Durham Constabulary said Anthony Russell, 43, will appear before magistrates on Wednesday (March 11) via videolink.
Huntley, who murdered friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, died in hospital on Saturday (March 7) after he was attacked with a metal pole in a prison workshop on February 26.
In a statement, the force said: “A man has been charged with murder following an incident at HMP Frankland in Durham.
The man who attacked child killer ian huntley was rapist and triple murder Anthony Russell the two had a falling out and Russell attacked huntley in his cell at hmp frankland. pic.twitter.com/p2OhNhWzAP
— London & UK Street News (@CrimeLdn) February 27, 2026
“Emergency services were called to reports of an assault in the workshop on the morning of Thursday February 26.
“Ian Huntley, 52, was taken to hospital with serious injuries but died on the morning of Saturday, March 7.
“Anthony Russell, 43, of HMP Frankland, has been charged with murder and will appear via video link at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday March 11.”
Russell was sentenced to a whole-life tariff in 2021 for the murders of Julie Williams, 58, and her son David Williams, 32, at separate flats in Coventry.
He was also found to have murdered pregnant 31-year-old Nicole McGregor, who was found in woodland near Leamington Spa three days later.
Russell also raped Ms McGregor.
Why was Ian Huntley imprisoned?
The disappearance and murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, captured the attention of the nation in 2002.
Huntley killed both 10-year-olds after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets, and then dumped their bodies in a ditch.
He was their school caretaker and put himself forward as a volunteer to help search for them after they went missing – and was interviewed by reporters on camera.
The efforts to locate the girls in the 13 days after they disappeared have been described as one of the most intense and extensive in British criminal history.
Huntley was convicted of murdering both girls in December 2003 and sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment.
His girlfriend, Maxine Carr, was also jailed in 2003 after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice for giving him a false alibi.
She has since been released.
In 2010, robber Damien Fowkes slashed Huntley with a home-made weapon, causing a “severe, gaping cut to the left side of his neck” with a 7in (18cm) wound which required 21 stitches.
Fowkes asked a prison officer: “Is he dead? I hope so.”
