The Ballroom of Death - the story of the Bible John Murders in Scotland
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Now let's get into today's episode of Murder, Mystery, and Makeup.

Hi friends, how are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian and you are listening to the Murder, Mystery, and Makeup podcast. Today's exciting because I have this story that is a podcast exclusive just for you listening, okay? Now this story takes place in the 60s in Glasgow, Scotland. At the time, Glasgow was recovering from a hard decade that suffered from severe smog, was overrun by slums, and there was a high infant mortality rate. It seemed

Everyone was in poor health and crime was rampant. Now on Gallowgate Road in Glasgow, Scotland is a dance hall called the Barrowland Ballroom that still stands today, even after the gruesome murders that took place in the 60s.

It was built in 1934 and during World War II, it was a popular place for American soldiers. It was completely destroyed by a fire in the 50s and rebuilt in 1960. The Barrowland was not the most classy place to go and was known to be the place where you don't use your real name. And I don't know, I guess it was like an easy place to get like a one night stand.

No judgment, you know. So on February 22nd, 1968, Patricia Docker, who was a 25-year-old nurse, worked at Mearnskirk Hospital where she worked night shifts. She lived with her parents after leaving her husband with her four-year-old son, Alex.

Well, one night she decided to go out dancing. Her plans were to head to the Majestic Ballroom. Ironically, it was located on Hope Street. I guess it was torn down in 1972. But Patricia might have gone to the Majestic Ballroom, but it ended up closing at 10.30 p.m. And she found herself at an over 25...

more commonly known as a grab-a-granny night at the Barrowland Ballroom that stayed open until midnight. Yeah, if you were over 25, it was known as grab-a-granny. So that's nice.

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The next day near Patricia's house, Maurice Goodman was headed to his garage and when he arrived, Patricia's body was on his doorstep. She was naked except for one shoe. He immediately called 911. He actually told the 911 dispatcher that it was a man because the face had apparently been beaten so badly. So a detective comes out there and the detective says,

said, quote,

Now, it was suspected that she was strangled with either a belt or her own pantyhose. It appeared that Patricia had been raped and they also found her pad nearby. I guess she was on her period and they found her pad nearby. So police kind of tried to retrace Patricia's night. They went down to the Majestic.

after learning that, you know, she was supposed to be over there that night. But really, it was putting them further and further away from the true answers. Her clothes were later found at the, quote, river cart, end quote. I have no idea, like, what that means. I'm sorry. It might be a Scottish thing or a street name. I couldn't figure it out.

But they found her clothes, but her purse and watch were never found. Then on August 16th, 1969, 18 months after Patricia's death, Jemima McDonald decided to go out to the Barrowland Ballroom for a night of dancing. Now she was a single mother of three kids and she decided she needed, you know, a night out.

So she had her sister Margaret watch the kids. While she was out the Barrowland, people recalled seeing her dancing with a tall man around 30 years old dressed in a blue suit. It was said that she left with that man and that was the last time anyone saw her. The next day, Margaret was worried because her sister never came to get her kids. When she went outside later that day, she overheard kids from the neighborhood talking about a body in a nearby abandoned building.

Now Margaret, she got that feeling, you know? She was like, "Um, what?" She was a little alarmed.

but she waited until Monday to ask them where the body was and then she went to the building. That's when Margaret discovered Jemima's body was fully clothed, but she was missing her purse. I mean, it must have been like tragic. It was her sister, you know? When police investigated, it was determined that Jemima was possibly strangled by her pantyhose

as well as she had also been on her period. I guess her pad, again, was found nearby. We got some kind of period killer out here, my God. Investigators interrogated people that had been at the Barrel Land that night, but like no one had any leads.

Even once the family offered a 100 pound reward, no one came forward with any information. So the police decided to try and set up whoever the perp was by trying to entice whoever it was with a victim. So

Essentially, a female cop went undercover, but sadly, quote unquote sadly, no one tried to kill her. Scotland did something that they actually had never done before and released an image to the public that a sketch artist had put together. But again, there was no leads, nothing, no movement.

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Jean Lanford wanted a night out on the town and they wanted to go dancing at the Barrowland Ballroom. Now, before they left, Helen's husband was worried because he, you know, people were talking.

that there was a serial killer on the loose and he didn't want her to get hurt. But you know, the sisters swore they wouldn't leave each other's side, like not to worry, they're just gonna go out, they're just gonna dance and have some fun, like relax, nothing bad is gonna happen. So her husband stayed home with their two young boys. Jean said that her sister danced with a tall man that night. Both sisters entertained two men named John that night,

And then once it got really late, the sisters decided to hail a taxi when Helen's John offered to see them home. So they're in the taxi and this John guy is talking a lot and he kind of told them a lot. John told them that he was very religious,

He could quote scripture. He was quoted saying, I don't drink at Hogmanay, I pray. Hogmanay is like New Year's Eve in Scotland. He said his father called the ballrooms, quote, dens of iniquity. So he seems very judgmental. He also had a sister named,

and a cousin who was really good at golf. And he told them that he was headed towards the Clyde Ferry. So this guy was telling them kind of a lot, right? Well, they dropped Jean off at her house first. Then Helen and John rode off in the taxi. Oh no. Well, Helen's body was discovered the next morning near her house by a man walking his dog.

