Bible John: A New Suspect by Jill Bavin-Mizzi

[Herlock Sholmes]

"My first thought was that you guys were being pretty harsh in your criticism of Joe Beattie. He was after all trying to catch the killer in what was then ''the here and now'' and not pave the way for our discussions more than fifty years later." (OneRound)

The more I look at this case the more I cant help but think that Joe Beattie completely screwed the investigation up.
He took the word of a "clairvoyant", Gerard Croiset that the killer lived in the Govan area.
Hence the interviewing of the ferrymen on the Govan Ferry.
This is sheer stupidity and incompetence, and no excuse can be made for him that in those far off days people were less sceptical than today.
Was this a deliberate move to muddy the waters of the investigation? Who knows!

Cobalt makes the good point that the bouncers should have been questioned thoroughly to ascertain what they saw.
During the incident with the cigarette machine, there would have been more than one bouncer watching the interaction between the manager and Bible John.
It was standard practice that more than one bouncer would be present at any incident that had the possibility of escalating into violence.
So, there would be the manager and at least two bouncers closely watching the incident at the cigarette machine.
Their senses would be heightened, adrenaline does that to a a body.

Are there detailed statements from the manager and the bouncers sitting in the official files?
I don't remember them being mentioned in Karen Gillan's podcast, but I could be mistaken.

I have a strong feeling that the interest generated by Jill Bavin-Mizzi's book and Karen Gillan's podcast may well lead to someone producing the definitive book that this fascinating case deserves.

My apologies for being Mr Nitpick Barn.

The podcast presenter was Audrey Gillan.

Have you been watching some old episodes of Dr. Who lately?

[barnflatwyngarde]

Ha ha!
Absolutely right Herlock.
I know a few women with the surname Gillan, and I'm always mixing them up.

DOH!

[Herlock Sholmes]

The only other Gillan that I know is the lead singer of Deep Purple.

[OneRound]

OneRound's thoughts on BJ are very much in line with my own and I will elaborate on some of the points he raised.

...


Highly suspicious. If he [John Irvine McInnes] was innocent and cleared by police why hide the records?

BTW OneRound I checked up on the Calvinistic financier Sir John Templeton whose attitude to making loads of money was described as being, 'It's fine so long as you don't enjoy it.' Maybe a bit like BJ's attitude to sex. Sir John lived pretty frugally apparently and adopted a financial system later developed and named after one James Tobin. No relation I am sure.

Hi cobalt - thanks for those comments above and your other elaborations.

Beattie and other high ranking officers dealing with John Irvine McInnes in the way that they did is highly, highly odd.

A total guess on my part is that they might have gone to see him not so much in expectation of making an arrest him but rather to rule him out. Possibly he had been linked in some way (? the Moylans business card) but his police officer cousin had assured Beattie et al that McInnes couldn't be their man. Consequently, they (too) readily accepted any alibi proffered with insufficient checking and dubious record keeping.

Similar to Herlock, I can't say with any great confidence that John Irvine McInnes was Bible John but for me he remains the most likely candidate. Certainly, the pathologist on the Audrey Gillan podcast made clear that whilst there wasn't DNA evidence to prove his guilt, there equally was nothing to establish innocence.

Best regards,
OneRound