British schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were probably asphyxiated and their bodies later set alight by Mr Ian Huntley, the Old Bailey in London was told today.
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British schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman wearing the red Manchester United shirts they were last seen in
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Mr Huntley, a former school caretaker, denies murdering the 10-year-olds.
The naked bodies of the two youngsters had been dumped side-by-side in a remote woodland ditch near Lakenheath in Suffolk, Mr Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said.
Mr Latham told the jury that Mr Huntley (29) went to the ditch, about 15 miles from his home in the village of Soham, on two occasions - once to dump the girls and again days later to burn their bodies in a bid to erase DNA evidence.
Mr Latham said fibres from the red Manchester United football shirts they had been wearing on the day in August 2002 that they disappeared had been found on Mr Huntley's clothes.
Pollen from the ditch had also been discovered on a petrol can found in Mr Huntley's car.
Earlier, the prosecutor had told the court the ditch had been well chosen by Mr Huntley since there had been a very "significant possibility" the bodies might never have been found.
The remains were discovered by chance nearly two weeks after the girls had gone missing.