Ian Brady's secret diary found with chilling detail that could spark new investigation

A new BBC Moors Murders documentary has uncovered part of Ian Brady’s secret autobiography. A copy of the first 394 pages of a secret autobiography written by Moors murderer, Ian Brady, was found by cold case experts working with author and filmmaker, Duncan Staff, in a new BBC documentary series, The Moors Murders: A Search for Justice.

The discovery of the incomplete manuscript, which covers his relationship with Myra Hindley and a detailed, accurate description of the murder and burial of their first victim, Pauline Reade, emerged from a large cache of files uncovered by Staff.

The final 200 pages of Brady's manuscript may contain his account of 12-year-old Keith Bennett’s murder and burial in 1964, it is claimed. The missing pages are believed to have been deposited with Brady’s solicitor, but he has not commented.

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Brady’s biographer, the late Dr Alan Keightley, wrote in his book that Brady once asked him to deliver a "double sealed parcel", which he assumed to contain the autobiography, to a solicitor in London.

This solicitor, Benedict Birnberg, died in 2023. His firm told the BBC that any material left with them had now been sent to Brady's other solicitor, Robin Makin, in Liverpool.

Mr Makin, Brady’s executor, has previously been accused by Keith Bennett’s family of withholding documents that could help in the search for Keith’s body.

The BBC approached Robin Makin to comment about whether he was in possession of the autobiography, but he has not responded.

Keightley himself died in 2023, but his widow, Joan, has given the documentary-makers access to her late husband's extensive archive. This includes an incomplete copy of the typed manuscript titled Black Light, which Brady appears to have written.

In his own book, Dr Alan Keightley writes that Brady told him Black Light was at least 600 pages long. The copy in his own archive stops abruptly at page 394, shortly before the murder of John Kilbride, Brady and Hindley's second victim.

Writing on social media, Keith Bennett’s brother, Alan – who was kept informed of the discovery by the documentary-makers – said any missing material should be made available to police because they could contain “vital information in regard to the search for Keith.”

“This is the first time we’ve got an indication there might actually be something written down that describes where and how Keith was killed,” Staff says.

Keith Bennett, 12, disappeared in June 1964. His body has never been found. He was the third victim of serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. The Moors murderers are known to have killed five children.

The bodies of John Kilbride, 12, and Lesley Ann Downey,10, were recovered from shallow graves on Saddleworth Moor in 1965. Edward Evans, 17, was discovered at the killers’ house, bound and prepared for burial on the moorland. The Moors murderers were sentenced to life. Pauline Reade, 16, was found on the moor after a search in 1987. Myra Hindley died in 2002, aged 60; Ian Brady died in 2017, aged 79.

“I think it’s incredibly frustrating for the families to know that Ian Brady has written an autobiography, Black Light, but it's only surfacing now and that the copy we have is incomplete. So the pages that describe exactly where Keith Bennett is buried could be out there somewhere,” Staff says in The Moors Murders: A Search for Justice

Retired Chief Superintendent Geoff Knupfer, who headed the Moors murders case for Greater Manchester Police in the 1980s, has read a section of the manuscript recovered by the BBC, and describes this finding as ‘extraordinary – I’ve never seen anything like it.’

“This could lead to a new investigation,” he says.

The Bennett family’s lawyer asked the documentary makers to let the police know about Black Light, which the team have done.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) initially told the documentary team it wanted to see a large amount of material gathered for the programme, but then changed its mind.

In a statement to the BBC, GMP said its investigation remains open and it would “continue to seek the answers the family deserve and will act upon any credible evidence”.

“There have been so many missed opportunities to find Keith, and we can’t let this be another one,” Staff says, “We have to make sure that everything is done and that every effort is made to get hold of the missing pages of Black Light and to finally remove Ian Brady’s control.

The Moors Murders: A Search for Justice is on BBC Two at 9pm tonight (Wednesday). Both episodes are available on BBC iPlayer now.