Serial killer Peter Tobin dies while serving life sentences in Edinburgh

Prisoner in his mid-70s had been sentenced for the murders of Angelika Kluk, Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol

Serial killer Peter Tobin has died after becoming unwell while serving three life sentences.

He was taken from HMP Edinburgh to hospital, thought to be the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, on Wednesday and subsequently died, sources said.

He was serving a life sentence for raping and murdering Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, and hiding her body under the floor of a Glasgow church in 2006.

Angelika Kluk, Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol.
Angelika Kluk, Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol. Photograph: PA

The killer, who was in his mid-70s, was also serving life terms for the murders of 15-year-old schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton, of Redding, near Falkirk, in 1991, and 18-year-old Dinah McNicol the same year.

Their bodies were found 17 years later, buried in the garden of his former home in Margate, Kent.

In September 2006, he had been working at St Patrick’s Church in Glasgow under the alias Pat McLaughlin.

Tobin attacked Kluk before raping and stabbing her to death then hiding her body under church floorboards.

He was found guilty and handed a life sentence at the high court in Edinburgh, with Judge Lord Menzies calling Tobin “an evil man”.

He was later arrested for the murder of 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton, who vanished from a bus stop in Livingston, near Edinburgh, in 1991. Her remains were found alongside McNicol’s. Tobin was given two more life sentences.

• This article was amended on 10 October 2022 because an earlier version said that Vicky Hamilton was at a bus stop in Redding. Hamilton was travelling to Redding, but was at a bus stop in Livingston, near Edinburgh.

Guardian staff and agency

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Video: Police describe serial killer Peter Tobin as 'pure evil'

The family of Dinah McNicol and police respond to Peter Tobin's conviction for kidnapping, drugging and murdering the 18-year-old. He has now been convicted of killing three women

17, Dec, 2009 @10:06 AM

Article image
Serial rapist Joseph McCann given 33 life sentences
Joseph McCann to serve minimum of 30 years after two weeks of attacks in England

Haroon Siddique

09, Dec, 2019 @3:09 PM

Serial killer Peter Tobin likely to take his secrets to the grave
Police trawl records of missing women for clues to Peter Tobin's trail of murder

Mark Townsend

20, Dec, 2009 @12:05 AM

Article image
Serial cyberstalker Matthew Hardy has jail term cut
Jail term reduced by a year from original sentencing at Chester crown court

Matthew Weaver

06, Oct, 2022 @3:35 PM

Serial rapist gets 10 life sentences
Builder blamed satanic power and witchcraft for sex attacks.

David Pallister

15, Jun, 2005 @11:01 PM

Article image
Queen’s coffin leaves Balmoral en route to Edinburgh
Cortege passing through villages of Royal Deeside where many considered monarch a dear neighbour

Libby Brooks in Ballater

11, Sep, 2022 @11:34 AM

Article image
Edinburgh to apologise over historical links to slavery
City councillors accept all 10 recommendations of review set up in response to BLM movement

Libby Brooks Scotland correpsondent

30, Aug, 2022 @5:29 PM

Article image
Peter Tobin: from wild child to violent killer
Triple murderer was in reform school by age of seven and had three marriages, all marked by terrifying violence

Esther Addley

16, Dec, 2009 @2:46 PM

Article image
‘Scotland needed this’: Queen’s coffin stirs emotion in Edinburgh
Tens of thousands of people – royalists and ‘soft republicans’ alike – visit Royal Mile to pay respects to late monarch

Severin Carrell Scotland editor

13, Sep, 2022 @8:56 AM

Article image
Timeline: Peter Tobin
The crimes of convicted serial killer of Dinah McNicol, Vicky Hamilton and Angelika Kluk

Esther Addley

16, Dec, 2009 @2:49 PM