Gavin McGuire | World’s Most Evil Killers | Forensic Files

[audio logo] Fred Dinenage: On the 17th of December 1995, police made a chilling discovery in the Ayrshire
town of Kilmarnock-- the body of missing schoolgirl, Mhairi Julyan. Jane Monckton-Smith: It's the stuff
that nightmares are made of. It's what every parent worries about when their child goes out.
Fred Dinenage: 16-year-old Mhairi had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
Nikolas Lemos: This was a very, very torturous death. It wasn't quick, and it wasn't easy.
It was very agonizing. Fred Dinenage: Mhairi's twisted killer was 36-year-old Gavin
McGuire, a man who had already spent years behind bars for a series of brutal attacks on young women.
Doris Thomson: I've never met anything like it. It's one of the most dangerous men in the planet.
Fred Dinenage: After a reign of terror that lasted for decades, Gavin McGuire would eventually be
unmasked as one of the world's most evil killers. [theme music] ♪ ♪ In the run-up to Christmas 1995,
the brutal murder of 16-year-old Mhairi Julyan shattered the peace of a small Scottish Community.
Geoffrey Wansell: She'd been dragged by her hands, and there were marks on her back.
She'd been obliterated. I don't think there's any other word for it. Nikolas Lemos: The perpetrator used her own blouse
to strangulate her, and to keep her quiet and to probably facilitate a quick death,
shoved her own bra in her mouth, making her gasp for air. Fred Dinenage: In the hunt for her killer,
police launched a huge scale DNA testing operation of local men, including convicted
rapist Gavin McGuire. Jane Monckton-Smith: McGuire was a serial predatory sex offender who enjoyed
the suffering of his victims. He should have been stopped a long time ago. Geoffrey Wansell: If ever there was
a man who you genuinely thought was a danger to society, it was Gavin McGuire. Fred Dinenage: This killer's story begins
on the 18th of December 1958. Gavin McGuire was born in Stevenston in North Ayrshire
on Scotland's West Coast. - His parents were called Jimmy and Nettie. He was the oldest of three boys.
His dad was a laborer in the steel industry. They were a typically working class Scottish family.
His dad was then made redundant when McGuire was quite young, and that was the source of a lot of financial conflict.
Geoffrey Wansell: It wasn't a happy family. Jim eventually left the family, leaving
Nettie with the three boys. Gavin was difficult as a child. Fred Dinenage: At the age of 8, McGuire
entered the care system. He did not thrive there. - From that point on, we certainly
see McGuire breaking the law routinely and regularly and moving from simple care system into the justice system.
Jane Hamilton: His early years were a mixture of assessment centers, borstals, young offenders
institutions, a list D school, which is typically where troubled children will attend.
Fred Dinenage: By the early '70s, McGuire was regularly truanting. And his already troubling behavior had
grown even more disturbing. Jane Monckton-Smith: He was starting to break into houses, stealing cars.
He had some pets, pigeons in a loft. He set fire to that loft, killed all the pigeons,
and reportedly stood there and laughed as these birds died in the most horrific circumstances.
And then he went on and did the same thing to some rabbits. Fire setting and cruelty to animals, that's two big ticks.
So I would say, at around 14, we get a very good idea of who McGuire is and what he's going to be doing in his future.
Geoffrey Wansell: He was a loner, didn't mix well, wasn't comfortable in the company of his peers.
He wasn't a sociable animal. Jane Monckton-Smith: McGuire was described as maybe shy, nervous.
He has no social skills, that he doesn't really know how to communicate and interact with people.
So that is suggestive that, if he is a serial offender and predator, that women are going to become targets.
Fred Dinenage: In 1976, a few months after leaving school, McGuire's malevolent urges towards women
became apparent when he embarked on a terrifying spree of sexual violence in Stevenston and nearby coastal towns.
Jane Hamilton: McGuire attacked his first victim at the age of 17 when he assaulted a 15-year-old girl.
He then attacked another 15-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her. Two days later, he carried out an attack on an 18-year-old
girl, but she was able to escape before he could sexually assault her. [ominous music]
- There was something in him that wanted to express itself in this particularly brutal and
unpleasant way to young women. And it's that, that is the thread that goes through McGuire's story.
