The three-bed Soham home where Ian Huntley lured Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman was dubbed the ‘House of Horrors’ and bulldozed two years after the killings
Tucked away at the end of a short terrace, the Soham home where Ian Huntley murdered two little girls stood right next to the college he worked in.
For locals in the once-quiet Cambridgeshire town, it served as a constant reminder of a crime so appalling that it was incomprehensible. On a sunny weekend in August 2002, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman had left a family barbecue in search of sweets from the vending machine at the local leisure centre and, on their return journey, they passed Huntley’s three-bed property. He lured the girls in and murdered them, before dumping their bodies in a ditch near RAF Lakenheath.
The home came with Huntley’s former job as caretaker at Soham Village College, on the same site as the 10-year-old girls’ primary school. The killer’s then-girlfriend, Maxine Carr, tried to provide her sick lover with an alibi, insisting that she had been with him on that heinous weekend.
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But her lies soon fell apart – she eventually confessed that while the helpless girls were being enticed inside the home she shared with Huntley, she was actually in Grimsby visiting her mum. When she got home from her trip, the house was eerily immaculate – Huntley had tried to erase any evidence connecting him to the brutal killings.
The property eventually became known as the House of Horrors – with only Huntley privy to what transpired after the girls stepped inside. Two years after the best friends were killed, builders were instructed to bulldoze the property, crushing and removing every piece of rubble to stop morbid souveneir hunters grabbing any remains.
Before it was knocked down, the unassuming two-storey dwelling became an infamous local site. During their investigation, police officers tore through the property searching for evidence – stripping back floorboards and peeling off wallpaper.
The three-bedroom house was sparse – featuring pastel-coloured walls and minimal personal possessions, revealing precious little about its two occupants. Net curtains at the window had been pulled back to accommodate a missing persons appeal poster seeking information about Holly and Jessica.
Huntley’s thorough cleaning operation meant officers discovered no blood, hair or fingerprints belonging to either girl within the property. However, they did uncover Holly’s handprints on a box of chocolates she’d presented to Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant at her school, several weeks beforehand.
In August 2004, a 20-tonne bulldozer arrived to flatten it, preventing it from serving as a lasting memorial to their tragic deaths. At the time, College principal Howard Gilbert said: “This has been a long time coming. For the school in particular there is a sense of relief. We have understood the reasons why the house had to stay with us for so long, but it is not the environment we want the school to operate in. ‘.
Speaking about his students, he continued: “I am sure from their point of view it has been a reminder they could have done without having. I think there will be a sense of a burden being lifted when they return. A sense of lightness.”
Mirror reporter Julia Banim this week visited the site of the bulldozed home and spoke to residents of the town living in the shadow of Huntley’s horrific crimes. She wrote: “On the day of the Mirror’s visit, no trace of the beast’s humdrum lair remains. There is no memorial to Holly and Jessica here – no one in the area wants the girls remembered in connection with the beast who cut their bright, joyful lives so brutally short.
“Standing before what was once 5 College Close, it’s difficult to believe that a building once stood here. I almost worry that we’ve made some sort of dreadful mistake. There’s not a piece of rubble to be seen, just a well-tended patch of lush green grass, partially concealed by trees. And this is exactly how residents would prefer it.
“Speaking anonymously with the Mirror about the attack on Huntley, one local took my breath away, commenting: ‘I think people have moved on. And I think people have tried to move past it, really, rather than still dwelling on everything that’s happened.
“Just looking at the positives that have come out of it, things like DBSs in school, and more thorough checks and things like that. I don’t think locally people are really talking about it that much.'”
Huntley is currently fighting for his life in prison after being attacked with a metal pole by a fellow inmate last week. A paramedic and a doctor flew to Durham’s Frankland jail, known as ‘Monster Mansion’, and stabilised him at the scene.
They placed him in an induced coma because of the severity of his injuries after he was attacked with a metal bar in a prison workshop, allegedly by triple killer Anthony Russell.
An ambulance took him to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle so medics could continue working on him en route if his condition deteriorated. The air ambulance took off from the prison and landed at the RVI to collect the medics after Huntley reached the hospital following the 30 minute journey.
“He was placed in an induced coma because he was so close to death,” a source said. “The team from the helicopter travelled with him but he could not be evacuated by air in case of any complications.
“He was transported by road because he was in a coma; this helps to keep him stable. The helicopter then travels to the hospital to collect the medics. Two armed officers are guarding Huntley around the clock at the hospital.”
One source told the Mirror, “Medical staff must be professional no matter who they are dealing with. With a high-profile prisoner like Huntley, the patient’s name is not released before arrival at the jail. “Once the medical staff get there, they may recognise the patient but must put that to the back of their minds.”
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