Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
On March 13, 1927, Peter Thomas Anthony Manuel was born in New York City. At that time, no one could have guessed that Peter would one day become one of Scotland’s most notorious serial killers and end up on the gallows. But first things first. Peter’s parents had turned their backs on Scotland to pursue the American dream of going from rags to riches in the United States. But reality soon caught up with the family, who had settled in Detroit. The stock market crash of October 24, 1929, led to a severe economic crisis in the US, prompting the family to pack their bags and return to Scotland. They moved to the village of Birkenshaw in North Lanarkshire. But Peter, who had a close relationship with his parents, found it difficult to settle into village life in Scotland. He went astray at an early age and was already known to the police as a thief at the age of 10. By the age of 16, he had committed various sexual offenses, which earned him nine years in prison. Peter was a womanizer who never stayed with one woman for long. He loved to dominate women, but idolized his mother. It was the same with the family dog, whom Peter loved, but he tortured other animals. Peter was a man full of contradictions who even managed to successfully defend himself in 1955 in a rape case before the Airdrie Sheriff Court. Just one year later, Peter began his series of murders, which earned him the name “Beast of Birkenshaw.” Peter’s first murder victim was 17-year-old Anne Kneilands, whom Peter had followed from the East Kilbride golf course on January 2, 1956. He overpowered her with an iron bar. Then he raped Anne and beat her to death with the iron bar. Afterwards, Peter fled. Due to his status as a sex offender, Peter was questioned about Anne’s murder. But Peter’s father Samuel gave him an alibi. Since then, Peter had lost all scruples about simply eliminating a person. Just a few months after Peter’s first murder, on September 17, 1956, he broke into the Watts family home in Glasgow. There he shot Marion Watts, her daughter Vivienne, and her sister Margaret Brown, who was visiting. The police initially suspected Marion’s husband William, who was on a fishing trip 90 miles away in Ardrishaig at the time of the crime. Because a Renfrew ferryman was convinced that he had seen William on the ferry that night and a motorist claimed to have overtaken him on Loch Lomondside, William Watt, who had had several affairs during his marriage to Marion, was arrested. He spent two months in Barlinnie Prison in custody before being released due to lack of evidence. In the meantime, Peter was also brought to the same prison for a burglary, but was released at the end of November 1957. A month later, Peter had followed 17-year-old Isabelle Cooke after she left her home in Mount Vernon to go to a dance at Uddingston Grammar School. Peter raped Isabelle and strangled her with her own underwear. He then buried her body in a field. Shortly afterwards, on New Year’s Day 1958, he broke into the Smart family home in Uddingston. There he shot 45-year-old Peter Smart, his 42-year-old wife Doris, and their 10-year-old son Michael. But instead of fleeing immediately, Peter made himself comfortable in the Smart home. He spent a week there, eating their Hogmanay meal (Hogmany is the Scottish New Year’s Eve celebration, and the Hogmany meal includes all the traditional foods of Scotland, and even the family cat’s food). When Peter had had enough of living in the Watts’ house, he stole the freshly printed banknotes that Peter Smart had withdrawn from his bank on New Year’s Eve and drove away in the Smarts’ family car. When Peter happened to encounter a police officer who was investigating the disappearance of Isabelle Cooke, he took him with him. The police caught on to Peter when he used the freshly printed banknotes, which were all numbered, to pay in bars in and around Glasgow. On January 14, Glasgow CID officers raided Peter’s family home and arrested him. The police used a trick to get Peter to confess. They left Peter alone in his cell for 24 hours before bringing him in for questioning. The trick worked, and Peter confessed to the murders of Anne Kneilands, Mario and Vivienne Watts, Margaret Brown, Isabelle Cooke, and the Smart family. On May 12, 1958, the trial of 31-year-old Peter began at the Glasgow High Court. After 12 days, the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death by strangulation. This sentence was carried out on July 11, 1958. Peter’s last words were: “Turn up the radio and I’ll go quietly.” Peter was the third-last criminal to be executed in Scotland. Seventeen days after Peter was hanged, a coroner’s jury concluded that Peter was also responsible for the murder of 36-year-old taxi driver Sydney Dunn. The evidence was a button found in Dunn’s taxi that matched Peter’s jacket. Dunn had been shot on December 8, 1957, while Peter was looking for work in Newcastle. Since the murder took place in a different jurisdiction, Peter was never charged.
