29 April 2023 , 12:22
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A notorious serial killer who was never caught is responsible for the murder of another woman, it has been claimed.
The murderer - who became known as 'Bible John' - was held responsible for the deaths of three women in Glasgow, Scotland, in the late 1960s.
Yet a witness has come forward to reveal she believes the killer struck earlier when 19-year-old trainee nurse Rita Ellis was murdered on an RAF base in Buckinghamshire.
Pauline Badger's sensational account forms part of a new book by author Francisco Garcia about the infamous serial killer who stalked Glasgow's dance halls looking for victims.
Badger, who was a stewardess at RAF Halton when Rita was killed, said she is convinced Bible John was a technician in a medical lab at the base.
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One of the many sketches of 'Bible John' (BBC)
An old photofit of a notorious serial killer that terrorised Glasgow (Unknown)The pensioner, who lives in Dumfriesshire, said she recognised his face when a photofit flashed up on a BBC documentary about the Scottish murders.
She told the author: "I thought well this documentary is on, I'll watch it. I know people think it was Peter Tobin but I don't think it was him. I'd seen him before and like I'd seen him again. More than seen him, felt him."
She said the technician, a Scot, liked plain brunette girls and everything she'd read about the Glasgow killings seemed to be a match for Rita's death.
Badger told Garcia, the technician had been posted abroad after Rita's murder but would've been on leave when the three women were killed.
Patricia Docker was murder in February 1968 when she was 25 (Sunday Mail)
Helen Puttock was murdered in October 1969 (Sunday Mail)"I haven't got a theory about Bible John, I don't do theories," she said.
She said she knew the tragic nurse on the base and had even lent her money. Badger said not long before her murder, Ellis had approached Badger and said she thought she was going to be attacked.
Badger reported her suspicions to Thames Valley Police who said all new information would be looked at.
It is now claimed that Rita Ellis was an early victim of 'Bible John' (PA)
Jemima MacDonald, 32, was found dead in Glasgow in August 1969 (Unknown)On the night of her death, 11 November 1967, Ellis was asked to babysit for a senior officer and it was arranged that he would pick her up. She'd never met the officer before so when a white car pulled up outside her living quarters she was seen willingly entering the vehicle. Police believed she'd thought it was the officer himself.
Her body was found the next morning by a dog walker on the edge of the base. She had been beaten and strangled with her own underwear. She had also been sexually assaulted.
Pauline Badger said she recognised 'Bible John' in a documentary (Pauline Badger/Twitter)Following this two teenagers were attacked nearby and then a student nurse was attacked just three miles from where Ellis had died. She'd been raped and beaten with a blunt instrument but had survived and gave police a description of her attacker.
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In 2007 a cold case review was ordered but despite this, the murder of Rita remains unsolved.
One of the crime scenes (Daily Record)The first 'Bible John' murder was 25-year-old Patricia Docker, who was strangled after going to the Barrowland dance hall in February 1968.
The following year, mum-of-three Jemima McDonald, 32, was found strangled, raped and beaten to death.
Three months later, Helen Puttock, 29, was the third victim of the suspected serial killer.
She was sexually assaulted and strangled with her tights in Scotstoun, Glasgow, following a night out with her sister Jean McLachlan at the Barrowland Ballroom in October 1969.
Another artist's impression of 'Bible John' (Police Scotland)The 'Bible John' nickname came from Jean's statement to police which said that the killer quoted passages from the bible.
Competing theories still abound about the identity of the Glasgow killer with some suspecting the culprit could be Peter Tobin, the serial killer who was jailed for the murders of three young women between 1991 and 2006 and who died last year.
Francisco Garica wrote We All Go Into The Dark (Supplied)
This book is available now (Supplied)Garcia said: "One of the most fascinating things about the mythology surrounding Bible John is how it serves as a prompt to people's ingenuity.
"There have certainly been no shortage of theories or speculation over the years. Badger thought she met the killer during her time in the RAF, for instance. But she was hardly the only one who has thought the same, in their own way, across the country at different times".
Police Scotland say the murders remain open and any new information will be investigated.
We All Go Into The Dark by Francisco Garica is published by Mudlark and is available now