A former detective who worked on the original investigation into the murder of Emma Caldwell believes the man finally convicted of her killing almost two decades later was responsible for more murders that have yet to be uncovered.
Retired detective constable Stuart Hall, who has spoken publicly about the case’s failings, has now gone further, stating he does not believe Iain Packer’s murder of Emma Caldwell was his first. “Personally, I don’t think it was his first murder,” Hall said. “I think there’s going to be more found out in the future.”
A Pattern of Behaviour and a Dismissed Suspect
Hall’s assertion is rooted in the pattern of violent behaviour laid bare during Packer’s trial. In February 2024, Iain Packer was found guilty of murdering 27-year-old Emma Caldwell in April 2005 and of 33 charges relating to 22 other women, including 11 rapes, over a period exceeding 25 years. He received a life sentence with a minimum term of 36 years, the second-longest sentence in Scottish legal history.
According to Hall, this proven history of predation, which saw Packer convicted of assaults dating back to 2007 and an attack on another woman to the danger of her life in 2020, suggests his crimes were even more extensive. “There’s a pattern of behaviour here,” Hall explained. “As they discovered during the trial, which is now common knowledge, he did the same thing to several girls. Although Emma was the only one we know of at this time who was murdered. I see no reason for there not to be more.”
Hall was among officers who suspected Packer early on, only to be overruled. He has claimed his advice to charge Packer was ignored and that he was told to “lay off” him, with a superior stating Packer “will never be accused.” Instead, in 2007, a group of Turkish men were wrongly charged, a case that later collapsed—a diversion now seen as a catastrophic investigative failure.
The Murder of Emma Caldwell
Emma Caldwell, a former riding instructor, was struggling with heroin addiction after the death of her sister when she was killed. Her body was discovered by a dog walker on 8 May 2005 in remote Limefield Woods, near Biggar in South Lanarkshire. She had been strangled.
The eventual case against Packer, following a major re-investigation launched in 2015, included powerful forensic evidence: a soil sample from the woods was a 97% match for soil in his blue work van. Packer had also admitted, including in a 2019 BBC Disclosure documentary interview, to taking Caldwell to those woods, though he denied murder. The re-investigation, described by Police Scotland as the “largest police enquiry of recent times” in the country, reviewed over 30,000 documents and statements.
The ‘Beware Book’ and a Culture of Failure
The case’s name has become synonymous with a wider pattern of alleged failings. It is the subject of ‘The Beware Book’ podcast, which investigates the deaths of several women involved in prostitution in Glasgow during the 1990s and early 2000s. The podcast takes its name from an actual journal used by women to warn each other about dangerous clients—a book in which Iain Packer was reportedly listed.
The podcast highlights eight such deaths, four of which remain unsolved, including those of Diane McInally, Karen McGregor, Leona McGovern, and Jacqueline Gallagher. Its creators, along with former officers like Hall, point to a dismissive attitude towards vulnerable women and a “toxic culture of misogyny and corruption” within the force at the time. This period in Glasgow was marked by high unemployment, crime, and heroin addiction, which increased the risks for women in sex work.
Police Scotland has since apologised, stating that Emma Caldwell, her family, and other victims were “let down” by the initial investigation. The force’s Deputy Chief Constable, Alan Speirs, said it was committed to supporting the forthcoming inquiry to get the family “the answers they deserve.”
The Public Inquiry and Unanswered Questions
A judge-led public inquiry, chaired by Lord Scott KC, has now been formally established to examine the police investigation. Its remit is to scrutinise what went wrong within Strathclyde Police and later Police Scotland, under the direction of the Crown Office, and to identify what steps could have led to Packer’s earlier apprehension.
For Stuart Hall, the inquiry is one part of a necessary reckoning. He has expressed a desire to be involved in digging further into Packer’s past, convinced the full scope of his violence remains hidden. His belief, formed over years of frustrated investigation, is a stark warning that the conviction for Emma Caldwell’s murder may not be the final word on Iain Packer’s crimes.
