Any interest in the Bible John case (Glasgow)?

megadeth92

Senior List
Jul 21, 2020
220
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Lautoka, Fiji Islands
AFL Club
Collingwood
The legendary character, Bible John, met women at dance halls in Glasgow in 1968-69 and strangled at least three women on the ground floor of tenements (or in the back gardens where anyone could access from the street). He went on a taxi ride from Glasgow Cross to Scotstoun (about 20 minutes away) with his last victim and her sister where he made comments suggesting a harsh religious upbringing and religious mania. These three were dancing with another man, known later as "Castlemilk John" (because he said his name was John and he lived in Castlemilk in Glasgow's south), at the Barrowlands Ballroom. Castlenilk John was never found, and nor was Bible John.

During the lockdown, we had great weather by Scottish standards - days of fine weather on end and warm maximums of 18-20 degrees (!) I went to Bridgeton, in the inner east, where the second victim, Jemima McDonald, was found inside a tenement ready for demolition. The tenement was one block behind the main street and Bridgeton Cross. The area has a great history but most of the old tenements are gone, including the blocks where the second victim was found. It is an historic area (a Glasgow Rangers' stronghold although Celtic Park is only a short distance away). However, none of the original tenements in the road where she was killed exist. (She lived at 15 Mackeith Street and her body was found at 23 Mackeith Street.)

You can trace Bible John and Jemima McDonald's last walk from the Barrowlands Ballroom on the Gallowgate. They walked east on the Gallowgate, south on Bain Street, then east again on London Road to Bridgeton.

On the street where Jemima's body was found, a young couple with a baby in a pram exited a block of flats as I walked past. I smiled at the baby and the woman smiled at me...new lives in the midst of carnage and lock-down...
 
Jan 21, 2019
1,021
2,855
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Other Teams
East Perth
Jan 21, 2019
1,021
2,855
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Other Teams
East Perth
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