Bible John: The forgotten women at the heart of a serial killer mystery

Patricia Docker, Jemima MacDonald and Helen Puttock were murdered successful Glasgow successful the precocious 1960s. Their names became synonymous with Bible John - the antheral believed to person been liable for each 3 killings. Journalist Audrey Gillan reassesses the lawsuit to find retired who these women were and to archer their forgotten stories.

Each of the young women had gone for a nighttime retired astatine Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom, leaving their children successful the attraction of household astatine home.

They ne'er returned to them.

They were each strangled and their bodies dumped conscionable a abbreviated region from wherever they lived.

Suddenly, determination was a fearfulness that a serial slayer was connected the loose, preying connected women from the borderline of the creation floor.

The hunt for him led to Scotland's biggest ever manhunt. He became known arsenic Bible John aft 1 witnesser said helium had quoted scripture.

As a young writer successful the 1990s, I was blameworthy of making Patricia, Jemima and Helen a footnote successful a communicative astir this monster Bible John. A monster who has ne'er been caught, contempt decades of speculation astir his identity.

I reported the basal "facts" of this case. But I besides repeated the mistakes. The large ones, that each 3 women were raped; and the small ones, similar getting Jemima's property and the spelling of her surname wrong.

And I conscionable assumed that they were "victims of a serial killer".

Then precocious I took retired archetypal constabulary lawsuit notes that I had held connected to - but ne'er published - since I was fixed them successful 1996, and the daze I felt was visceral.

Detectives described these women arsenic being "highly promiscuous", "fond of antheral company", and liking "the attraction of men".

It was blatant misogyny. These victims of execution were being judged - and seemingly blamed for what happened to them - due to the fact that they had gone retired dancing, possibly liked a drink, and perchance similar to flirt with men.

So I decided to instrumentality and archer Patricia, Jemima and Helen's stories decently done a podcast

Patricia was the girl of John Wilson, a Royal Air Force electronics engineer, and his woman Pauline. I had thought she was a working-class Glasgow miss who had ever lived successful the city. She wasn't.

As a child, she stayed successful Gloucestershire for a portion and successful August 1953 she boarded the P&O troopship Empire Orwell with her mother. They were bound for Singapore, wherever Flt Lt Wilson was stationed. The household past moved to Glasgow, wherever they lived successful a large house.

Patricia was 19 erstwhile she joined Alexander Docker, a elder aircraftman with the RAF. They had a son, Sandy. The household lived unneurotic successful Cyprus, wherever Alex's portion was based.

They had a babysitter, Yiannoulla, who described Pat arsenic "a truly bully lady. She ever utilized to formal up precise nice. She would deterioration skirts, blouses and a suit type".

Yiannoulla described their formation trips with small Sandy, and however she and Pat loved to ticker the TV amusement Dr Kildare. They some wanted to beryllium nurses.

But the Dockers' matrimony was successful occupation and aft the Cyprus posting the mates separated. In April 1967, Pat returned to Glasgow, wherever she became an auxiliary nurse, moving nights and splitting her shifts and the attraction of four-year-old Sandy with her mother.

Once a week, Pat would instrumentality a nighttime disconnected from these responsibilities and spell dancing.

The constabulary study connected her decease is written with the aforesaid judgmental, misogynistic connection that was utilized to picture each 3 women.

It says she "appears to bask the institution of men" and describes her arsenic "an lone kid and seemingly alternatively spoiled".

There is precise small item of what happened during her past nighttime retired aft leaving the level she shared with her parents and lad successful the Langside country of the city.

She was wearing a mustard knitted formal and a duffel overgarment with a bluish fur collar. When her assemblage was discovered lying by the doorway of a store successful a residential lane, her apparel were obscurity to beryllium seen.

These days her lad is known arsenic Alex. His beingness was upended erstwhile his parent was murdered.

He was driven distant from Glasgow by his father, who was present stationed astatine RAF Digby and had a caller partner. Alex and I talked by email, past helium agreed to constitute an eloquent and affectional effort for the podcast.

He said the level successful Glasgow had been a two-storey tenement supra a enactment of shops.

"I don't retrieve overmuch of the level itself, though. I bash callback bath time. It was ever successful the room descend and I deliberation I indispensable person enjoyed these times due to the fact that I person a precise wide representation of it.

"I tin astir representation my mother's laughing face, but the item is excessively fuzzy. There is nary steadfast ocular imprint.

"I can't spot successful my mind's oculus a look successful immoderate concern nor anyone else's from that time. Their beingness is keenly felt, but their carnal signifier indistinct. The fewer photographs of Pat I person lone elicit a anemic consciousness of recognition, if astatine all."

Alex had ne'er returned to the metropolis of his birth, but arsenic the podcast neared its end, helium agreed to conscionable maine successful Glasgow. We went to Langside.

He told me: "In a mode this full happening is similar a small container wrong my caput that's labelled 'do not open' and wrong that container are 2 things that truly acrophobic me.

"It's the fearfulness of the decease of my parent - my imaginativeness going to places wherever I privation it wouldn't, the past moments of my mother's beingness and what her thoughts indispensable person been.

"The cognition that I was a substance of yards distant from wherever this happened distresses maine greatly.

"And the different happening is my grandparents, whose beingness was hollowed retired instantly aft this event. They mislaid their beloved lone kid abruptly and then, subsequently, me, their grandson a substance of days later.

"For my portion this podcast has fixed her backmost to maine successful immoderate way. And fixed maine immoderate of my individuality back."

Jemima was the pistillate I knew slightest about. On the nighttime she died, she had dressed up successful a frilly blouse and pinafore dress. She was recovered by her sister lying successful a derelict gathering adjacent doorway to the tenement level she shared with her 3 children.

