Monsters behind scores of Scots murder mysteries still elude justice decades after heinous crimes
THE monsters behind scores of Scots murder mysteries may never face justice amid fears their despicable crimes will forever be ‘uncrackable’.
Scots crimefighters have 66 killings on file dating back to the 1960s that have never been solved – with the identity of the perpetrators still in the shadows.
Many of the victims have become household names and subject to repeated police appeals throughout the decades.
Among the most high-profile are Nairn banker Alistair Wilson – shot dead on his doorstep in Inverness-shire – and Aberdeen cabbie George Murdoch – slaughtered by the so-called “Cheesewire Killer”.
But also among the grim Police Scotland files of unsolved tragedies are less well-known victims whose violent, blood-soaked endings remain shrouded in darkness.
Today we turn the spotlight on the harrowing murder cases, spanning more than 50 years, that continue to baffle our best detectives.
And we hear from bereaved loved ones of the tragic souls whose lives were cut brutally short at the hands of killers who have never been called to account for their sickening and devastating crimes.
Few people are better placed to tell of the heartache that comes with losing a relative to murder than Billy Blue, 67.
His brother Alexander, 41, was murdered 23 years ago in Glasgow but his killer has never been snared.
Alex was discovered slumped in a pool of blood outside his home in Dowanhill two decades ago on June 25, 2002.
He died in hospital 48 hours later from head injuries so severe even his mum Kathy, now 91, didn’t recognise him.
Billy said: “Nobody can really predict what your reaction will be when something like this happens but I know with my mother 23 years on she has never got over the pain and the loss that she suffered.
“As the years go on you still have that hope and then you realise that hope is just dwindling away.
“I think the police in our case have let us down very badly. We have had no contact with the police for about seven or eight years.
“It’s shocking to find there are 66 cases. Even me being involved in this for so long I had no idea there were 66 cases in Scotland.
“It’s far too many and every case is important. Pressure has to be put on the police and action has to be taken.
1,300 STILL ON FILE AND KILL SUSPECT SHOT DEAD
POLICE Scotland’s files include 1,295 “unresolved” murders with 1,310 victims — which includes the 65 “undetected” homicides that left 66 victims.
The 66 are all cases where no killer has been formally identified as an accused or charged with the offence.
The force classifies unresolved cases on criteria that includes a suspect being identified but not charged and suspects being acquitted at trial or on appeal.
KILL SUSPECT SHOT
A MAN linked to the unsolved stabbing murder of Andrew Smith in 1991 was later shot dead.
Mark Vass was suspected of slaying Andrew, 23, in Maryhill, Glasgow, but no one was charged or identified. Vass, 32, was gunned down in 1995 by Eamonn Docherty, whose brother Paul had been assaulted by Vass.
A year after Andrew’s murder, Vass was acquitted of killing security guard Derek Ure, 21, making that case “unresolved”.
“People shouldn’t have to wait that long and be left just hoping for the best.”
Cops as well as relatives also tell of being haunted when the identity of a killer remains a mystery – or worse still at large.
Ex-police chief never gave up hope
Ex-police chief Tom Wood has never been able to rest easy at the thought of Sheila Anderson’s deadly assailant slipping through his fingers – even decades on.
But he has never given up hope her killer will one day be found.
Tom has long been tormented by the horrific killing of the prostitute in Edinburgh, in the 1980s.
He was a young murder squad officer when he was involved in trying to snare the fiend who repeatedly ran over the 27-year-old in a motor.
It is the only major crime Tom, 73, investigated during his long career that remains unsolved.
Speaking 41 years after her body was found, the former deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police said: “I’m the last of the investigators from Sheila Anderson, I was the deputy senior investigating officer in that case.
“And the SIO, who was a dear old friend of mine, Jimmy Wilson, is long dead.
“But there is forensic evidence in the Sheila Anderson case and I can’t say what it is.
“Don’t forget about Sheila, the case is there to be solved.”
Tom Wood
“I know what it is but don’t want to give that away.
“But I am very, very hopeful and at every opportunity I take the chance of making a special plea to Police Scotland to not forget Sheila.
“We have not forgotten Sheila and I would dearly love to find out who it was who ran her over and killed her that night in April, 1983.
“Don’t forget about Sheila, the case is there to be solved.”
VIOLENT DEATH RIDDLES
Here is the full list of the 66 murders from the 1960s to 2012 that remain on cop files marked ‘undetected’.
