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  • Published: 1 June 2012
  • ISBN: 9781780575391
  • Imprint: Mainstream Publishing
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $29.99

Evil Relations (formerly published as Witness)

The Man Who Bore Witness Against the Moors Murderers




The chief prosecution witness in the Moors Murders trial gives his account of the case after more than four decades of silence

Despite standing as chief prosecution witness in the Moors Murders trial, David Smith was vilified by the public due to the accusations thrown at him by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady about his involvement in their crimes. Hindley's later confession that she and Brady had lied in an attempt to reduce their sentences did little to diminish the slurs against his name.

For over four decades, Smith was asked by writers and film-makers to tell his story. Apart from a handful of brief interviews, he always refused. Carol Ann Lee met Smith during her research for One of Your Own, her critically acclaimed biography of Hindley, following which he finally agreed to reveal all.

In Evil Relations (previously published as Witness), interviews, archival research and, most significantly, David Smith's own vivid memoir are fused to create an unforgettable, often harrowing account of his life before, during and after the Moors Murders.

David Smith lived in rural Ireland with his wife prior to his death in May 2012. He is survived by four children and several grandchildren.

Carol Ann Lee is an acclaimed biographer and has written extensively on the Holocaust. Her most recent publication, One of Your Own, focused on the life and death of Myra Hindley.

  • Published: 1 June 2012
  • ISBN: 9781780575391
  • Imprint: Mainstream Publishing
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $29.99

About the authors

Carol Ann Lee

Carol Ann Lee is a Sunday Times bestselling author of true crime and historical biography, and has also written novels and books for children. She has written extensively on the Holocaust and the Moors Murders, and specialises in telling the stories of women whose lives have been shaped by violence. Her biography of Ruth Ellis, A Fine Day for a Hanging (2013), was shortlisted for the CWA Non-Fiction Dagger and is the inspiration for Silverprints’s 2025 drama for ITV, A Cruel Love. Her true crime books have also included the definitive study of the Moor Murders case, One of Your Own: The life and death of Myra Hyndley (2010), and The Murders at White House Farm (2015), the latter was also adapted into a highly acclaimed ITV drama which won a TV Choice Award. Carol Ann Lee currently lives in Yorkshire and this is her thirteenth book.

Praise for Evil Relations (formerly published as Witness)

If you thought nothing more could possibly be written about the harrowing Moors Murders, you were wrong. David Smith was there and his story is both chilling and sad

Manchester Evening News

Deeply affecting (****)

Daily Express