Ian Huntley’s telling final letter sent just days before his death revealed

On Saturday (7 March), Ian Huntley died in hospital after being attacked in prison a week before.

The 52-year-old was serving a life sentence for murdering 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002.

Widely known as the Soham murderer, Huntley had kept pen pals while in jail and the final letter he sent is believed to have been to a woman who wanted to visit him.

The child killer was in the high-security HMP Frankland in Durham when a fellow inmate attacked him in the workshop on 26 February, repeatedly hitting him over the head with a metal bar.

While there was evidently plenty of people who wanted the infamous murderer dead, Huntley suggested in his letter that he was having a difficult time in the prison.

Huntley outside his house during the period when police were searching for Holly and Jessica. (PA Archive)

As reported by The Sun, he confessed to his pen pal that he’d ‘had a lot to deal with lately’ as he apologised for not writing sooner in a letter sent eight days before the attack.

“I hate writing letters at the best of times,” he added.

The child killer then went on to write: “I received your details. I haven’t submitted them for vetting.”

Citing things being ‘leaked’, he continued: “I've had to do some thinking. For your safety I've decided to discard everything you've sent and not proceed with having you cleared for calls and visits.”

The woman is believed to have started writing to Huntley last October and Huntley told her: “You’re a lovely person and I don’t want you placed in harm’s way due to your affiliation with me.”

He claimed that someone in the prison was ‘leaking twisted accounts of the press’ and that he didn’t want her, ‘a good friend, to be one of them’.

Huntley conclude: “Believe me when I say I have given this a great deal of thought and firmly believe it to be for the best. I hope all is well on your end. Best wishes Ian.”

Holly and Jessica were murdered by Huntley. (PA Archive)

Durham Constabulary said in a statement on Saturday: “A man who was attacked at HMP Frankland in Durham last week has died in hospital this morning.

“Ian Huntley, 52, was taken to hospital with serious injuries following an incident in the workshop on the morning of Thursday February 26.

“A police investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing.

“A file is being prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration for charges.”

Huntley murdered Holly and Jessica after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002.

The killer dumped their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away and they were not found for 13 days. He denied murdering them but was ultimately convicted in 2003.