
Peter Tobin detective to reveal how cops finally caught serial killer
Retired detective David Swindle will take to the stage to talk about his biggest cases including the capture of a notorious serial killer.
The former police chief who brought serial killer Peter Tobin to justice is to take the public behind the scenes of his most chilling cases.
David Swindle was in charge of the investigation into the 2006 rape and murder of Polish student Angelika Kluk - whose body was found hidden under the floorboards of a Glasgow church - and quickly identified handyman Tobin as the prime suspect.
He then set up the UK wide Operation Anagram which linked Tobin to the unsolved murders and disappearances in 1991 of two other young women Vicky Hamilton and Dinah Nicol.
At the time of his death in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in October, 2022, Tobin, then 76, was serving a whole life term for all three murders including Angelika.
Swindle who retired from Strathclyde Police at the rank of Detective Superintendent, will take to the stage later this year in Irvine, Ayrshire for his new true crime show Murder – A Search for the Truth. Other dates across Scotland are also being planned.
Swindle, who worked on hundreds of homicides in his distinguished 34 year career, has recently completed a nationwide UK tour seen by almost 170,000 people, His new live show will be at Irvine Harbour Arts Centre on November 15. The audience will be given an insight into the policing techniques deployed in a major murder investigation including the arrest of Tobin.
Swindle will also look at the psychology of killers and try and answer the question - are they born or made? He said: 'I'm excited to bring this show to Irvine."It's the perfect setting for a face-to-face with the truth behind some of the UK's darkest crimes "No drama. Just facts, cases and real consequences. 'Sometimes there is too much focus on the killer and we should never ever forget the victims. "For every one of these murders there's at least one victim – someone's daughter or son. It's all about the victims.'
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Operation Anagram used every police force across the UK to investigate Peter Tobin who was originally from Johnstone in Renfrewshire .It looked at more than 1000 leads, tracked down more than 40 places he lived and investigated any unsolved murders or missing women in those areas. Detectives narrowed the list to nine unsolved murders and missing person cases with possible links to Tobin.
Operation Anagram also looked at the unsolved murders from 1968 and 1969 of young Glasgow mothers Patricia Docker, 25, Helen Puttock, 29, and Jemima MacDonald, 32, by a man dubbed Bible John by newspapers. However it found no link to Tobin.
Since his retiral Mr Swindle has also helped the parents of Livingston woman Kirsty Maxwell investigate the mystery death of their daughter who fell from a balcony while holidaying in Benidorm, Spain, with friends in 2017.
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