'You'll NEVER understand why I killed Holly and Jessica': Ian Huntley's chilling letter sent to daughter 15 years after brutal Soham murders

  • Sammy Bryan says she feels 'unexplainable hatred' towards father Ian Huntley 
  • She tells a new documentary how the murderer wrote to her from his jail cell
  • In the letters recalls the day he killed two schoolgirls as 'the worst of my life' 
  • Huntley is serving a minimum of 40 years in prison for killing Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002

By Ed Riley For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Ian Huntley's tormented daughter has told how she feels 'unexplainable hatred' towards him after he sent her chilling letters from his jail cell.

Sammy Bryan, whose mother was raped by Huntley when she a teenager, told how the Soham killer showed 'no remorse' in his messages to her 15 years after the murders. 

Huntley describes the day he killed 10-year-old's Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire in 2002 as the 'the most horrendous day of my life' adding: 'I still don't understand what the hell went wrong.' 

Sammy, who is interviewed on documentary The Killer in My Family, on Really next week, told how she started writing to her father because it might give her an 'insight' into the truth

Sammy, who is interviewed on documentary The Killer in My Family, on Really next week, told how she started writing to her father because it might give her an 'insight' into the truth

In the letter, which Sammy bravely reads out on the documentary, Huntley, responding to a question about why he did it, writes: 'I have given an awful lot of thought...about how best to respond, and what, if anything.

'I should say I realise I can't just say no and expect you to accept that.

'Firstly I truly don't relish the idea of discussing or you listening to the details of what was unimaginably the most horrendous day of my life.

'Furthermore, I can promise that even if you I did, you wouldn't feel any better for it. Nor would you feel any closer to understanding. Fifteen years on, I still don't understand what the hell went wrong that day.''

Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman
Ian Huntley

Huntley (right) describes the day he killed 10-year-old's Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman (left) in Soham, Cambridgeshire in 2002 as the 'the most horrendous day of my life' in his chilling letter from his jail cell

Sammy was interviewed on the documentary 'Killer in my Family' for Really, told of how she started writing to him to find closure into why he committed his atrocious acts. 

She said she was subject to torments and abuse in the street when it emerged she was Huntley's daughter, says: 'After reading that, it just made me hate him even more. 

'How he could say something like that after committing the crime that he did?

'I think that was the cut off point for me. 

'At that point, I knew in myself, I am not going to get the answers that I am looking for. 

'He's not showing remorse for anything that he's done. I didn't want to be in contact with him anymore after that.

Sammy with her mother Katie Bryan. Katie was raped by Huntley when she was 15-years-old

Sammy with her mother Katie Bryan. Katie was raped by Huntley when she was 15-years-old

I never see myself as the type of person to hate anybody. 

'But I definitely say that Ian is an exception to that. 

'Since finding out what he did to my mum, and what he did to Holly and Jessica, its unexplainable how much hatred I have towards him. ‘ 

Huntley worked as a caretaker at the local Soham Village College

Huntley worked as a caretaker at the local Soham Village College

Sammy's mother, Katie Bryan, told the documentary how Huntley threw her down the stairs when she was three months pregnant. The pair met when Ms Bryan was 15 and they moved in together.

She left him while still pregnant with Sammy, after being subjected to an appalling catalogue of abuse. 

Sammy also reveals the moment she discovered Huntley was her biological father, when she was 17-years old and at school.

She told how she was online and clicked on a story about Huntley, and saw a woman standing next to him, with a pixellated face, but realised straight away it was her mother.

Huntley picutred with Katie during their time together

Huntley picutred with Katie during their time together

Her mother later gave her a box of news clippings about him, and she sat down and read them, telling the show how she 'couldn't stop crying' when she realised who her father was.

She says: 'I thought I was ready. About ten mins later [my mum] came back in and asked me how I was feeling and if I was OK and I couldn't stop crying.

'The paper clippings told me what my mum had gone through, how she'd been abused and raped and things.

'They told me about what she went through when she fell pregnant with me, being pushed down the stairs. They told me about the two murders, it told me about what supposedly happened that night to Holly and Jessica.

Holly and Jessica went missing from a family barbecue in the Cambridgeshire village on August 4, 2002. Huntley had lured the girls to his house and murdered them before dumping their bodies in a remote ditch

Holly and Jessica went missing from a family barbecue in the Cambridgeshire village on August 4, 2002. Huntley had lured the girls to his house and murdered them before dumping their bodies in a remote ditch

'Thinking back to it, I cant really say there was anything more upsetting than the other, it was all very hard to read.'

But as she got older she wanted to write to him, and believed she could find out about his crimes. 

She adds: 'I feel like because of who I am that people think I am like him. I would defintely say he is evil. And I would definitely say he is a monster.

Holly and Jessica went missing from a family barbecue in the Cambridgeshire village on August 4, 2002.

Huntley had lured the girls to his house and murdered them before dumping their bodies in a remote ditch.

The Killer In My Family is on Really next Thursday January 24 at 10pm

The Killer In My Family is on Really next Thursday January 24 at 10pm

He was a caretaker at the local Soham Village College, was arrested after the girls' bodies were discovered 13 days later.

During a two-week appeal to find the girls, Huntley gave TV interviews and joined in searches while his then-girlfriend Maxine Carr gave him a false alibi.

He was jailed for life in 2005. Carr was jailed for perverting the course of justice. She was released in 2004 with a new identity.

The Killer In My Family is on Really next Thursday January 24 at 10pm 

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