“It’s a Cowardly Thing to Do”: Ian Huntley’s Daughter Speaks Out After He Refuses to Meet Her

Samantha Bryan, the daughter of notorious killer Ian Huntley, has branded her father a “coward” after he sent her a letter refusing to meet with her. Huntley, who murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, has left his daughter with more questions than answers, dashing her hopes of ever uncovering the full truth about the horrific crimes.

For years, 26-year-old Samantha has been trying to arrange a visit to Frankland Prison in Durham, where Huntley is serving a life sentence, in the hope that he might finally reveal what really happened to the ten-year-old girls. The children, who were thought to have died of asphyxiation, were found in a ditch near RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, but Huntley has never fully confessed to the details of their deaths.

In his letter, Huntley wrote cryptically, “Given the probable length of my future and your current motives, I doubt there will be enough time for a significant shift in circumstances in order for us to ever meet.” This response has left Samantha questioning whether her father is ill or simply referring to the length of his sentence. Regardless, his words have shattered any remaining hope she had of meeting him.

“There’s so many other things I could call him,” Samantha told The Sun. “I feel contempt. His letter has left me with even more questions than I had before. He might be ill, but I don’t know for sure given he’s written about the probable length of his future. I don’t know what that means. But surely if he is sick you’d want to give some answers? You’d have nothing left to lose. Or maybe he is referring to the length of his sentence. But one thing is clear – he’s not going to meet me.”

Huntley, now 50, initially claimed during his trial that the girls’ deaths were accidental, but later admitted in 2018 that he had deliberately killed Jessica Chapman to prevent her from telling anyone about Holly Wells’ death. His refusal to meet with Samantha has only deepened her frustration and pain.

Samantha, who discovered Huntley was her father when she was 14, has suffered lifelong nightmares about him and had hoped to get answers not just for herself, but for the families of Holly and Jessica as well. Now, however, she has resigned herself to the fact that she may never hear the truth from her father.

“It deeply troubles me that they haven’t had answers,” she said. “But his reply is so definitive I’m now going to step back and stop hoping. I need to step away – for the sake of my sanity and my future.”

Samantha’s mother, Katie Bryan, met Huntley when she was just 15 and endured years of abuse at his hands before finally leaving him. Now, as Samantha distances herself from the man who has caused her so much pain, she is determined to find peace, even if that means letting go of the hope for closure.