Jane Monckton-Smith: It's something that he feels compelled to do. What's driving him is that he doesn't have
the normal human emotions. He has no barriers, no filters that's going to stop him.
Fred Dinenage: McGuire was arrested and charged with the attacks on the girls, but released on bail
for the sum of 10 pounds. It offered little deterrent. Within weeks, the year old had resumed
his pattern of offending. Jane Hamilton: While he was on bail for these attacks,
he then attacked an 18-year-old pregnant woman and beat her up quite severely. - And he kicked her to the ground
and robbed the garage thereafter. And he carried out a similar theft in a garage
nearby as well. Jane Monckton-Smith: This is all in a period of days, and it does feel like this is compulsive.
Fred Dinenage: McGuire's shocking spree continued, and another innocent young woman fell
victim to his deviant urges. Michael Orr: The latter attack against a young lady
who approached, he threatened her with glass and, unfortunately, achieved his objective
of raping that young lady. Jane Monckton-Smith: He's reckless. He's been caught mid offense, sometimes.
He's been chased. He just continues. It seems to me like he has no care for what
happens to his victims. He doesn't seem to have a huge amount of care for what happens to him either.
Fred Dinenage: McGuire was quickly identified and apprehended. Back in court, he admitted eight
new offenses to the judge. Geoffrey Wansell: Rape, sexual assault, assault with sexual intent, theft, car theft,
a multitude of bad behavior. Fred Dinenage: In February 1977, less than a year after leaving borstal 18-year-old Gavin
McGuire was back inside, sentenced to 10 years in a young offenders institution.
The judge told McGuire the tariff was necessary to protect the girls and women of Stevenson
from the serial offender. - This is a man who's out of control. There can be no question about that.
[ominous music] ♪ ♪ Fred Dinenage: By December 1995, 36-year-old Gavin McGuire was living
with his mother in Stevenston. 20 minutes away in the town of Kilmarnock, schoolgirl Mhairi Julyan was enjoying
the lead up to Christmas. - Mhairi Julyan was the youngest of two girls to a family that had been described
as honest, hardworking, and well liked within their local community. Mhairi herself was described as a shy, conscientious girl.
Fred Dinenage: On the evening of December the 16th, Mhairi went to a pantomime at the town's Palace Theater.
- She's gone with her best friend, Julianne, to see The Sleeping Beauty. It's not very far from where she lives.
Jane Hamilton: The last anybody seen her was when Julianne waved to Mhairi as they
drove away in their car. The plan was Mhairi's dad would come and pick her up after the performance.
However, the play finished early and Mhairi had let her dad know that she was just going to make the half-mile journey home by foot.
Fred Dinenage: Mhairi Julyan's parents were expecting her home by around 10:00 PM.
But by 10:30, there was no sign of her. It was extremely unusual for the 16-year-old
not to be home as expected. In the darkness, her mother walked the route Mhairi should have taken.
Jane Hamilton: Mhairi's family were frightened when she didn't arrive as expected at home.
And they very quickly called the police to report her missing. Nikolas Lemos: And this is where
the officers come across a horrific human crime scene. Fred Dinenage: It was every parent's worst nightmare.
16-year-old Mhairi Julyan had been murdered while walking home. The shy schoolgirl had been attacked and brutalized
in a way that would terrify the local community and shock even seasoned detectives.
[tense music] [tense music] ♪ ♪ Fred Dinenage: Less than 24 hours since her disappearance, Mhairi Julyan's family
learned of the horrific nature of their daughter's brutal murder. [grim music] ♪ ♪
Jane Hamilton: A police officer found Mhairi in a stagecoach bus depot in McKinley Crescent.
Geoffrey Wansell: She's naked, but for her boots and socks. Her blouse is tied around her neck,
and her bra is shoved in her mouth as a gag. Fred Dinenage: It was a devastating discovery
for Mhairi's family, who learned that the teenager had been killed just two minutes away
from the safety of her home. For the community, utter shock. Jane Monckton-Smith: Just a young girl
coming home from a pantomime, it's the stuff that nightmares are made of. It's what every parent worries about when
their child goes out. And to have it actually play out in the middle of this tight-knit community
would have sent shockwaves and fear through absolutely everybody. Michael Orr: In my 30-year police career, I could
think of a few similar cases. It's a very friendly place. I grew up in the local area.
