Bible John

In 2026, new programmes and testimony from former investigators challenged the classic theory of a single serial killer, with some stating that police themselves had doubted whether the three women were killed by the same man. One alternative theory implicated Helen Puttock's husband in her murder alone, without any judicial ruling.

State of the evidence

Documented

In October 2023, Police Scotland announced a review of evidence in the case following the BBC podcast 'Bible John: Creation of a Serial Killer', which questioned several longstanding assumptions and revisited how the victims had been treated.

State of the evidence

Documented

After Peter Tobin's convictions for several murders, investigators and authors examined the possibility that he was Bible John, citing biographical and criminal similarities. The hypothesis received extensive media coverage, but insufficient evidence emerged to establish it.

In 2004, detectives requested blood samples from several men who had been considered suspects during the original investigation, seeking to apply new DNA techniques to preserved evidence.

In 1996, police had the body of John Irvine McInnes, a former Scots Guard who died in 1980, exhumed to compare his DNA with evidence attributed to the Helen Puttock case. The tests did not establish that he was Bible John, and authorities said the evidence was insufficient to link him to the murder.

Glasgow police conducted an extensive manhunt following Helen Puttock's murder, distributing a composite image and questioning numerous men. The press popularised the nickname 'Bible John', inspired by an account that the taxi passenger had quoted the Bible and discussed religion.

State of the evidence

Documented

Jemima MacDonald, a mother of three, was found dead in Glasgow in August 1969 after an evening at the Barrowland Ballroom. Similarities with Patricia Docker's murder led investigators to consider a common perpetrator.

Attribution

Accused

Twenty-nine-year-old Helen Puttock was found dead near her home after leaving the Barrowland Ballroom. Her sister Jean had shared a taxi with Helen and a man called John, whom she described at length to investigators; her recollections formed the basis of the composite image behind the public figure of 'Bible John'.

Attribution

Accused