Bible John

Bible John is the nickname of a serial killer who is believed to have murdered three young women after meeting them at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow, Scotland, between 1968 and 1969. The killer has never been identified although the known movements and modus operandi of convicted Glaswegian serial killer Peter Tobin suggests that he may have been behind the killings. However, this has never been proven and the case remains unsolved.

On 23 February 1968, the naked body of a 25-year-old nurse, Patricia Docker, was found by a man on his way to work in a lane behind Carmichael Place, Glasgow. The lane was only yards from her home in Langside Place. She had been raped and strangled. The previous night, she had told her parents that she was going out dancing at a nearby club, the Majestic Ballroom in Hope Street, Glasgow. Patricia had, in fact, gone to the Barrowland Ballroom for the over-25s night. It transpired that at some point during the night, Docker left the Majestic and ended up at the Barrowlands where it is thought she met her killer. It was several days after her murder that the police found out that she had actually gone to the Barrowlands. Focusing their investigation on the Majestic cost the police valuable time. Pat's handbag and clothes were missing and despite months of investigation, neither were ever found.

On Friday, 15 August 1969, mother of three, Jemima McDonald, 32, also went for a night out at the Barrowland Ballroom. The next day Jemima's sister Margaret heard rumours in the area that young children were seen leaving an old tenement building in MacKeith Street talking about "the body." By the Monday morning, Margaret was so concerned that she herself, fearing the worst, went to the old building where she found Jemima's battered body. She had been strangled, raped and beaten to death. Unlike Patricia Docker, Jemima was fully clothed when her body was found. Witnesses said that they had seen her leaving the club at midnight with a tall, slim young man with red hair. Police conducted door-to-door enquiries at the time and found a woman who remembered hearing screams coming from the same building in MacKeith Street, although she could not vouch for the time. Police considered the information of little use and the investigation was later wound down.

On 31 October 1969, 29-year-old Helen Puttock was found murdered in Earl Street in Scotstoun. She had also been to the Barrowland Ballroom on the night she was murdered; she had gone there with her sister, Jean, and had met two men called John. One said he was from Castlemilk while the other did not disclose where he was from. After being in their company for well over an hour, they left to head home. Castlemilk John walked to George Square to get a bus, while Helen, Jean and the killer hailed a taxi. They set off from Glasgow Cross and made a westward journey heading to Knightswood where Jean lived. It was during this journey that most of the crucial information about the killer became apparent. More significant were the conversations in the taxi that would later be used to create a psychological profile of the killer. Jean told detectives that he was a well-spoken man who quoted from the Bible. It was this information that led to the killer being given the moniker "Bible John" by the media. After dropping off Jean at Knightswood, the taxi then continued to Earl Street in Scotstoun where Helen lived. The next morning, Helen's battered body was found in the back garden of her flat in Earl Street. She had been raped and strangled. The contents of her handbag had been scattered nearby but the actual bag was missing. It has been suggested that the killer took the bag as a trophy. Grass stains on Helen's feet indicated that there had been a struggle in which Helen probably tried to escape her killer. She also had a deep bite mark on her leg.