I know the area well. This case would have been shocking to the community. Fred Dinenage: A post-mortem examination
the following day revealed that Mhairi had been the victim of a vicious and prolonged attack.
- There were a lot of injuries on Mhairi's body, 47 injuries. A lot of them were to her face and head.
There were defensive wounds so that we can see that she fought him and she fought him.
Jane Hamilton: Mhairi was covered in dirt, and she had cuts on her shoulders. And it was suspected that she had
been dragged along the ground with her hand. The cause of death at her post-mortem
was marked as asphyxia due to strangulation. - It was a very, very torturous death.
It wasn't quick, and it wasn't easy. It was very agonizing. Fred Dinenage: The police told the press and
the public they believed the violent attack had been sexually motivated. - Strathclyde police launched an immediate
murder investigation. They conducted dozens of interviews. Michael Orr: The London Road that she walked along
is a busy road, so there would have been a number of cars, a number of drivers driving along
that road to go to certain places in the Kilmarnock area and outskirts. - A lot of energy is expended by the local police
to track down somebody who can treat an innocent young woman in such a dreadful manner.
- Everybody who has a teenage daughter would have been fearful of letting them out in the streets.
The community would be scared until individuals arrested for this, absolutely no doubt.
And there would be a lot of reassurance, a big reassurance job by the police. Fred Dinenage: Police quickly ruled out those close to Mhairi
as suspects and widened their search, harnessing local and national media. - Mhairi's father, Philip, made an appeal
to the public for any information about his daughter's final movements on the night she disappeared.
[cameras clicking] - The Daily Record also offered a 10,000 pound reward for any information leading
to her killer's conviction. Fred Dinenage: Someone in the area had clearly been watching the news.
A few days into the new year, just under three weeks after Mhairi's murder, her parents
received an anonymous letter in the post. Geoffrey Wansell: It's 14 lines long,
and it includes several fascinating facts. It says, "I think my son may have killed your daughter."
It goes on to say that on the night of the 16th of December, the night of the killing, her son had come home and said,
"I've done something bad." It goes on to say, "Sorry, I can't give him up. I love him."
Fred Dinenage: It was an intriguing lead. The police appealed for the letter writer to come forward.
- It's important that if she's genuine in her belief, then she should have the confidence to come
forward and speak to us. Fred Dinenage: But the writer remained anonymous. And three weeks after Mhairi's violent death,
the police were still in the dark about her killer. - Stranger murders are the most difficult to solve
because there's no relationship between the killer and the victim. Most victims do know their killers.
So how do we find who the suspects are? Michael Orr: The early stages of a case like this,
it's a whirlwind. You've got a number of competing elements. You have the media element.
You sometimes get misinformation. You have the family side, which is extensive. You get experts in to speak to the family.
There's pressure from a whole lot of different areas. But ultimately, your goal is to succeed
and bringing somebody to justice and hopefully bring closure to the family in the worst of circumstances.
Jane Monckton-Smith: The police have to be lucky. They have to hope that they leave something
at the crime scene that identifies them, or they have to hope that their movements can be tracked.
Fred Dinenage: Scene of crime officers attending the bus depot had meticulously examined
the area for anything that could help identify the killer. Nikolas Lemos: They find a shoelace
that has been torn apart, and they find blood-soaked clothing. Now, this is very important because it
could be the blood of the assailant with all of their genetic profile present. But it could also be the blood of the victim,
putting them together. Fred Dinenage: On the left sleeve of Mhairi's jacket, tests revealed blood.
The laboratory processing the clothing discovered two different sources of blood, one belonging to Mhairi,
the other from her killer. - They were not smart enough or thorough enough to clean up.
They actually left a lot of evidence that, in the hands of the right forensic scientist,
could produce the evidence needed to identify this person and bring them to justice.
Jane Monckton-Smith: The killer left their DNA at the crime scene. And DNA was quite new in those days,
and the DNA database was incredibly new. But at least, the police knew they had this tool
that, if they could get a match, that would definitively identify who was at the scene
when Mhairi died. Nikolas Lemos: Today, we have DNA databases where people who have been involved
in the criminal justice system have their DNA stored. That was not available back then.
