Latest news with #BibleJohn
Daily Record
10-07-2025
- Daily Record
Ex-top cop says AI can nail Peter Tobin for more murders and solve Bible John killings
The man who brought serial killer Peter Tobin to justice says future advances in forensic science could identify more victims and even solve the Bible John murders The former police chief who brought serial killer Peter Tobin to justice says advances in forensic science - including AI - could link him to other murders and finally solve the Bible John killings. David Swindle led the investigation into Tobin's murder of Polish student Angelika Kluk in Glasgow 2006. He then set up Operation Anagram, a UK wide police probe which led to Tobin being convicted of the murders of two other women - 15 year old Vicky Hamilton from Bathgate, West Lothian and 18 year old student Dinah McNicol from Essex in England. In an exclusive interview with Criminal Record Swindle said: "Tobin has killed other people. I have no doubt of that. "We don't know how many people, it could be 48 it could be 480. That is the sad reality. "Tobin was in total denial of the murders he had been convicted of and never admitted killing other people. "I was proud of the work we did on Operation Anagram but sad that we never found other victims." Swindle says CCTV systems, door bell cameras, dash cam footage, mobile phone and DNA analysis are examples of the type of modern technology that would have nailed killers in the past had they been available to detectives at the time. Now he is hoping future technological advances such as AI and improvements to DNA testing will throw up evidence of other murders Tobin has committed. He believes his crimes are comparable to those of other serial killers such Fred and Rosemary West, Ian Brady and Denis Nilsen. However Swindle doesn't think Tobin is Bible John, the man said to have murdered three young Glasgow mothers in the late 1960s. He carried out two cold case reviews of the unsolved homicides when he was in the force and believes the three killings may be the work of more than one man. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Handyman Tobin met Angelika while they were both working at St Patrick's Church in Glasgow. The 23 year old's body was found buried under floorboards after she was reported missing and police discovered she had been stabbed, beaten and raped. Tobin was convicted of her murder the following year at the High Court in Glasgow and sentenced to life. Swindle added:"I set up Operation Anagram after the murder of Angelika Kluk to look at Tobin's whole life and where he was from the time he was born. "As a result we identified that Tobin had killed two other women - Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol. "Tobin targeted people who were vulnerable. Angelika was vulnerable. A young woman in a strange country trying to earn a living. "He was a murderer, a serial killer, a horrible cowardly killer. Tobin didn't confess to anything. "He was interviewed at length numerous times buy our Anagram team using expert psychologists and profilers. "Tobin was a narcissistic controlling individual that denied everything to the bitter end." Tobin died in 2022 at the age of 76 at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. He had also been convicted of the murders of Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol and given two additional life sentences. During the Anagram investigation police discovered items of women's jewellery at properties in Scotland and England where Tobin had lived which they suspect may have been kept by him as souvenirs. Swindle believes these items are the key to identifying other victims. He said: "There are different women's DNA on that jewellery which we have never identified. I believe they are the result of some horrible acts. "There is the hope that perhaps one day we will identify the owners. The question is why does a serial killer have women's jewellery? "We always live in hope that perhaps some day there will be a body or human remains that links Tobin into the DNA we have got." Swindle is convinced that improvements in forensic science will finally bring justice to Tobin's other victims. He said: "Technology changes, things change over the years. Policing has changed dramatically since I joined in 1977. "Things will continue to change and continue to improve. "I don't know where we will be in ten years time. The big thing that comes up is Artificial Intelligence. "It will never replace the role of the detective But we can make better use of it and the police can use it more." Swindle says it's possible that improvements in forensic science could also be used to solve the Bible John murders. Three women, Patricia Docker, Jemima MacDonald and Helen Puttock, were found murdered near their homes in Glasgow between 1968 and 1969 after spending the evening in the city's Barrowland Ballroom. The sister of the third victim Helen Puttock told police that a man who had shared a taxi with them from the Barrowland and was suspected of being her killer had quoted extensively from the bible during the journey. As a result the mystery man was dubbed Bible John by newspapers. Swindle added:"I was involved in reviewing these murders twice. I wasn't convinced that the same person was involved in all three. Tobin is not Bible John. "There is no evidence to say that Peter Tobin is the person who killed these three people. There was some DNA examined and it wasn't Tobin's" During his reviews of the case Swindle also discovered that Tobin who was newly married had also been living in Brighton in the south of England around the time of the murders of Jemima MacDonald and Helen Puttock. The DNA which was compared to Tobin's was from the clothing of Helen Puttock.
