Re: Serial Killers
Peter Manuel is Scotland's most prolific serial killer who hanged 60 years ago this week
Scotland’s worst serial killer murdered at least eight people during a two-year reign of terror in Lanarkshire in the 1950s.
Peter Manuel’s shockingly evil killing spree has since been the focus of books, TV dramas and film.
Violent and sadistic, Manuel had previous convictions - at the age of 16 he was imprisoned for nine years after committing a spell of sexual assaults. Then, in 1955, he successfully conducted his own defence on a rape charge. When he finally hanged at Barlinnie Prison on July 11, 1958; he was one of the last prisoners to die on the Glaswegian gallows.
Peter Manuel's first victim Anne Kneilands was just 17 years old when he killed her. In January 1956, teenager Anne Kneilands was stalked at a golf course before being raped and bludgeoned to death with a length of iron. She was Manuel's first murder victim. Police questioned Manuel, but he escaped arrest when his father gave him an alibi. Two years later he confessed to the crime.
But it was the triple murder of a family in Burnside in 1956 that really shocked the nation.
It was September 1956, when the bodies of Marion Watt, 45, her 17-year-old daughter Vivienne, and Marion's sister Margaret, 41, were all found dead at the Watts's home in Burnside, Glasgow. They had been shot.
At the time of this triple murder, Peter Manuel had been out on bail and some police suspected him. However, initially, the prime suspect was Marion's own husband, William Watt, who had been on a fishing holiday in Ardrishaig when his family were slaughtered.
Incredibly, William Watt - Marion's husband - was accused of driving 90 miles through the night, faking a break-in to his own house, murdering his family, and driving back. Both a ferryman and a motorist claimed to have seen him out at places Watt didn't tell police about.
It did later emerge that William Watt had numerous affairs during his marriage, but there was still no motive to kill. Yet he remained the main suspect until the Smart family murder just a few miles away - when the police realised that there was a serial killer on the loose
The Smart family - Peter, 45, Doris, 42, and 10-year-old Michael were shot dead at home in the early hours of New Year's day, 1958. After killing them Manuel stayed in their home for nearly a week; eating leftovers from their Hogmanay meal and even feeding the family cat, before stealing bank notes kept in the house and the family's car.
But before the Smarts were murdered, Manuel claimed other victims: Newcastle taxi driver Sydney Dunn, 36, was shot dead in December 1957. His body was found on moorlands soon after, when Manuel had already returned to Lanarkshire. Manuel was never tried for this murder, as it took place in England with a different legal jurisdiction.
Twenty days after Sydney Dunn's murder, Isabelle Cooke, 17, disappeared after leaving home for a school dance at Uddingston, also in December 1957. Manuel stalked, raped and strangled her, before burying her in this nearby field. As with Dunn's murder, Cooke's disappearance was not initially connected to Manuel.
Manuel's trial at the Glasgow High Court was sensational. The killer sacked his lawyers to conduct his own defence - and of course was found guilty. The jury heard how Manuel had calmly snacked on Dairylea cheese triangles, as his victims - Peter and Doris Smart and their son Michael - lay dead nearby.
William Watt - called as witness - was even carried out of court in Glasgow on a stretcher after collapsing during the murder trial.
Manuel was convicted in May and hanged at Barlinnie Prison on 11 July 1958. He wrote this chilling rhyme: 'I murdered Isabella (sic) Cook/And young Anne Knielands too/Shot the Watts and shot the Smarts/And Sidney (sic) Dunn I slew/I did these deeds without a doubt/My guilt was found by law/I'm Peter Anthony Manuel/The Rat of Birkenshaw'.
The story of Peter Manuel continues to fascinate. Documents relating to the case have been sealed until 2033, further fueling the macabre appeal of this twisted killer's case.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/crime...cid=spartanntp
Do not let success go to your head and do not let failure get to your heart.
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