The new identity of Maxine Carr who lied to help her Soham child killer lover Ian Huntley still remains a closely guarded secret while the cost of protecting her has reportedly soared to well over £2.5million.
Taxpayers are said to have paid out for the former teaching assistant to change her appearance with cosmetic surgery and even £8,000 of dental work since she was released from prison just over 20-years-ago.
Carr,47,became one of the UK's most hated women after she initially gave a bogus alibi for her fiancée Huntley when he first came under suspicion of murdering ten-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002.
Despite having a lifetime High Court anonymity order banning reporting of her new name or whereabouts,she is thought to have been forced to move ten times to new safe houses to stop her true identity being exposed.
The order means it is impossible to confirm alleged sightings of Carr around the country or reports ten-years-ago which suggested she was living in a British seaside town after getting married to a 'besotted' husband.
Some reports have suggested she enjoys quiet walks in the countryside and has a school age son who will potentially grow up without ever knowing about her past life with Huntley.
Taxpayers are said to have paid out for Carr,a former teaching assistant,to change her appearance with cosmetic surgery and even £8,000 of dental work since she was released from prison
She said: 'Unfortunately,most people just didn't believe it. They said there's no smoke without fire.'
Describing a third attack on her home,she said: 'The window was double-glazed so they had to have had incredible determination to put the window through.
'The attacks were escalating in violence and that was when I decided I could not take it any more. For the sake of my health,I had to leave,and that's what I did.'
Other women accused of being Carr included a department store worker in Coleraine,Northern Ireland,who was also interviewed for the documentary,a café waitress from South Wales,a housewife from East Kilbride,a legal secretary in Scotland,a checkout worker at an Asda in the Midlands and a librarian on the Isle of Wight.
The Daily Mail revealed in January 2008 that Carr had 'blossomed' after regaining her health from an eating disorder,and had got engaged to a new boyfriend from a respected farming family.
The couple were said to be living 60 miles apart at the time while her fiancée was renovating a house in his spare time for them to move in together.
A source said at the time that the pair had met each other's families and that her boyfriend had accepted her past.
The source said at the time: 'Maxine is engaged and has the ring to show for it… Her fiancé is a nice man from a decent family.'
They added: 'It is a big step for both of them. For the last couple of years they have just been trying to get on with what they feel is right and live out of the media spotlight.
'They just like doing normal things together like going for walks in the countryside. It has grown stronger despite the fact that they live apart and have to make long journeys to see each other. They both have full-time jobs but manage to make the relationship work.'
The Sun reported in May 2014 that Carr had married her fiancée,wearing a £2,000 ivory-coloured wedding dress in a 'lavish' ceremony at a luxury hotel venue which could not be identified due to her anonymity order.
It is not known if her new husband was the same man identified as her fiancée six years later.
Carr was said to have spent the morning of her wedding having her hair and make-up done before being given away by her mother who was jailed herself for six months in 2004 after intimidating a witness who gave evidence against her daughter.
The couple exchanged vows in front of a registrar before signing a marriage certificate,and joining family and friends on a patio where they drank £10 bottles of sparkling wine. They later had a three course wedding breakfast.
A source stated at the time that her husband was 'absolutely besotted' with her.
It was claimed in 2014 that Carr was living in a seaside town,provoking comment on social networking site that it was being used as a 'dumping ground for criminals'.
The town was dubbed as the 'monsters-by-the-sea resort' after it was revealed to be home to two other reviled female criminals – Karen Matthews who faked the kidnapping of her daughter Shannon and Tracey Connelly who was jailed for causing or allowing the death of her abused son Peter,known as Baby P.
One person asked online at the time: 'What did we do to deserve them?' while another resident said: 'It's incredible,even bizarre that they are all living here. Everyone is talking about it.'
The Sunday People report claimed that Carr was working for ten hours a week in one of the resort's shops.
One person who claimed he was served by her said: 'It suddenly clicked who she was. She is very distinctive.'
The Sun claimed in 2020 that Carr was outed again on social media with her alias,location and a recent photo being reportedly posted and then deleted.
Police were said to have moved her to a safe house after the leak and arrangements were made to relocate her,her husband and son
A Channel 5 mini-series called Maxine,screened in 2002,documented the Soham murders through her eyes.
The drama starred Jemma Carlton as Carr and Line of Duty's Scott Reid star as Huntley,but some critics slammed the decision to make the show so close to the 20th anniversary of the murders
The drama recreated a scene where Carr described the missing girls in the past tense,saying: 'They were ever so funny. They were brilliant,they were kind to everybody.'
The police were then heard speculating that she might be keeping a secret,with a detective pondering: 'She used past tense because she knows they're dead?'
In further chilling scenes,Carr was seen practicing looking serious in the mirror after Huntley shouted at her: 'You tell me don't look so guilty. You don't look so cheery!'
Huntley finally admitted in a 2018 tape leaked from prison that he was responsible for the double killings.
He said: 'I know the people of Soham took me into their community,they trusted me,gave me a job and a home,and I betrayed them in the worst possible way.
'And I am sorry for what I have done,sorry for the pain I have caused to the families and friends of Holly and Jessica,for the pain I have caused my family and friends,and for the pain I have caused the community of Soham.
'I am genuinely,genuinely sorry and it breaks my heart when it is reported I have no remorse,that I relish something. I do not.'
He added: 'I can't change anything. I cannot remove that day from history,what I have done. I know those girls would be 26 this year with families of their own,jobs and lives. I thought about them when they were turning 21 and when they were turning 18.
'I know no matter what I say that people are not going to think any better of me … but I would much rather people have the truth about how I feel. I have nothing to gain by saying these things.
'I know I am never getting out. I have accepted that from day one.'
Huntley said he did not want to be freed from prison and insisted he will not apply for parole out of 'consideration' for his victims' families.
© OfficialAffairs
