Serial killer Peter Tobin reportedly hatched a bizarre plan to take out life insurance and then commit suicide.
A financial consultant has told how he received a "hysterical" call from evil Tobin demanding to be given a policy, saying: "I've done something terrible - now I'm going to kill myself."
Tobin died in October at Edinburgh's Saughton jail while serving a whole life term for the murders of Vicky Hamilton, 15, Dinah McNicol, 18, and 23-year-old Angelika Kluk.
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It is believed that Tobin, 76, was dying of cancer during his final years in jail and was lying chained to a hospital bed refusing food and drink. Tobin's body was cremated and his ashes spread at sea, with no family coming forward.
Speaking after the killer's death, finance consultant Stuart Evans, 60, said he is still haunted by the chilling phone call he took from Tobin while working for insurance firm Schroders in London in 1987, reports the Record.
At the time Tobin was living in Brighton as an unknown Scot with his new wife Cathy Wilson, who was only 16 when she married him a year earlier. Tobin has also been linked to the deaths of Jessie Earl and Louise Kay from the area in the 80s.
Despite being linked to multiple other deaths throughout his heinous life of crime, it is understood Tobin turned down multiple opportunities to confess and 'took his secrets to his grave'.
Speaking for the first time about the plan, Stuart said: "The call is vivid in my mind as he was in this hysterical state, ranting and raving, saying, 'Can I get life insurance? You must give me life insurance,' over and over. Then he said: 'I've done something terrible. I'm going to kill myself.'
"Immediately, alarm bells rang. I thought, gosh, I've got -somebody suicidal here. But in my naivety, I told him, 'Calm down, I'm sure you haven't done anything that bad to warrant taking your life. And besides, insurance won't pay out on suicide cases.'
"But this man would not stop. I'd never taken such a disturbing phone call. His voice had high tension in it and rose to a feverish pitch.
"He was at the end of his tether, completely mad. 'You've got to help me, you've got to help me. I've done something terrible,' he repeated. He ranted on for a good five minutes."
Finally, Stuart cut in and asked him for his details.
Stuart said: "I explained to the man that we would need his name and address to deal with his query. He said his name was Peter Tobin and gave an address in Acton, west London. The name Tobin also stood out for me. Being a Welshman, I'm used to hearing surnames such as Griffiths, Jones and Thomas."
Tobin again threatened to kill himself before slamming down the phone.
Shaken after the phone call, Stuart delayed Tobin's message to his boss then they reported it to the Metropolitan Police, with the address supplied by Tobin.
He said: "I remember colleagues suggesting Tobin must have been a crank caller. Then I called Richmond station - but I got the oh-the-flying-saucers-have-landed - response from the desk sergeant.
"Nobody seemed to be taking my report seriously. I was gravely concerned. I told the sergeant, 'I think he's done -something terrible. I have a horrible feeling he's hurt or possibly killed - somebody - and now he's saying he'll kill himself. I suggest you send somebody round there.'
"I wanted to go to the address myself - I even asked a colleague to drive me there after work that day but he refused to."
Two decades later, the name Peter Tobin was heard all over the UK following his sentencing, and Stuart made the connection. Watching chilling footage of Tobin being quizzed over the murder of Vicky Hamilton in 1991, Stuart recognised his voice from the video.
He said: "When I heard Tobin speaking, I knew he was the man. I felt consumed by guilt."
A spokesman for Schroders said they could not find a record of the call. The Metropolitan Police said they could not search for a record of Stuart's approach due to the passage of time.
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