Bible John detectives to probe new claims over the identity of Scots serial killer

Detectives are to investigate new claims over the identity of Bible John.

Former printer John Templeton has been named as the alleged killer of third victim Helen Puttock in a book by Australian author Jill Bavin-Mizzi.

She is also convinced Templeton murdered two other women said to be Bible John victims, Patricia Docker, 25, and Jemima MacDonald, 31.

All three had attended the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow on the nights they died.

The Sunday Mail last week provided Police Scotland with a copy of Jill’s book – titled Bible John A New Suspect – following our front page report of the author’s claims.

A spokesperson said: “The murders of Helen Puttock, Jemima McDonald and Patricia Docker remain unresolved, however, as with all
unresolved cases, they are subject to review and any new information about their deaths will be investigated.

“We have received a copy of the book and its contents will be assessed.”

Jill traced Templeton after looking at the ancestry of John McInnes, identified as a suspect in 1996.

The former soldier, from Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, who took his own life in 1980, had been interviewed 72 hours after Helen’s murder in October, 1969.

DNA since obtained from Helen’s clothing bore comparisons to samples provided by his siblings Jane and Hector.

But when McInnes’ body was exhumed from Stonehouse Cemetery in 1996, there was no conclusive match.

This led Jill to question if the person who left the DNA may have some other connection to the McInnes family.

A detailed genealogical examination of their family tree led her to Templeton, born in 1945.

Helen’s sister Jean had told police the man they met in the Barrowland used the surname Templeton or Sempleson. Her body was found in a tenement back garden in Earl Street in Scotstoun, Glasgow, where she lived with her two children and husband.

She was last seen by Jean when the sisters shared a taxi with the stranger.

Jean had been dropped off in nearby Yoker, before the taxi turned back to Earl Street.

Jill, 62, published the Templeton allegations this month after tracking down his ex-wife in 2022.

She gave Jill a photo that bears a strong likeness to the artist’s impression created by George Lennox Paterson, from information provided by Jean.

Templeton’s ex revealed he was quizzed by police six months after Helen’s murder.

Jill also discovered he had similarities to the man in the taxi including height and hair colour.

Significantly, he had been fostered as a child to a family in Dumbarton Road in Yoker, around half a mile from where Helen was murdered.

Jean told police the suspected killer had used biblical phrases which led to him being dubbed Bible John.

The printer married in August 1969, shortly before Jemima MacDonald’s murder. He died in 2015 at the age of 70.

Jemima was found in a derelict flat in MacKeith Street, Bridgeton, in the east end of Glasgow in August, 1969.

Patricia was discovered in a lane near her Langside Place home on the city’s south side in February, 1968.

Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here.