Man charged with murders of English girls

LONDON -- A school caretaker was charged Tuesday with the murder of two 10-year-old girls whose disappearance from an English village has dominated the news for two weeks and shocked much of the country.

Police said they had charged Ian Huntley, 28, with the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hebb of the Cambridgeshire Police said Huntley had undergone a series of medical examinations since his arrest and that he had been transferred to a secure unit under mental health laws on recommendation of a psychiatrist.

Hebb said Huntley's case was to come before Peterborough Magistrates Court Wednesday morning, but that it was not yet clear if he would appear in person.

Huntley's girlfriend Maxine Carr, 25, who was a teaching assistant at the girls' school in Soham, eastern England, had been arrested Saturday at the same time as Huntley Saturday on suspicion of murder and was still being questioned. She had not yet been charged.

Police were still searching the home of Huntley and Carr and the school where he worked. They were also searching the home of Huntley's parents in the village of Littleport, about 10 miles north of Soham.