Probe launched into death of serial killer and rapist Peter Tobin who died after suffering a fall in his prison cell
- Tobin, 76 when he died in 2022, raped and murdered several female students
An investigation has been launched into the death of notorious serial killer and rapist Peter Tobin after he died following a fall in his prison cell.
Tobin, who was 76 when he died in 2022, raped and murdered several female students and was serving a life sentence for raping and murdering Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, and hiding her body under the floor of a Glasgow[2] church in 2006.
The killer was also serving life terms for the murders of 15-year-old schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton in 1991, and 18-year-old Dinah McNicol the same year.
Their bodies were found 17 years later, buried in the garden of his former home in Margate, Kent.
It is impossible to know many women he raped and killed over his life, but criminologists think the true number is likely to be far higher than three.
Officers believe Tobin will have killed others and had at least 40 aliases and 150 cars during his life to hide his tracks as he targeted vulnerable women.
If the reported 48 number is accurate, it is thought that would make him the second-worst identified serial killer in the UK in modern times, behind Dr Harold Shipman, who is thought to have killed around 250.
Today, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service announced a probe into this death because it occurred after he fell in his cell on September 8, 2022 at HMP Edinburgh[3].
He died on October 8, 2022 at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and his ashes were scattered at sea – despite Miss Hamilton’s father pleading for the ashes to be sent to him so he could flush them down the toilet.
The body of serial killer Peter Tobin (pictured) was cremated and buried at sea
His confirmed victims were (left to right) Angelika Kluk, Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol
A knife found buried with Vicky Hamilton’s remains, which was vital forensic evidence at trial
Today, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service announced a probe into this death because it occurred after he fell in his cell on September 8, 2022 at HMP Edinburgh (above)
Today (Wednesday), the Crown Office said it would launch a mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into his death.
There is no system of coroners’ inquests in Scotland, but specific types of deaths are investigated in a similar way during an FAI.
The purpose of these proceedings includes determining the cause of death, the circumstances in which the death occurred, and establishing what reasonable precautions could have been taken to avoid deaths in similar circumstances.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said that Tobin did not leave the hospital since he was admitted in September until his death a month later.
He had been receiving palliative care prior to his death and was monitored by GeoAmey officers while within ERI, they added.
Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for COPFS, said: ‘The Lord Advocate considers that the death of Peter Tobin occurred while in legal custody and as such a Fatal Accident Inquiry is mandatory.
‘The lodging of the First Notice enables FAI proceedings to commence under the direction of the Sheriff.’**
Born in 1946 in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Tobin became known to police at a young age. He was imprisoned for the first time in 1970, at 24 years old, for burglary and forgery.
He married three times and each of his wives said they fell for a charming, well-dressed man who would turn violent.
A forensic archaeologist searches his former home, where two of his victims were discovered
Tobin was convicted of murdering 18-year-old Dinah McNicol (pictured above) in 1991
Dinah McNicol, 18, was only found 17 years after her death in a makeshift grave at the house
Angelika Kluk was beaten, stabbed and raped before being put under floorboards – still alive
In 1993, he sexually assaulted and raped two 14-year-old girls at his home in Hampshire, stabbing one and leaving them for dead after turning on gas taps. The two girls survived and the following year, Tobin was jailed for 14 years for the attacks.
At 58, he was released from prison and returned to his native Scotland, moving to Paisley in 2004.
Just two years later, Tobin would strike again while working as a handyman at St Patrick’s Church in Anderston in Glasgow.
He murdered student Angelika Kluk, who lived at the church while working as a cleaner. He beat and raped the 23-year-old before concealing her body beneath the floorboards of the church.
Tobin was later arrested after Ms Kluk’s body was discovered by police on September 29, 2006. The following year he was convicted of her rape and murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years.
While he was serving his sentence for Ms Kluk’s murder, two missing persons cases were linked to Tobin and would finally be solved after more than 15 years of heartache for their families.
