 August last year.

However Mr Latham told jurors it was murder. "Ten-year-old girls don't just drop dead," he said.

Ian Huntley's ex-girlfriend Maxine Carr, 26, denies two charges of assisting an offender and one of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.



Mr Huntley was absent from court on Friday, the third and final day of the prosecution's opening speech, and Ms Carr sat alone in the dock.

No explanation was given for his absence, but on Thursday afternoon the court was told he was feeling unwell.

Earlier in the day, Mr Latham outlined details of how Holly and Jessica's badly decomposed bodies were discovered by walkers in a ditch about half an hour's drive from Soham.

They had apparently been dumped there within 12 hours of death, the prosecution alleged, and their remains later set on fire.

Opening statement

The forensic evidence against Mr Huntley was also outlined, including the discovery of fibres from the girls' Manchester United shirts on Mr Huntley's clothes.

Drawing his opening statement to a close in the afternoon, Mr Latham said that to convict Mr Huntley of murder, the jury had to be convinced of an intent to kill or cause serious harm.

The barrister said the defence may try to suggest the deaths were an accident. "We pose this question, two of them?"



"These were not two little babies. They were two fit 10-year-old girls," he said.

Mr Latham said the defence may also try to argue Mr Huntley had been "confused".


In that case they would have to consider his behaviour over the fortnight between the girls' disappearance and their bodies being found, he said.

Mr Latham said that Mr Huntley's former girlfriend, Maxine Carr, had conspired to cover up the crime.


He said "as surely as night follows day" Ms Carr and Mr Huntley were working together to make a false story.

Motive 'irrelevant'

The court heard that after Ms Carr's arrest, she admitted she had been lying throughout the fortnight since the girls disappeared.

Ms Carr had explained this lie by saying Mr Huntley had been falsely accused of a crime in the past - before she met him - and she did not want that to happen again, Mr Latham said.



He said Ms Carr's motive for telling lies was irrelevant when it came to the charge of perverting the course of justice.

But Mr Latham said Ms Carr could only be guilty of knowingly assisting an offender if Mr Huntley was convicted, and if the jury believed Ms Carr knew he was the killer.

"It is her state of mind that matters. She has always strenuously denied that she believed he was the killer," he said.

At the end of the day, Mr Latham explained to the jury that they would be visiting various relevant locations in Soham next week.

Killed and dumped

Earlier, as Mr Latham outlined the discovery of Holly and Jessica's bodies, on Saturday 17 August, he said the area - near Lakenheath in Suffolk - was well known to Mr Huntley, whose father had lived there.

Evidence suggested the girls' clothes had been cut off and their bodies set on fire after they were put in the ditch, he continued.


The bodies were so badly decomposed, and hidden in such a seldom-visited spot, they "may never have been found".
Both girls were still wearing necklaces. Jessica's was beaded and Holly's was metal with the word "love" inscribed on it.

Mr Latham said soil and pollen found in Mr Huntley's car matched those at the scene.

He said fibres from the girls' shirts were found on Mr Huntley's clothes, and fibres from items in the house were found on Jessica's shirt.

Earlier, Mr Latham described how police quickly decided to arrest Mr Huntley and Ms Carr, after finding the girls' clothes in a bin in a hangar at the school, Soham Village College, where Mr Huntley worked.

The arrests happened shortly before 0430 on 17 August 2002 - by coincidence, the same day Holly and Jessica's bodies were found.

The case was adjourned until Monday.

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The case against Ian Huntley, the man accused of murdering Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, is being outlined at the Old Bailey.
Prosecuting lawyer Richard Latham QC is expected to spend up to three days presenting his evidence against Mr Huntley, who denies the charges.

He is also explaining the case against Mr Huntley's former girlfriend Maxine Carr, who denies two charges of assisting an offender and one of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.