- Jan 28, 1960 Arthur Still, 36, stabbed to death in Bridgeton, Glasgow.
- Aug 5, 1960 David Hutton, aged six, murdered in Paisley.
- Nov 14, 1960 John Wilson, 55, beaten to death in Edinburgh.
- Dec 29, 1964 Harold Bruce, 61, murdered in his Aberdeen flat.
- Sept 4, 1965 Christine Farrell, 29, beaten to death in Coatbridge.
- Oct 2, 1965 Smillie McKim, 45, found dead with head injury in his armchair, in Bridgeton.
- Mar 5, 1966 Catherine Hunter in Strathclyde.
- April 4, 1966 Alexander McCreadie in Strathclyde.
- May 20, 1966 Alan Hunter in Strathclyde.
- Feb 2, 1968 Catherine Duncan, 46, murdered in Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian.
- Feb 23, 1968 Bible John victim Patricia Docker, 25, Langside, Glasgow.
- July 25, 1968 Agnes Armstrong, 58, in home in Scone, Perthshire.
- Aug 18, 1969 Bible John victim Jemima MacDonald, 31, in Bridgeton.
- Oct 31, 1969 Helen Puttock, 29, Bible John victim.
- Feb 3, 1970 Unnamed baby in Strathclyde region
- April 2, 1970 Unnamed baby in Strathclyde.
- May 24, 1970 Helen Kane, 25, in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh.
- Jan 11, 1971 Hotel boss James Keltie, 52, in Blairgowrie, Perthshire.
- April 26, 1971 Unknown baby in Strathclyde region.
- Oct 13, 1973 Harry Taylor, 50, of Cranhill, Glasgow, described as “most brutal of murders”.
- Feb 20, 1974 Neil McCann, 37, murdered by hitman. Possible case of mistaken identity.
- Aug 19, 1974 Annie Irvine, 57, raped and knifed in Paisley.
- Aug 15, 1975 Thomas Wilkinson found dead in his flat in Springburn, Glasgow.
- April 7, 1976 Unknown baby in Strathclyde region.
- Mar 4, 1977 Unidentified baby in Strathclyde
- April 17, 1977 Unknown baby in Strathclyde region.
- Jul 12,1977 Mary Corcoran, 54, murdered in Paisley.
- July 27, 1977 Unnamed baby in Strathclyde region.
- Aug 5, 1977 Anna Kenny, 20, vanished 1977, found two years later. Angus Sinclair, top, linked.
- Oct 2, 1977 Hilda McAulay was battered, raped and strangled. Angus Sinclair suspected.
- Oct 10, 1977 Unnamed baby in Strathclyde region.
- Dec 4, 1977 Agnes Cooney, found near Caldercruix, Lanarkshire. Angus Sinclair linked.
- Mar 20, 1978 Donald Miller, 58, found dead in Springburn amid claims of vice girl link.
- Dec 29, 1978 George Cunningham, 35, in Asda car park, Coatbridge.
- March 20, 1979 Carol Lannen, 18, in Dundee’s Templeton Woods.
- Jul 7, 1979 Angus Sinclair also linked to the killing of security guard Edward Cotogno, 63, found battered to death in Dumbarton.
- Sep 29, 1979 Dawn Webster, 18, vanished in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, discovered 15 days later at the M9
- April 14, 1981 Eliza Connelly, 74, in Broughty Ferry, Dundee.
- Jun 18, 1981 Postmistress Dorothy Park, 63, killed in robbery in New Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire.
- Oct 24, 1981 John McLean found daed on Aberdeen waste ground.
- Jan 25, 1982 John McIntosh, 71, beaten to death in his home in Gullane, East Lothian.
- April 7, 1983 Sex worker Sheila Anderson, 27, run over by car in Edinburgh.
- Sep 29, 1983 George Murdoch, 58, murdered by the so-called ‘Cheesewire Killer’ in Aberdeen.
- Nov 27, 1983 Hanifan Bibi, 47, died while escaping deliberate fire in Blackburn, West Lothian.
- July 24, 1988 Hugh Hannah, 44, murdered on his doorstep in Drumchapel, Glasgow.
- Feb 18, 1989 Londoner Jimmy Hassard, 47, killed on visit to Caol, Inverness-shire.
- Aug 5, 1989 Billy Harris, 29, slain in Glasgow after a drinking session.
