An author’s quest to identify the notorious Bible John killer has hit a snag after her prime suspect was found to have no living blood relatives in Scotland.
Jill Bavin-Mizzi, an Australian writer, had pinpointed John Templeton, who passed away in Glasgow in 2015 and was cremated, as the potential murderer of Helen Puttock, one of the three victims from the 1960s.
Despite hiring an Edinburgh private investigator to delve into Templeton’s lineage, she has been unable to secure a DNA match with evidence found on the victim’s clothing. Bavin-Mizzi expressed her frustration, saying: “The only chance of establishing if John Templeton is Bible John is through the DNA.”
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“The DNA can only come from a living blood relative.
“I am disappointed I have not been able to trace any but I am not giving up. I am convinced that John Templeton is Bible John and that he murdered these three women.”
“Their families deserve answers after all this time.”, reports the Daily Record.
She now holds out hope that there may be a blood relative in England, although searching records there proves more challenging.
Mima McDonald victim
Patricia Docker murdered nurse
Bavin-Mizzi is calling for anyone who might be related to Templeton to step forward and plans to visit the UK in June for further investigation and to potentially meet with any relatives.
As part of her investigation, the 62 year old managed to locate Templeton’s ex-wife in 2022. She provided a photograph of him that bears a striking resemblance to an artist’s impression created for the police.
The ex-wife also disclosed that her husband was interrogated by detectives six months after Helen’s murder in October 1969. Jill located Templeton after researching the ancestry of John McInnes, who was identified as a suspect in 1996.
The former soldier, from Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, who ended his own life in 1980, had been interviewed shortly after Helen’s murder. DNA obtained from Helen’s clothing bore comparisons to samples provided by two siblings.
However, when McInnes’s body was exhumed from Stonehouse Cemetery, there was no conclusive match. This led Jill to question if the person who left the DNA may have some other connection to McInnes.
John Templeton when he worked for Glasgow City Council in their libraries as an attendant
Bible John author�Jill Bavin-Nizzi
An examination of their family tree led her to Templeton, born in 1945. Since the book was published she has traced ancestors of both Templeton and McInnes to the village of Dundonald, Ayrshire.
Helen Puttock’s body was found in a tenement back garden in Earl Street in Scotstoun, Glasgow. The first victim, nurse Patricia Docker, 25, was discovered near her Langside Place home on the city’s south side in February 1968.
Jemima MacDonald, 31, was found in a derelict tenement flat in MacKeith Street in Bridgeton, Glasgow, in August 1969. All three had spent the evening in the city’s Barrowland Ballroom and were found near their homes.
Police Scotland stated: “The murders of Helen Puttock, Jemima McDonald and Patricia Docker remain unresolved. As with all unresolved cases, they are subject to review and any new information about their deaths will be investigated.”
Head portrait of Bible John May 1980
John Templeton
Helen Puttock