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The main allegations made by the prosecution on Day Three are as follows:


The Manchester United shirts worn by Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were cut almost exactly in half as they were removed from their bodies, Mr Latham told the jury

The court was shown photographs of the girls' burnt clothing and trainers which, the prosecution said, were found in the bin in the school hangar at Soham Village College. It was also shown police photographs of the boot of Mr Huntley's car, which contained a rough cut piece of carpet, a petrol can and a large set of scissors

Mr Latham told the jury that once the contents of the bin had been discovered, the police quickly decided to arrest Mr Huntley and Ms Carr


Richard Latham QC says Mr Huntley murdered both girls


The prosecution described how, hours after the two arrests, the bodies of Holly and Jessica were discovered on 17 August by three people near a wooded area east of Lakenheath

None of the three people, which included a gamekeeper, went into the ditch so there was no contamination of the site, the prosecution claims

The bodies were so decomposed they were close to disappearing. "Just how clever was the place he left them? There was a significant possibility...they were never going to be found," Mr Latham alleged

Re-growth of trampled nettles near the bodies suggests they were there for 13-and-a-half days, the prosecution claimed

The bodies were moved into the car and transferred to the ditch before rigor mortis set in (within 12 hours of death), it is alleged

Mr Latham said it was impossible to determine the precise cause of death due to decomposition, but he claimed asphyxia was the most likely cause

There was no evidence of broken bones or other major bodily trauma, no stab cuts, no blood staining, the prosecution argued

The bodies were set alight at the site of deposition, but the lower part of the bodies remained intact, Mr Latham claimed

Geologists concluded that soil samples taken from inside and outside Mr Huntley's Fiesta matched the track near to the bodies, it was claimed

Pollen samples found at the scene matched some found in the car, it was alleged



Mr Latham said: "We invite you to conclude they died on a Sunday night ... they disappeared on that night ... the killer would want to dispose of the bodies as quickly as possible ... we suggest the bodies were dumped on the night they died"

Mr Huntley revisited the scene and set fire to the bodies, using a liquid accelerant, on Wednesday, it was claimed. A petrol can he had on that day is linked by pollen to the scene, the prosecution said

Previous addresses of Mr Huntley's father were all close to the place where the bodies were found, Mr Latham said

The prosecution alleges that "an exceptionally detailed cleanup" took place at the house, leaving no trace of the girls apart from some fingerprints on a chocolate box

Maxine Carr must have been involved because she would have spotted a cleanup conducted by someone else, Mr Latham claimed

Mr Latham QC told the jury the first thing the prosecution has to prove is unlawful killing. "These were not two little babies. They were two fit, 10-year-old girls. Ten-year-old girls don't just drop dead," he argued

The jury was told that to convict Mr Huntley of murder "you have to look at his state of mind at the time of the killings". Mr Latham asked them to judge: "Was there intent to kill or cause serious harm? Either will do".

Mr Latham claimed the defence case may try to suggest the deaths were an accident, "we pose this question...two of them?"

The prosecution told the jury the reasons Maxine Carr gave to police about why she lied, claiming to be in Soham

Mr Latham said Ms Carr claimed it was because Mr Huntley had been falsely accused of a crime months before. She said he'd had a nervous breakdown, and she didn't want him to be falsely accused again, he told the court

The prosecution accused her of "obstructing a police inquiry of the utmost seriousness... distracting the police ... excluding Huntley when he shouldn't have been ... telling a false story"

Ms Carr "inserted a piece of false information ... with the agreement of Huntley ... as surely as night follows day" they were working together, the prosecution alleged

But Mr Latham suggested to the jury they could only convict Ms Carr if they had first convicted Ian Huntley of murder

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The prosecution in the Soham trial has outlined a complex array of forensic evidence against Ian Huntley, the man who denies murdering Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Richard Latham QC said fibres found on Mr Huntley's clothes and carpets matched "precisely" those from Manchester United tops worn by the girls when they disappeared.

He said chemical tests had been carried out to establish the fibre and dye used in the tops was the same as the fibres found.


Short fibres would have been shed from the shirts when they were cut and would be more likely to remain unnoticed and survive the washing process, to be picked up later by experts, the prosecution said.

"We suggest that the most likely recipient of the fibres would be the cutter.

"If those shirts were either cut in the house or by him in the ditch and carried by him back to the hangar, then he got shed fibre on himself and went into the house.

"There is always a potential that some of them would drop in the house. Microscopic in size, they would not be noticed."

Pile of clothes

Fibres attached to clothing could be detached and fall onto other garments or furniture when the item of clothing was removed, Mr Latham said.
He then showed the jury an animated film of how this might happen.

"Fibres got into that house and [they were] matching the girls' shirts. They were over many items," Mr Latham said.

Police found one fibre on a grey fleece, three on a pair of beige trousers, and 15 on a yellow shirt which had all been in Mr Huntley's main bedroom, the prosecution said. These would have come from one of the girls' shirts.

