Huntley: Girls died in 'accident'
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Huntley was the caretaker at Soham Village College.
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LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Ian Huntley accidentally killed school girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in the bathroom of his house, the former school caretaker's lawyer told London's historic Old Bailey court Tuesday.
Defense counsel Stephen Coward said Huntley -- who denies murdering the two ten-year olds -- accidentally knocked Holly into the bath and when Jessica began screaming 'you pushed her' he grabbed her mouth and she suddenly went limp.
Huntley and the girls were in the bathroom of his Soham, Cambridgeshire house, because Holly had a nose bleed which would not stop.
"Mr Huntley was getting pieces of tissue and toilet paper and putting them under the tap to cool them and was handing them to Holly," Coward told the jury.
"On one of these turns he slipped and may well have banged into her and she went backwards into the bath."
Coward said although Huntley does not remember any bump when Holly fell into the bath he does recollect a splash because there was about 18 inches of water in the bath.
When Jessica began screaming Huntley turned to her and put either one or both hands over her mouth.
When Huntley realized that Jessica had gone limp after he covered her mouth he let her go and she fell to the floor, his defense lawyer said.
"He turned round to the bath and Holly was lying in the bath apparently dead. He lifted her out and put her on the floor. He looked for signs of life, of breathing. He found none. He turned to Jessica and found no signs of life in her either," Coward said.
At the beginning of the trial the prosecution lawyer Richard Latham had told the court the girls' deaths were murder:
Huntley had already admitted to dumping the girls' bodies in a ditch.
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"Ten-year old girls don't just drop dead," he said.
On Tuesday, pathologist Nathaniel Carey told the jury he could not ascertain what caused their death but said the most likely cause was "interference with the mechanics of breathing."
"Death must have involved one or more third parties," he said, adding that he could not confirm or refute sexual assault because of the decomposition of the bodies.
He said the girls were identified by dental records.
Huntley has already admitted to removing the dead girls' bodies and taking them in his car to woodland where he dumped them in a ditch.
The bodies of the two friends were found on August 17 last year in a ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk about 15 miles from their homes in Soham. The pair had been missing for nearly two weeks.
Maxine Carr, 26, Huntley's girlfriend at the time of the girls' deaths, denies assisting an offender and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
