A man who was convicted of murdering two 10-year-old schoolgirls in August of 2002 is reportedly claiming to be transgender in hopes that he’ll be moved to a female prison for a “cushier life.”
Ian Huntley was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for the murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both of whom attended the school where Huntley worked as caretaker.
Huntley murdered the two girls after luring them into his home in Soham, England. During the trial, Huntley claimed Wells was cleaning up in his bathtub after suffering a nosebleed and drowned; he subsequently killed Chapman as he was trying to muffle her screams. He admitted to dumping their bodies into a ditch, cutting off their clothes, and setting their corpses on fire.
Huntley, now 44 years old, is reportedly seeking a transfer out of HMP Frankland into a female prison, where he’ll identify as a female named Nicola.
“Huntley believes that he will have a much cushier life in a women’s prison. But he is mistaken as he will get a far harder time from female prisoners,” a source told the Daily Star.
“There are now a growing number of trans-prisoners in Frankland and Huntley is desperate to become a member of a group who will offer him a bit of protection,” the source continued.
Huntley is apparently asking pen-pals to send him women’s dresses, a blonde wig, and stockings for Christmas so he can pull-off the transgender look.
The murderer is reportedly trying to convince doctors that he is transgender, though it is unclear if he’s “made the official request for a sex-change,” reports Metro.
A report from The Telegraph in 2017 said Huntley had been attacked multiple times by other inmates and was transferred at least once:
Huntley has been attacked several times in prison, first at Wakefield Prison and also at Frankland Prison, where he was transferred to in 2008.
In 2005, he was scalded with boiling water by fellow inmate Mark Hobson; in 2010 he had his throat slashed.
Damien Fowkes, a former drug addict who was jailed for life in 2002 for a knifepoint robbery, allegedly attacked Huntley with a razor blade attached to a toothbrush a day before a planned search of their prison for weapons.
Huntley needed emergency hospital treatment after being slashed across the throat.
The report noted that Huntley attempted suicide several times: “While he was awaiting trial, he was found suffering a fit on the floor of his cell after saving up 29 anti-depressant pills in a box of teabags. In 2006 he was found unconscious in his cell and is believed to have taken an overdose; however, he survived both attempts.”
The convicted child killer also raped Katie Bryan, then 15, and conceived a child, Samantha, from the rape. Samantha asked her biological father via a letter why he killed Chapman and Wells. Huntley apparently replied, “It was the worst day of MY life.”
According to Metro, Samantha vowed to never contact Huntley again.
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(A young girl lights a candle after attending a special service for the missing ten year old schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells at St. Andrew’s church in Soham.)
(Photo by PA Images via GettyImages)