The Notorious Serial Killer Who Terrorized Scotland
Peter Manuel was a notorious serial killer who terrorized the Lanarkshire and eastern Glasgow areas in Scotland during a two-year period from 1956 to 1957. His crimes left a lasting impact on the community, with women vividly remembering the fear they experienced during that time. People took extra precautions, such as fathers and elder brothers meeting young women from evening buses, and young people banding together to ensure each other’s safety when returning home from a night out.
Peter Manuel was born on 15 March 1927 in the Misere Cordia Hospital in Manhattan, New York, to Samuel and Bridget Manuel. His parents had immigrated to America during the 1920s in search of a better life during the Great Depression. However, due to Samuel’s illness and poverty, they returned to Scotland in 1932, settling in Lanarkshire after losing their home to the bombing of Coventry. Peter, who had an American accent and struggled to fit into English school life, followed his parents back to Lanarkshire after his release from borstal, a type of youth detention centre.
Manuel’s criminal behaviour began at a young age. In 1938, at the age of 11, he broke into a chapel and stole the offertory box. He continued to be in trouble with the law and spent time in borstals and approved schools. At the age of 15, he committed his first act of violence by attacking a sleeping woman with a hammer during a housebreaking venture. He was sent to Leeds Prison for this crime. After serving his sentence, Manuel’s parents moved back to Lanarkshire, and he followed them.
In 1946, Manuel broke into a bungalow in the Sandyhills area of Lanarkshire. While initially evading the police search, he was later apprehended by Detective Constable William Muncie, who found Manuel hiding behind wood panelling in the loft. Manuel was charged with the break-in and was later found to have committed three assaults on women, including rape. He was praised by the judge for his skill in conducting his own defence during the trial and received an eight-year prison sentence in Peterhead Prison. He was released in the summer of 1953 at the age of 26.
The reign of terror associated with Peter Manuel began on 4 January 1956, when the body of 17-year-old Anne Kneilands was discovered in a wooded area known as Capelrig Copse in East Kilbride. Her head had been smashed in, and there were signs that she had run for her life before being assaulted. The investigation, led by Detective Chief Superintendent James Hendry, soon started to focus on Manuel as a suspect. However, initial attempts to find evidence against him were unsuccessful.
In September 1956, Manuel was suspected of a series of break-ins and thefts, including one where cash and jewellery were stolen from a home in Burnside. The following day, three members of the Watt family were found shot dead in their home in Uddingston. Suspicion fell on both Manuel and William Watt, a former War Reserve Policeman. Watt was arrested and charged with the murders, but the case against him collapsed, and he was released after 67 days in custody.
Manuel continued his crime spree, and in late December 1957, Isabelle Cooke, a 17-year-old girl, was reported missing. Her belongings were found near the River Calder, and the investigation intensified. On 6 January 1958, while the search for Isabelle Cooke was ongoing, three bodies were discovered in a bungalow in Uddingston. Peter Smart, his wife Doris, and their 11-year-old son Michael had been shot in their beds. Manuel was ultimately arrested and charged with their murder.
During the investigation, Manuel offered a deal to the police. In exchange for his father’s release, he confessed to the murders and provided information about Isabelle Cooke’s burial site and the location where he had disposed of the murder weapons in the River Clyde. Manuel’s confessions included admitting to a total of eight murders, making him Scotland’s most prolific mass murderer at the time. He was also a prime suspect in the murder of a Newcastle taxi driver named Sydney Dunn.
Peter Manuel’s trial began on 12 May 1958 at Glasgow High Court and lasted for fourteen days. The trial garnered significant attention and is well-documented in the history of the Scottish criminal justice system. The jury took only two hours and twenty-one minutes to convict him, and Manuel was sentenced to death on 26 May 1958. Despite an unsuccessful appeal, his execution was carried out on 11 July 1958.
The death of Peter Manuel brought relief to many in the community who had lived in fear during his reign of terror. The impact of his crimes, particularly in the Lanarkshire area, was profound, and his arrest and conviction allowed people to feel safer in their homes and during their daily lives.
– The Dark Scotland website is created by Stewart and Louise – we run DD Tours, walking tours in Dundee city, covering dark local history such as wars, battles, murders, diseases, riots, disasters and executions. Walk with us for an unforgettable storytelling experience.
