HE was the key witness in the case against the Moors Murderers but life was not easy for David Smith.
After the trial he was hounded and haunted for his involvement with Myra Hindley and Ian Brady.
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Who was Myra Hindley’s brother-in-law David Smith?
The Moors Murders was a shocking case that impacted Manchester in the late 60s.
Five children were murdered, four of which had been sexually assaulted, and buried in graves on Saddleworth Moor.
Myra Hindley and Ian Brady were charged for the murders of three of the children and given life sentences under a whole life tariff.
Brady confessed to the other two murders in 1987 and the case was reopened, only one grave has not been found.
David Smith met the pair when he began dating Maureen Hindley, younger sister of Myra, as a teenager.
They would often all go drinking together on the moors and spend time together.
David was a witness to the murder of Edward Evans and called the police to report what happened.
His testimony helped lead to the arrest of the couple and their sentencing.
More from the moors murders
How did David Smith die?
Myra would later claim she was innocent and instead pointed the finger at David.
She claimed her was Ian’s true accomplice, which caused suspicion and upset in David’s life.
He was tormented, having bricks thrown through his window and people attacking him when he was out.
In 1969, he himself ended up in jail after getting into a fight with someone at the pub.
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Maureen left him at this point and their three young children were taken into care, she died in 1980.
David remarried and moved to Galway with his wife Mary and had a daughter, Jodie.
They were still hounded by the past but eventually Myra admitted David had nothing to do with the murders.
David died at the age of 65 in May 2012 from cancer.
What did David Smith witness?
He was the key witness to the murder committed by Ian Brady.
On October 6, 1965, Smith was in the home of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, having been collected and brought round by Myra.
They had brought the 17-year-old Edward Evans, an apprentice engineer back to their house.
David was waiting in the kitchen on the pretence of Ian collecting a bottle of wine for him but heard a scream from the other room.
He ran into the room and saw Ian standing over the boy, holding a hatchet above his head.
Ian then struck the young engineer’s head and strangled him with an electrical cord.
They could not move the body easily so David went home and agreed to return the next day with a pram.
Instead David told his wife what had happened and called the police from a phone box on the estate.
He told the police what he had seen and they arrested Ian that morning, thanks to the testimony of David.