She was clothed, but missing her purse. She had most likely been strangled with her pantyhose and she was also on her period. I'm telling you, period killer, what? Yeah, ugh. She had been bit on her wrist and semen was discovered on her clothes. Her feet were green from running in the grass barefoot, possibly suggesting that she tried to get away.

And the most bizarre part of this one, the killer removed her quote unquote sanitary towel and put it under her armpit. What? Yeah. What? I don't, yep. After he told them that he was looking for his wife, they deduced that the woman they had just found was Helen.

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this guy that she was calling, or actually the police were calling Bible John. 'Cause remember the taxi ride home when he was like, obviously like he knew his Bible. So they're giving him the title Bible John. So the police came out with this description to the public. They believed the serial killer guy was male,

35 to 30 years old, medium build, six feet tall, short, light reddish hair, blue gray eyes, an overlapping tooth in the upper right of the mouth. I know, very specific with that one. I was like, oh.

military style wristwatch. Now many people gave tips, but Jean was never able to identify any of the men she saw. The police did many stakeouts and had undercover women cops like go out, you know, but Bible John never struck again.

Police investigated many people with many negative DNA tests. The police put one man's family through the media circus as they really thought this guy was Bible John. And kind of like the media was also believing that this guy was Bible John and they really ruined his life.

And this man completely, well, we think he's innocent, right? But he committed suicide in 1980 at 40 years old and was apparently a cousin to one of the victims. But Gene told police that he was not the guy. They ended up exhuming his body and determined through DNA testing he was not Bible John.

It was said that as men were cleared from suspicion, the police were giving them cards that said, "I am not Bible John," so that they wouldn't be heckled. As the years went on, the DNA had not been kept properly and was lost.

They literally had the semen, you know what I'm saying? And they ended up losing it. The only person that could apparently identify the killer at this point was Gene. Okay, so let me introduce you to Peter Tobin. Peter Tobin was born August 27th, 1946, and was giving his parents a hard time at a young age before he was sent to a reform school at just seven years old. Now, Gene was absolutely

adamant that Peter was not the man from the taxi, but he is the most prominent suspect in this case. Peter frequented the Barrowlands in 1968.

At this point, he would have been like 22 years old. And many women recounted horrible, horrible experiences with him. One woman said that he tried to rape her after meeting him at the ballroom. And a different woman said that he tried to get her to leave with him. And when she refused, it just really pissed him off.

Most interesting, he met his wife, 17-year-old Margaret, at the Barrowland Ballrooms. It's been said that they did not have a happy marriage. And there was even this one situation where, like, he was an angry man. And I guess his first wife's puppy would not stop barking. So he solved that problem by slitting the dog's throat.

Yeah. So, I mean, this guy's like raising some flags, okay? So he was arrested in 1970 for burglary and forgery, and then he ended up spending three years in jail. He ended up getting married and divorced three times after his wives claimed that he beat and raped them. 15-year-old Vicki had gone to a bus stop near Peter's house in 1991. After killing her, he had kept the knife he used to kill her as well as her purse. Three.

Three years later in 1994, Peter was arrested for raping two 14 year old girls and he only served 14 years and then was registered as a sex offender. When he got out, he started going by the name Pat McLaughlin. Police said that he had up to like 40 different aliases

But he gets out of prison and then he gets a job as the handyman for St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church. In 2007, he was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murdering 23-year-old student Angelica Cluck in 2006 when he was in his 60s. Which, side note, but like if he's killing in his 60s, you know he's been killing for a long time. There's no way just randomly in your 60s you start killing.

Come on. After beating, raping, and then stabbing Angelica to death, Peter hid her body under the floor near the confessionals of the church he worked at. Oh yeah.

He was also convicted of the murder of Vicki Hamilton and Dinah McNicol after their skeletal remains were found at his home in Margate, UK, which is like, I guess, eight hours from Glasgow. Vicki had been missing for 17 years when her remains were found.

And when they found her remains, it was determined that she had been raped. Dinah was hitchhiking after a music festival and was only 18 years old when she got in the car with Peter. His DNA was never tested and compared to the murders committed by Bible John. So, you know, there was no way to rule him out as the killer. Many think it was this guy. It would make sense that Peter just didn't start killing that late into his life.

He most likely was murdering way before that because we all know that most serial killers, you know, white men in their 30s, et cetera, et cetera. So even if Peter is not responsible for the Barrowland ballroom murders,

He most likely has a lot more blood on his hands from somewhere else. When he was in prison, he claimed to have killed 48 women. Now here is the unsatisfying end. Jean passed away at 74 years old in 2010. And since there's no DNA evidence and she was the only witness,

the Barrowland murders this case will probably most likely never be solved I would love to hear your guys's thoughts I personally believe it's this Bible John guy but he's such a big mystery and there's still there's really not that much information out there it was like these murders were happening and nobody really seemed to like care that much to try and solve it I don't know

Anyways, I hate to do unsolved stories because I personally need closure, but this one I found tragic and weird, right? The whole period of it all. What the fuck? Anywho, I hope you have a good rest of your day. Carry pepper spray with you. Be on the lookout. Be safe out there. Make good choices. And I'll be seeing you guys later.