The Bible John Mystery

In the 1960’s three Glasgow women were murdered, the so called ‘Bible John’ killings. The crimes remain unsolved. Recently police arrested the man behind three similar murders. Does he hold the key to the mystery? Is Peter Tobin Bible John?

They were all strangled, they were all beaten and they were all menstruating. It didn’t take police long to link the murders. They had a serial killer on their hands.

The prime suspect was the last man seen alive with the third victim, Helen Puttock. He’d shared a taxi with Helen and her sister Jeannie just before Helen was murdered. Jeannie recalled him quoting from the Bible and described him as 6 foot tall with sandy hair. He also said his name was John.

Soon the papers called this mystery murderer ‘Bible John’ and the biggest manhunt in Scottish criminal history ensued. Police interviewed over 5000 men and collected 50,000 statements, but they never found their man.

The killings suddenly stopped in 1969, and it seemed like the mystery would never be solved.

But 37 years later another murder in Glasgow brought back chilling memories. The body of young Polish student Angelika Kluk was found hidden beneath church floorboards right in the middle of Bible John territory. With the help of DNA profiling her killer was found. His name – Peter Tobin.

Soon Tobin was linked to two other murders, those of Dinah McNicoll and Vicky Hamilton who’d both been missing since 1991. These killings also bore haunting similarities to the Bible John murders. Peter Tobin was in Glasgow around the time of the Bible John murders. Does he hold the key to a mystery that has spanned four decades?

David Hayman looks at this fascinating case – and reveals the arguments for and against Peter Tobin being the man behind three gruesome murders which have achieved mythical status.

David also does something that’s never been done before. A graphic artist has regressed a recent photo of Tobin to what he would have looked like in the late 60’s, the time of Bible John. Will the age regression image resemble the artist’s impression of Bible John from eye witness accounts?

Is Peter Tobin Bible John?