The great-granddaughter of a Bible John victim has spoken of her hope that the murder can still be solved.
Mum-of-three Jemima MacDonald was found battered and strangled near her home in Bridgeton, Glasgow, in August 1969. The 31-year-old was the second of three women in the late 60s who died violently after spending the evening at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow.
Care worker Sammy Mottley, 29, was first told about her great-gran’s murder when she turned 16 and since then has done everything possible to learn more about her death.
She wants Police Scotland to reopen their investigation and finally bring Jemima’s killer to justice. As a child, Sammy was unaware of Jemima’s tragic past but was given the full story when she became an adult.
She said: “My family told me about how my great-gran never came home and was murdered. I became really intrigued and started reading everything I could find about her murder and doing my own research.
“I would loved to have got to know my great-gran and what she was like. I am sure Jemima would have had so many stories to tell.
“She was taken away from her family far too young – she was in the prime of her life.
“She also missed out on her grandchildren and great-grandchildren because of the man who killed her.”
Sammy believes Jemima many have been attacked that night because of her previous relationship with a West Indian man, Bunny Mottley, and that the murder could be racially motivated. The couple had two children together – Andrew Mottley, now 60, and Sammy’s grandfather, Allan, 61.
At the time of her murder, Jemima and Bunny had been separated for several years. She also had a daughter Elizabeth – who died in 2019 from cancer at the age of 62 – from an earlier relationship.
Sammy added: “I hope my great-gran’s murder is solved before any other members of my family die like Aunty Elizabeth. It would mean that all three women can finally rest in peace and closure for our family and the families of the other victims.”
Sammy has inherited her great gran’s love of dancing and music from the 50s and 60s. However, the murder has made her wary of men over the years, particularly when on nights out with friends.
The man dubbed Bible John is also believed to be responsible for the murders of Patricia Docker, 25, in February 1968, in Langside, Glasgow, and Helen Puttock, 29, in October 1969 in the city’s Scotstoun. Both, like Jemima, were young mothers and were found strangled near their homes.
The term Bible John was coined after Helen’s sister said a man called John had quoted passages from the Old Testament in a taxi all three had shared from the Barrowland to Scotstoun.
Sammy and her younger brother Dale were brought up by grandparents Allan and Norma Mottley in Market Drayton in Shropshire.
Sammy added: “There are so many ifs and buts about my great-gran’s murder. Perhaps she told the man who killed her about her children and Bunny.
“I have wondered if he killed her because he didn’t approve of that kind of relationship?”
In April, Sammy, who is married with two stepchildren, came to Glasgow from Shropshire and visited Jemima’s grave for the first time. She also recorded an episode of the BBC podcast series Bible John: Creation of a Serial Killer, talking about her great-gran.
Sammy hopes to return to Glasgow to visit the Barrowland Ballroom and the spot where Jemima’s murder took place.
She added: “I want to have an idea of what it must have been like for my great-gran in the hours before she was murdered.” Jemima’s body was found in a derelict tenement flat in MacKeith Street close to where she lived by her sister, Margaret O’Brien
She was a Barrowland regular and Margaret was babysitting her three children that night.
Like the other two victims, Jemima had been menstruating at the time of her death.
Detectives traced several witnesses who were able to accurately describe a man she was seen with at the Barrowland. They then obtained an identikit picture of the man, and the image was released to the newspapers and television – the first time such a step had been taken in a Scottish murder investigation.
Sammy is the second relative of a victim to call for a new police investigation into the Bible John case. Last week, 84-year-old George Puttock, husband of Helen, said there should be a review of all the evidence.
Detective Superintendent Scott McCallum said: “The murder of Jemima McDonald remains unresolved, however, as with all unresolved cases, it is subject to review and any new information about her death will be investigated.”
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