- June 24, 1991 Ex- Black Watch Alexander Drummond, 33, found dead on a farm track in Fife.
- Sept 10, 1991 Andrew Smith, 23, stabbed near canal in Maryhill, Glasgow.
- Aug 4, 1992 Waiter Abdul Maneer, 33, killed at tandoori restaurant in Helensburgh, Argyll.
- Oct 29, 1993 Drug dealer Henry McKechnie in Maryhill, Glasgow.
- Nov 10, 1994 Shona Stevens, 31, beaten to death in Irvine, Ayrshire.
- Dec 8, 1994 Fred McDonald, 57, attacked and robbed outside his Glasgow home.
- Feb 1, 1996 Billy Weatherall, 32, shot dead and found beside the M8 near Bishopton, Renfrewshire.
- Oct 3, 2001 John Hall, 45, found dead on a dirt track in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, with David McIntosh.
- Oct 3, 2001 David McIntosh, 35, found dead with John Hall.
- June 25, 2002 Alex Blue, 41, stabbed outside his Glasgow flat.
- Sept 24, 2002 Gordon Ross, pal of gangster Tam ‘The Licensee’ McGraw, left, in Shettleston, Glasgow.
- Oct 8, 2002 Pub boss Billy Sibbald, 48, found dead three months after vanishing in Portobello, Edinburgh.
- Oct 21, 2003 Ronald Kerr, 49, died in deliberate fire at his home in Cardonald, Glasgow.
- Nov 28, 2004 Nairn banker Alistair Wilson, 30, shot dead on doorstep.
- July 10, 2007 John Devine, 49, stabbed in Springburn, Glasgow.
- July 26, 2007 Billy Bates, 43, found dead in a barrel in the River Clyde.
- Oct 6, 2008 George Redmond, 42, shot in a drive-by shooting outside Waldorf Bar in Glasgow.
- Dec 20, 2008 Robbie Moody, 13 weeks old, died at home of a head injury in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian.
- Aug 12, 2012 John McMurchie, 50, found dead on Dundee street.
Detective Superintendent Graeme Lannigan said Sheila’s case like all unsolved murder probes is subject to continued review.
He added: “Should any new information be received, it will be thoroughly assessed to determine whether it could assist the inquiry. If so, it will be appropriately acted upon by dedicated officers.
“If you believe you have information relevant to Sheila’s murder, but have never spoken to police, then please contact police immediately.”
Other cases include the deaths of eight unknown babies in the 1970s and the murder of six-year-old boy David Hutton, murdered in Paisley in 1960.
“I think the police in our case have let us down very badly. We have had no contact with the police for about seven or eight years.”
Billy Blue
The so-called Bible John murders of Patricia Docker, 25, Jemima MacDonald, 31, and Helen Puttock, 29, in the late 1960s have been the subject of many reports and appeals over the years but remain stubbornly among Scotland’s most notorious unsolved cases.
Others include the shooting of Alistair Wilson, 30, in November, 2004.
We told last year how widow Veronica, 52, and her two sons had “lost trust” in the force and hit out at Chief Constable Jo Farrell for refusing to meet them to discuss their concerns.
In September, cops hunting a cabbie’s mysterious “Cheesewire Killer” believe they could soon be knocking on his relative’s doors.
George Murdoch, 58, was battered and choked to death by the fiend in a quiet Aberdeen street on September 29, 1983.
The murderer has been on the loose for decades, but did leave some of his DNA at the scene.
“The passage of time alone is no barrier to the investigation of homicide cases.”
Police Scotland
Now, on the 41st anniversary of the horror, detectives revealed they can use this vital genetic clue to track down the monster’s family.
Detective Inspector James Callander said: “This new DNA data is significant and will help take us a step closer to getting justice for Mr Murdoch’s family.”
The 66 ‘undetected’ murders are among more than 1,300 murders described as ‘unresolved’ by Police Scotland.
The chilling catalogue of cold cases dates back to the 1960s.
Culprits remain at large despite our national force boasting of a “world-leading” 100 per cent homicide detection rate since the formation of the single force in April 2013.
‘Police Scotland never considers cases closed’
Police Scotland insisted that all murders are “continually kept under review” in case any fresh evidence emerges.
A spokesman explained: “We understand how devastating it is for loved ones to never know why a homicide happened or who may have been responsible.
“Police Scotland never considers cases closed.
“The passage of time alone is no barrier to the investigation of homicide cases.”