Families call on police to solve murders of Glasgow women after waiting decades for justice
Eight women were killed between 1991-2005 and many of those cases are still unsolved - hear from their loved ones on the new Rayo Original podcast Beware Book.
Last updated 4 hours ago
Families of a string of murdered women - who worked in Glasgow’s red-light district - are asking why police still haven't caught their killers, decades later.
Eight women lost their lives between 1991 and 2005 and at least four of those cases remain unsolved to this day.
They are: Diane McInally, Karen McGregor, Leona McGovern, Marjorie Roberts, Jacqueline Gallagher, Tracey Wylde, Margo Lafferty and Emma Caldwell.
Diane McInally's body was the first to be found in Pollok Park in 1991.
Speaking exclusively to the Beware Book podcast Diane's aunt Elizabeth - who goes by Dolly - says:
"She was a lovely mother, so she was, but as time went on, she just went down the wrong road.
"She was a good mother. Just some go the wrong road and it's a shame. It really is, you can't condemn them.
Inquiry's into Diane's death and a lack of contact from police
One line of enquiry was that Diane might have come to harm from someone connected to the city's gangland drugs trade.
Diane's cousin Shirley Waters also says there were rumours she might have been due to appear as a witness in an upcoming trial
"These men that were supposed to have killed her... one's name kept coming up."
"That was supposed to be part of a court case then."
"You think they would have looked into it, if she was on a special court case, going to witness against somebody, but that's never come up."
LIsten to our brand new podcast into the unsolved murders: Beware Book
Dolly also believes Diane was in an altercation just before her death and that there may be others involved:
"He said he met her during the day or something and he was arguing with her.
"He said he was arguing with her, and he slapped her or something.
"Said he hit her, but that's all, but he never confessed. He confessed to other things, but he never confessed to murder.
"So you often wonder is there still somebody out there that's really done it?"
Shirley says hurtful descriptions in the media at the time, compounded their pain.
“It was actually on the news before, we knew it was Diane.
“They described she had tights and that on and wee mini skirt and they're thinking it could be a sex worker before it was even clarified that it was Diane."
With the initial investigations into the women's deaths being carried out by Strathclyde Police, Dolly and Shirley are one of several families who say they have never been contacted by Police Scotland, since it was formed in 2013.
Also that they have not been updated on whether officers are still hunting for the killers.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said:
“We do acknowledge the pain and the distress that’s suffered by the families.
“We’d like to reassure those victims and their families that we haven’t forgotten about you or your loved ones.
“There should be regular contact with families and if that’s not the case then we want to rectify that.”
New podcast investigates the murders and the list of dangerous men known as the Beware Book
A powerful new Rayo Original Podcast, Beware Book, shines a light on a series of brutal murders that shocked Glasgow between 1991 and 2005 - and asks why many of the victims are still without justice?
Many of these women were left defenceless in a harsher city than the one we know today - a city grappling with unemployment, crime and the growing grip of heroin.
Distrustful of authorities and fearing for their safety, they turned to each other for protection.
They shared warnings about their most dangerous clients in a tattered leather journal they called the “Beware Book.”
Now, journalists Collette McGonigle and Callum McQuade of Kerrang! Radio revisit the cases that devastated families and left lasting scars across the city.
The first two episodes of Beware Book are available on the Rayo app, Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify... or wherever you get your podcasts.
Listen here: Beware Book: Shining a light on a spate of vicious murders which shocked Glasgow between 1991 and 2005
Further episodes will follow every Monday for the next five weeks.