But the communicative of her beingness seemed to person disappeared with the tenement building. I knew she loved "the dancing" and came from a large family, but small more.

The constabulary said her eldest kid was a girl, Elizabeth, who was past aged 11. Her begetter was "a Yugoslav". Her sons were Andrew, eight, and Allan, seven, and their begetter was said to beryllium West Indian. Those notes say: "Jemima appeared to beryllium cleanable successful her idiosyncratic and her location and children were good cared for."

I wanted to cognize what happened to those children. It emerged that erstwhile Jemima was killed, kid payment officials took Elizabeth to 1 residential attraction location and her brothers were taken to another. One infinitesimal they were surviving with their mum, conscionable crossed from their auntie, and the adjacent they were torn isolated from each other.

I spent months trying to find them, worrying that the attraction strategy would person chewed them up. I ordered commencement certificates and built household trees and yet discovered that the 2 boys had changed their surnames - arsenic had their father.

I was stunned to find that Eldridge "Bunny" Mottley was alive, and surviving connected the outskirts of Manchester.

He knew Jemima arsenic Mima, and portion they had separated erstwhile their boys were precise young, helium inactive spoke of her fondly.

"I tin spot her walking up the roadworthy and she ne'er utilized to walk, she ever utilized to beryllium skipping and jumping," helium said.

"She wasn't backward astatine coming forward... we instantly deed it off. It was arsenic elemental arsenic that. She was perfectly ever immaculate.

"She gave maine 2 beauteous sons. And they person been a recognition to maine and to her."

One of those sons, Allan, recalled the clip that his parent had got her 3 children up retired of furniture to ticker the satellite landings.

He came to spot maine successful Glasgow, with his woman Norma and girl Sammy, and unneurotic we visited Jemima's grave.

He said: "Nothing was ever explained to us. Well, not to me, anyway. Probably wherefore you don't deliberation astir it. I conscionable get connected with my life. So, you know, it's thing that happened. Mum died. Next infinitesimal we were surviving with my dad."

I showed Allan what the constabulary had written astir Jemima.

They said she "appeared to beryllium highly fond of antheral company". The study said she had been astatine the Barrowland Dance Hall 3 nights successful a enactment successful the week earlier her murder, and was "in receipt of nationalist funds positive attraction from the fathers of her children".

Allan was softly indignant.

"It's arsenic if she shouldn't person been allowed to person a beingness due to the fact that she was azygous and she had children," helium said.

Allan stressed that his parent had not conscionable disappeared and near her children alone.

"We were looked aft due to the fact that we had household adjacent door. I accidental similar immoderate azygous parent, with 3 tearaway kids astir your ankles each day, you've got to person a release.

"If household were consenting to look aft them portion she went out, there's thing incorrect with that astatine all."

Helen was astatine the Barrowland with her large sister Jean connected the nighttime that led to her murder. With a crucial, surviving witness, her communicative had ever had the astir item - yet determination was inactive truthful small known astir her.

In 1996, I interviewed Jean. She told maine her sister was ever called Ellen and that she was "a good-looking lassie. She loved it up the dancing."

The time they went to the Barrowland, Helen had gone to C&A and bought a achromatic formal with golden buttons up the front. Jean said her sister was tall, good dressed, that her caller formal was lovely. She wore it the nighttime she died, on with fake-fur ocelot-print coat.

Helen had worked connected the buses and been a furrier and a bookie, and erstwhile a romance broke up, she went down to enactment with her member successful Reading. That was wherever she met her husband, George Puttock, a lance corporal successful the Royal Corps of Signals. The 2 23-year-olds got joined successful March 1964.

The mates had 2 children, David and Michael, and erstwhile George was sent to Germany, his household followed on. But Helen didn't similar it determination and returned to unrecorded with her parent successful Earl Street, Glasgow, successful mid-March 1969.

I discovered that the Puttock matrimony was successful occupation and Helen had told George it was over. He travelled to the metropolis connected his adjacent permission from the army, connected 17 October, successful the anticipation that helium mightiness triumph backmost his wife's affection - but Helen said she didn't emotion him anymore.

Jean was successful the taxi with Helen and the antheral she near the Barrowland with connected the nighttime of her murder. This is the antheral constabulary believed killed her.

Jean remembered helium had quoted tiny bits from the Bible and claimed his sanction was John. These were enactment unneurotic by the press, and truthful Bible John was created.

But Jean felt this was a distraction. "If we hadn't been talking astir religion and shot that wouldn't person travel up," she said.

I recovered Helen's cousin, Margaret Work, and her daughter, Elaine Paterson, who told maine that the household was near breached aft Helen died.

"It ruined a full household really," said Elaine.

"George took the kids distant down to England. So aged Jeannie [Helen's mother] not lone mislaid her daughter, she mislaid her grandkids. And Jean mislaid a sister."

Jean told maine the same, saying: "My parent ne'er ever got implicit it."

Helen's assemblage had been near successful a backmost tribunal conscionable 8 doors distant from her mother's top-floor flat.

The Bible John probe became 1 of the largest ever carried retired by Scottish police.

More than 5,000 radical were interviewed, and the enquiry saw the archetypal usage of a constabulary photofit of the suspect.

But nary arrests were ever made. One suspect's assemblage was exhumed aft the lawsuit was reopened successful 1995 - but helium was eliminated aft tests failed to find a DNA nexus to the killings.

It is present much than 5 decades since Patricia, Jemima and Helen were killed.

The murders near suffering successful their wake. But done their families, we person present learned truthful overmuch much astir these 3 women who loved to spell dancing.

They are nary longer conscionable a footnote successful the Bible John story.