New carpet

Mr Latham said 12 fibres from Jessica's shirt were found on carpet material and could "either have come from the carpet in the boot or the carpet in the house - that may be significant".

"We invite you to infer the new boot carpet came from the house. It was one of the off-cuts from the bedroom.

"You may think the purpose of replacing the boot carpet is to put a piece in the boot to replace the fitted carpet on the night when the car was used to take the bodies away."

Mr Latham said one fibre from the car carpet was found on Holly's shirt.

Forensic experts also found eight fibres from carpet in the house on the shirt, along with 29 other fibres from items around the house.

Mr Latham also said 16 fibres were found on the tracksuit bottoms.

In total, 39 fibres from Mr Huntley's clothes were found on Jessica's shirt, while 38 fibres from his clothes, house or car were found on Holly's shirt.

The jury was given a breakdown by the prosecution of other items the fibres were found on:


A jacket - one

Left boot taken from Huntley while in custody - one

The car boot carpet - two

A bath mat - two

Carpet from the main bedroom - two

The main living room carpet - one

Another piece of living room carpet - two

The hallway - two

The carpet at the front door - one

From the stairs - two

Carpet in the hall - one

A cupboard in the main bedroom - two

A seat cover - one

Furniture in the living room - six

Dusters - one

Duvet in the main bedroom - one

A sheet - two

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The bodies of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were most likely dumped in secluded countryside shortly after they died, an Old Bailey jury has heard.

Three members of the public came across the scorched bodies in a ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk, on 17 August, the court was told.

The prosecution claims forensic evidence from the site, about half an hour's drive from Soham, showed the bodies had been transferred there within hours of the girls' disappearance on 4 August 2002.

Mr Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, told the court: "We invite you to conclude they died on a Sunday night ... they disappeared on that night ... the killer would want to dispose of the bodies as quickly as possible ... we suggest the bodies were dumped on the night they died."

Significant evidence, Mr Latham claimed, linked the scene to Ian Huntley and his red Fiesta car.

It was an isolated spot among fields - and a place well known to Mr Huntley because his father had lived at two addresses nearby, and his grandmother lived nearby, the prosecution claimed.

Photographs


The jury was shown maps of the area where two 10-year-olds were found, and a photograph of the girls' bodies which were behind a branch.

The jury was told this was the closest shot of the bodies that they would see during the trial.
Regrowth of trampled nettles around the site suggested they had been there for 13 and a half days, the prosecution claimed.


The bodies were so badly decomposed they "may never have been found", Mr Latham said.

"If you are in a panic and if you've got two bodies in your car that you are desperate to get rid of, we would suggest that there are endless places on the way to Lakenheath that you can dump bodies," Mr Latham told the court.

"But of course, if you dump bodies in the open, they will be likely be found immediately."

Naked bodies

Police examination of the scene found "scorched shrubbery" around the bodies and flattened nettles from the track to the ditch, the court was told.

The naked bodies were alongside one another, and both girls were still wearing necklaces, Mr Latham said.

Clothing had been removed and the bodies set on fire after they had been dumped, he claimed, probably with petrol, but this had only partially destroyed them.
The prosecution went on to further outline forensic evidence it claimed linked Mr Huntley's car to the Lakenheath site.

Mr Latham said chalky soil was found under the front suspension of Mr Huntley's Fiesta and compared to soil samples from the track.

The prosecution told the court this was "consistent we say with going near the edge of the track when turning around."

Mr Latham alleged pollen samples found at the scene matched pollen samples found in Huntley's car, and that further soil samples from the track were found inside the car.

Petrol can


The prosecution asked the jury to consider Mr Huntley's whereabouts two days later.

"Whoever killed the girls was concerned about forensic evidence and we suggest revisited the scene and fired the bodies on a second occasion. We will ask you to consider Huntley's movements on the Wednesday, " Mr Latham said.

The school caretaker had a red petrol can on the Wednesday, later found by police in the boot of his car, which can be linked by pollen evidence to the site, Mr Latham said.

The prosecution concluded to the jury: "We suggest that Ian Huntley knew this area really well.

"Whoever it was who dumped the bodies would not have set off down that track in the dark unless they knew where they were going and what they would find.

"Whoever dumped the bodies knew it would be a suitable place to put them and that they would be unlikely to be caught in the act."

Ms Carr, 26, has denied two charges of assisting an offender and one of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Mr Huntley denies two counts of murder but has admitted a single charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.