Now, we had to find that perpetrator. So the police goes on a mission to find the donor
of this piece of DNA. - And they start a systematic search of men between about 20 and 40 in the area.
Michael Orr: Carrying out this exercise would have been extremely unusual and groundbreaking.
But it was perceived as a line of inquiry, the best way to go about it. Nikolas Lemos: They start by testing
everybody who works at the location of the crime, the bus depot. When that search proves fruitless,
they actually expand the search and eventually test over 20,000 male donors trying to find a match.
Fred Dinenage: It was a mammoth task. But Strathclyde police were drawing on all the resources
available to them, including painstakingly trawling through hours of tapes from the town's surveillance cameras
from the night Mhairi was abducted. Their dedication paid off. - The police identified some CCTV at 9:20 that same
evening in a shopping mall. Fred Dinenage: A sharp-eyed officer homed in on a familiar figure.
[tense music] ♪ ♪ Michael Orr: The CCTV clearly showed him in person in the area few hundred yards away
from the crime scene on the night in question, just before the crime had been committed.
Fred Dinenage: It was a man local police knew well, a man who'd spent most of his adult life
in prison for attacks on young women. Detectives were confident they had Mhairi's killer on camera.
[tense music] [tense music] ♪ ♪ Fred Dinenage: Eight years before Mhairi Julyan's murder
in the summer of 1986, 33-year-old Doris Thomson booked a family holiday in saltcoats
on the North Ayrshire Coast. Doris Thomson: I had a baby in 1985, and I wasn't working then.
And I just had plenty to do with the children. I still had mum mom and my dad. My sister and her boyfriend and my youngest son, we all went.
I had a week booked at Saltcoats Caravan Park. - Saltcoats was a very, very busy holiday destination
for most people in Scotland. At that time, it would be busy, certainly, in the summer months.
Doris Thomson: It was nice that week. It was very good to get out and about, but we were enjoying it.
The first two or three days before anything took place, we were having fun. Fred Dinenage: The holiday was filled with trips
to the beach and funfair. But within days, events took an horrific turn. Doris and her husband went out for drinks
in the pretty harbor town with her sister and partner. Doris Thomson: I think we went into one pub.
And then we just had one drink, and that's where we all sat, laughing and having a good time.
Must have been just after 11:00. And my sister, she had a splitting headache. She wanted to go back to the caravan.
My husband had went to the caravan to make sure she was all right. My brother-in-law went for a taxi.
It was just a mixup that night. Fred Dinenage: Doris found herself in the dark,
deserted streets, alone. As she tried to make her way back, a man appeared from a side street,
grabbing her around the neck. [tense music] - First thing the man did was take your tights off.
Take your tights off. Just put the tights right round my throat. He was pulling as tight as he could pull,
so I could start and feel myself fainting at that point. Fred Dinenage: As Doris struggled for a means of escape
or to attract the attention of people in the nearby flats, her attacker dragged her to a gap in the stone harbor wall.
- So he dragged me in there and told me to strip naked. All this time, his hands was on my throat.
So after I'd stripped, he pushed me down, and it went from there. Fred Dinenage: The man began to sexually assault Doris,
all the while beating her. - He just went into an utter frenzy, punching and kicking.
I didn't know where the blood was coming from. I thought, what am I going to do?
So I fought back, and it was punch for punch. And then that was when the strangling started really bad.
So I decided I would go the other way, and I would stay calm. That's not what he wanted.
He wanted a fight. Fred Dinenage: Desperate, Doris told the attacker she had five young children, one just a baby.
His response was to laugh. - How can you laugh at us? This went on for ages. And then the next thing, he leans back
and he picks up my dress. And he says, put that back on. And I thought, oh, good.
I said, he's letting me put on my dress, and he's going to vanish. Fred Dinenage: Having emptied the change from Doris's purse,
the attacker dragged her by the throat to the sea wall where he throttled her. Doris played dead, sinking onto the ground.
But her attacker was not finished with her yet. - And he just laughed at me. And he threw me straight off the harbor into the sea.
Fred Dinenage: Doris struggled in the cold, dark water, knowing she was still not safe.
