A horrible crime that went unsolved for 35 years until an odd piece of evidence helped catch the killer will be the subject of a new BBC documentary.
Two weeks after she died on September 26, 1984, Mary McLaughlin’s body was found in her own bed, having been killed.
DNA technology has come a long way, and a cigarette butt that was left at the crime scene helped solve the case.
Graham McGill, who killed her, would go back to prison the next day, but he wouldn’t be brought to justice for her death until 2021, after her DNA was found in 2014.
She was killed at 58 (BBC)
McGill had a history of sexual offences and was on a program called “Training for Freedom,” which took him away from his jail more than 50 miles away for a while.
His authorised leave was coming to an end, and he was due back in jail the next day. The cops had no idea about this. McGill got out of jail less than a month after she was killed.
Murder Case: The Hunt for Mary McLaughlin’s Killer, which ran for the first time this year on BBC Scotland and will air again tonight at 9 p.m. on BBC, will talk about the case.
A naked mattress was where Mary’s son found her body, face down. She had been choked to death with a dressing gown cord.
She was 58 years old and had eleven children. Police could not find anyone who killed her.
McGill killed her after following her home (Police Scotland)The day she was killed, McLaughlin was at the pub, and McGill is said to have followed her home.
They began talking, and he offered to walk her home. Prosecutor Alex Prentice said, “Mary McLaughlin was someone who was friendly and trusting, and I would suggest that ultimately led to her death.”
McGill is thought to have been sexually driven in his “violent” attack.
Police had more than 1,000 accounts, but they still didn’t know who did it until 2014, when a new DNA testing centre opened.
The police restarted the investigation and paid special attention to a cigarette that was found at the scene.
It stood out because it wasn’t the brand she normally smoked, so it was sent off to be tested.
A cigarette left at the scene of the crime ended up solving the case by linking DNA evidence to the killer (BBC)
It was a straight match to the butt, and even though he was in jail at the time of the murder, investigators figured out that he had been out that night.
He was finally charged, and in 2021, after a trial in which he denied killing her, he was given a minimum sentence of 14 years in jail.
The judge said about the case, “She was 58 years old when she died, and you were 22.” You’re 59 years old now.
“It took that long for her family to find out who did that, because they knew that person was probably still out in the community on the loose.”
“.”They never gave up hope that they would find out what happened to her one day.
“They don’t have her love and company anymore.”
“Your guilt could be proven thanks to the hard work of the police, especially the forensic biologists.”
