CASE SUMMARY

In late 1981, the small Scottish town of Johnstone was shocked by the brutal murder of a popular 16 year old schoolgirl who was found strangled to death with a length of twine around her neck in a wooded area, just a few hundred meters from her home.

A local 19 year old known for habitually exposing himself to young girls quickly became the prime suspect.

He would go on to be convicted following two confessions which he later retracted, claiming they were beaten out of him by investigating officers. There was nothing in the way of physical evidence identifying him as the killer, and both his confessions were riddled with inaccuracies.

Further doubt was cast over the conviction when a second murder victim was found beaten and strangled to death two years later only half a mile from the first crime scene.

The only person ever arrested in connection with the second murder – a relative of the victim – had all charges dropped and mysteriously vanished two decades later.