Daily Record
30-06-2025
- Daily Record
Calls for police to reopen Bible John murder probe following new evidence claims
There have been calls for Police Scotland to reopen the investigation into the Bible John murders by the author of a book on the case who says she has new evidence. The author of a book on the Bible John murders yesterday called on police to reopen the investigation after tracing a man she claims could finally prove his identity. Former printer John Templeton was named last year by Australian Jill Bavin-Mizzi as the alleged killer of Helen Puttock, one of three woman murdered in Glasgow in the late 1960s after attending the city's Barrowland Ballroom. Templeton, who died in 2015 aged 70, was put in the frame after Jill's research showed he shared a DNA profile and family connection to a former prime suspect, John McInnes, whose body was exhumed in 1996.. Jill Bavin-Mizz i then discovered Templeton had been interviewed twice by police, that he had been brought up near the spot where the third victims body was found and that he bore a close resemblance to an artists impression released at the time. Now the historian has identified a distant blood relative living in South Ayrshire, a man in his 80's, who she believes could provide a DNA sample linking him to the murders. Previously it was thought that Templeton had no surviving blood relatives as he had never had any children. The man identified by JIll is in his 80's and related to Templeton's grandfather. Jill, 62, said: "This man is not a close relative but close enough. "The only chance of establishing if John Templeton is Bible John is through the DNA."The DNA can only come from a living blood relative. "I am convinced that John Templeton is Bible John and that he murdered these three women ."I believe the police had the right family in 1996 but the wrong person. "Now is the time to reopen the investigation and look at this new potential evidence." Experts have told Jill that DNA can pass through generations and an examination of John McInnes's family tree led Jill to John Templeton, born in 1945. McInnes was identified as a suspect in the Helen Puttock murder in 1995 through DNA after a cold case review of the original police investigation. The former soldier, from Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, who took his own life in 1980, had been interviewed about the murder of Helen in 1969 but then was ruled out. But DNA obtained in 1995 from a semen stain on Helen's clothing bore comparisons to samples provided by a surviving brother and sister. However, when McInnes' body was exhumed from Stonehouse Cemetery there was no conclusive match. Helen's body was found on October 31, 1969, at the back of a tenement in Earl Street in Scotstoun, Glasgow, where she lived with her two children and husband. The 29 year old had been last seen by her sister Jean when they shared a taxi with a man Helen had met in the city's Barrowland. The body of Jemima MacDonald, 31, had been found in a derelict flat in MacKeith Street, Bridgeton, near where she lived, three months earlier. Patricia Docker, 25, was found in a lane near her Langside Place home in Glasgow's south side in February 1968. All three were mums of young children and menstruating at the time. Following the murder of Helen Puttock police linked all three homicides into one inquiry. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. Jill, 62, published the Templeton allegations in her book Bible John A New Suspect after tracking down his ex-wife. She gave Jill a photograph that bears an uncanny likeness to the artist's impression from the time - drawn from information provided by Jean. The ex revealed that Templeton was interviewed by police in their home in Glasgow's North Kelvinside six months after Helen's murder. Jean, who died in 2010, told police the stranger in the taxi had called himself John and given a surname that sounded like Templeton or Sempleson. The stranger also told Helen and her sister he worked in a laboratory. Templeton at the time was a specialist compositor or typesetter and may have worn a lab style coat. Dental analysis of the photograph provided by the ex led Jill to believe Templeton had the killer's overlapping tooth and another missing as described by Jean. Templeton had been fostered as a child to a family in Dumbarton Road in Scotstoun. The stranger was said by Jean to have identified the site of a local former children's home on the journey home. Jean also told police that the suspected killer had used religious phrases which led to him later being dubbed Bible John by newspapers. After the publication of her book last summer Jill was contacted by former colleagues who had worked with him at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow between 2001 and 2006. He had boasted how he was interviewed twice by police about the murder of the third victim. Templeton was also nicknamed "Bible John" because of his resemblance to the artist's impression. He had joined Glasgow City Council as a library attendant after leaving his job with a city printing firm. One former colleague also remembers Templeton having a gap in his teeth - similar to the stranger described by Jean. Jill was in Scotland last week from her home in Perth in Western Australia for a series of talks about her book and further research. She added:"John Templeton has a lot of the characteristics of the man in the taxi including age, height and hair colour. "He was also a foster child, as police suspected the killer was. "The three women who were murdered at the time had young children and they deserve answers. "I would beg Police Scotland to reopen the case and at least contact me. "I know the name of the relative who could give them a DNA sample. "To get justice for the families we need to get DNA evidence and it is now possible to do that."
