Bible John - Developments

Developments

The 4 May 2007 conviction of Peter Tobin for the murder of student Angelika Kluk led to speculation that he is Bible John. According to a report in The Times, there are striking parallels between Bible John and Peter Tobin. All three of Tobin's former wives gave accounts of being imprisoned, throttled, raped and beaten by him. There are strong similarities between photographs of Tobin when aged in his 20s and the photo fit artist's impression of Bible John, and Tobin had moved from Glasgow in 1969 after marrying his first wife, whom he had met at the Barrowland ballroom the same year as the killings officially ended. It is alleged by his former wives that Tobin is driven to violence by the menstrual cycle, something which has long been suspected as the motive behind the Bible John murders. Additionally, Tobin was a Roman Catholic with strong religious views.

As a result of Operation Anagram in 2006 (set up to locate any other potential victims of Tobin), a woman said she had been raped by Tobin after she had met him at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow in 1968 - around the time of the Bible John killings.

In 2007, author David Leslie's search for Hannah Martin, the key prosecution witness in a £50 million drug case he was researching for a book resulted in Hannah's daughter Isobel (a pseudonym) coming forward. Hannah had died in 2002 but from the authors interviews with Isobel and Hannah's friends he discovered she may have been another of Bible John's victims. In 1969, Hannah Martin had met a well dressed man at the Barrowland Ballroom who escorted her home. Hannah was raped by her escort in nearby Carmichael Street, the same location where Pat Docker had been killed, he fled after Hannah's screams were heard by local residents. Hannah said that her attacker had fair/red hair, wore a blue suit and had teeth overlapping one another; the same description as that given by Jeannie Williams. Hannah never reported the rape and only discussed it with her closest friends. To this day it is unknown if Bible John was behind this attack although the description suggests it could be the same offender. As a result of the rape Hannah fell pregnant and in 1970 gave birth to a daughter. David Leslie has suggested that Isobel's DNA could be compared to that of suspects.

In September 2010, the only woman ever to have come face-to-face with Bible John, Jean McLachlan, died aged 74, marking the end of the hunt for the killer. McLachlan, who shared a taxi with the mystery killer and her sister Helen Puttock, gave police the description used in the artist's impression, which remains the biggest clue to his appearance more than 40 years later. Although DNA had been used to rule out a previous suspect, detectives believe a DNA link to Tobin is unlikely due to a deterioration of the samples through poor storage.

It is not universally accepted that the three killings were the work of the same person. It has been claimed that the gap of 18 months between the first two killings is unusual with serial killers, the later two may have been copycat killings, and the police may even have hampered their own investigation by prematurely jumping to the conclusion that they were the work of the same person. Professor David Wilson, an expert in criminal behaviour, has stated that the 18 month gap is not unusual following a serial killer's first murder. Wilson investigated the case for three years and believes the available evidence supports that Peter Tobin is Bible John.