BBC Scotland podcast series sheds new light on Bible John murders

A new BBC Scotland podcast reveals new information about the notorious Bible John murder investigation in Glasgow.

The ten-part series, Bible John – Creation of a Serial Killer, investigates the unsolved case which began in February 1968, when a young woman was murdered after a night dancing in Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom. She was the first victim in a series of three killings that came to be known as the Bible John murders.

It became Scotland’s biggest ever manhunt, with the press giving the killer his now famous name. After the third murder in October 1969, Bible John apparently stopped.

In 1996, Journalist Audrey Gillan broke the news that the police had a new prime suspect. The story was front page news in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper.

Audrey was able to gain access to some of the original police files and spoke to investigating officers and a key witness.

Revisiting these documents from 25 years ago, she noticed that the descriptions of the three murdered women – Patricia Docker, Jemima Macdonald and Helen Puttock – are riddled with judgments about who they were and how they lived.

Audrey is determined to reveal the women’s lives in a way that’s never been done before. She wants to discover how these women lived, how they died and what happened to the families they left behind.

As a result of her investigation, Audrey also uncovers the trail of another story about Bible John, which could significantly change what we know about the case.

Audrey says: “This case has haunted me for almost all of my life. I have always wanted to find out more about the three women – to get a sense of the streets they walked on, the clothes they wore and the songs they sang. But the Bible John investigation is like nothing else I have ever worked on, and making this podcast has thrown up a number of revelations.”

The series also features contributions from police officers, journalists who reported on the original investigation and family members of the three victims. Many of these people have never spoken publicly about the case before.

Bible John – Creation of a Serial Killer will be available on BBC Sounds from 1 October.

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