Vicky Hamilton, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, was reported missing on February 10, 1991, after failing to return to her home in Redding, near Falkirk. Tobin had been living in Bathgate at the time and moved to England shortly after her disappearance.
Dinah McNicol, an 18-year-old sixth former from Essex, was last seen on August 5, 1991, after hitchhiking home with a friend from a music festival in Hampshire. Following her disappearance, money was withdrawn from her account which was thought to be out of character for the teen, who was saving to go travelling.
Months after his conviction for Ms Kluk’s murder, Tobin’s former home in Margate, Kent was searched and the remains of Ms Hamilton were discovered in the back garden.
Days later, the remains of Dinah McNicol were also found at the property and Tobin was later charged with the two teenagers’ murders. In 2008 and 2009 respectively, Tobin was found guilty of Ms Hamilton and Ms McNicol’s murders and handed a life sentence for each.
The notorious Scottish serial killer and convicted sex offender Tobin died in an Edinburgh cell
Floral tributes in the garden of Tobin’s old home where the bodies of two victims were found
A police officer searches the front of the house at the former home of Peter Tobin in Margate, Kent, where the bodies of Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol were discovered
Following the culmination of the high profile cases, it was suggested by some that Tobin had murdered women in the late 60s as the unidentified Bible John, however Tobin denied this. Police have since said they have eliminated Tobin from their enquiries.
Tobin’s ashes were disposed of at sea after no family members came forward to claim his remains – quietly cremated at a cost of nearly £700 to the taxpayer.
Edinburgh City Council said at the time: ‘The remains of Peter Tobin were cremated in accordance with the requirements of Section 87 of the Burials and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016.
‘Ashes from the cremation were dispersed into the sea. The
A source told The Sunday Mail previously: ‘After he died, this was dealt with quickly. Like serial killers Robert Black and Angus Sinclair, it was considered best that his remains were scattered in the sea.’
His ex-wife Cathy Wilson, 52, said she was glad he was dead but was heartbroken for suspected victims’ families after he chose to take his secrets to the grave.
Tobin has been at the centre of a string of reported health scares over the past decade.
In January 2019 it was reported that he was too frail to leave his cell after being struck down by cancer.
And in February 2016 he was taken to the Royal Infirmary by ambulance after he reportedly collapsed in his cell.
Tobin was also slashed in the face with a razor blade during what was said to be a prison attack back in 2015, leaving him with an eight-inch scar.
Angelika, Dinah and Vicky: The tragic victims of Peter Tobin
Until the body of Polish student Angelika Kluk was found in 2006, under the floorboards of a Glasgow church where Tobin worked as a handyman, his most serious offence was believed to have been the 1994 rape of two young girls, for which he received a 14-year jail term.
After his arrest for Angelika’s murder, police began probing Tobin’s earlier life and found the bodies of Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol in a shallow grave in his former home in Margate, Kent.
Hitchhiker Dinah had just finished her A-levels in 1991 and was hitching with a man she had befriended at a music festival.
Thrice-married Tobin, a father of two, had been visiting his son in Portsmouth and picked them up.
He dropped the man off near the M25 and no one saw Dinah again.
Tobin’s looks and car matched the description provided by Miss McNicol’s friend of the man who had given them a lift.
Her body was found bound and gagged a few feet from another teenage victim, Vicky Hamilton, who had been snatched in Bathgate, Lothian, as she headed home, also in 1991.
Vicky’s body had been cut in half – probably to make it easier to transport from Scotland. Both bodies were wrapped in rubbish sacks which had Tobin’s fingerprints.
The remains of Miss Hamilton and Miss McNicol were found to contain traces of an anti-depressant that can cause drowsiness and dizziness.
He was handed life terms for all three murders in separate trials.
Police set up Operation Anagram in 2006 to see if they could connect Tobin with hundreds of other unsolved crimes, though the investigations were wound down in 2011.