- I lay floating just with my head to the side, enough just to let air in, and I could keep
an eye on the harbor wall. It was quite a bright night that night. The moon was bright.
I could see him running about the harbor wall up and down. And I thought, God, is he looking for me?
Jane Monckton-Smith: He watched her struggling. There was that enjoyment of somebody else's suffering.
So this guy is a sadist. - Coming out the water is terrifying. But I knew it was getting daylight.
It was starting to break, and I thought he was going to see me sooner or later. I've got to get out.
- It's an extraordinary escape and a great tribute to her will to live. Doris Thomson: I was shaking.
I was in shock. I just looked everywhere to make sure he wasn't there. I ran across, knocked all the doors.
Fred Dinenage: It was the early hours of the morning, but one resident opened their door
to Doris, whose clothes were drenched in seawater and blood. Doris Thomson: The first thing I made
them do was bolt the door. I was terrified in case he was still there. So that's where I was until I was taken to hospital.
Fred Dinenage: Doris's jaw was fractured and her front teeth had been knocked out.
But she was determined to identify the man who tried to kill her. Doris Thomson: Oh, I was angry.
The anger was in me. And every time I prayed, I would say, please let me get him.
Please let me catch this man. [grim music] ♪ ♪ Fred Dinenage: For the next two days,
in the hope of spotting her attacker, Doris accompanied two female plainclothes
detectives around the pubs and clubs of Saltcoats. [tense music] ♪ ♪ Doris Thomson: I went up and down the day after.
When I get out of the hospital, I was determined he wasn't getting away with it.
I think it was two days after, we went for a tea into the cafe. And the two girls went off on their own way
and left me with my husband. And I was sitting, and he went by the door. And I thought, there he goes.
Fred Dinenage: With the plainclothes detectives at the other end of the town, Doris and her husband
followed the man to a nearby bar. As he took the first sips of his pint, she confronted her attacker.
Doris Thomson: I said, it's me. It's me. I was the woman that you tried to kill on the shore.
You got the wrong man, got the wrong man. Fred Dinenage: Doris's husband and locals held the man whilst they waited for the police
to return. They arrested him and identified him as 28-year-old Gavin McGuire, a man with a long rap sheet for sex crimes,
a man who thought nothing of inflicting pain and suffering on the women he came into contact with.
- Her life was not only threatened. He thought it was over. That kind of experience is going
to have a lifelong effect. Fred Dinenage: Charged at first with the rape and attempted murder of Doris Thompson,
McGuire's defense team offered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of assault and rape.
In August 1986, he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. - I was happy that they convicted him,
but I was deeply unhappy that they had dropped the attempted murder charge. Geoffrey Wansell: The judge calls
him a menace to society and particularly to women, and that's not an understatement.
[disturbing music] ♪ ♪ Fred Dinenage: In 1993, having served just part of his 10-year sentence,
Gavin McGuire was released. The 34-year-old serial sex offender was deemed to be safe and returned to his
mother's house in Stevenston. Jane Monckton-Smith: This is somebody with a personality disorder.
This is somebody who enjoys watching women suffer. Of course, he was going to start offending again.
Fred Dinenage: On the evening of August the 12th, 1995, in the Ayrshire town of Kilbirnie,
9 miles from Gavin McGuire's home, a 21-year-old woman was subjected to a terrifying
attack in a park. Held by a man in a stranglehold, she fought for her life. - She's obviously horrified, frightened.
But she attacks the only way she can. She bites his finger. He lets her go. A few days later, she sees him in the town.
I mean, he's not hiding anywhere. He's not gone on the run. Fred Dinenage: The man she identified as her attacker
was Gavin McGuire. - The police are alerted and is arrested. This is good, and I want this evidence
as you could possibly get. Fred Dinenage: McGuire denied the allegation. It was the young woman's word against his.
- There's a debate about when the bite actually took place. - The physician who examined, who
was actually not a dermatologist, determined that this injury could have only happened
in the last 72 hours, which was, unfortunately, inconsistent with what the victim alleged.
- The case was dropped due to lack of corroboration in Scotland, which requires at least two witnesses to a crime.
Fred Dinenage: Without concrete evidence linking Gavin McGuire to the attack, police could no longer detain him.
- At the end of November 1995, McGuire is released. It's like letting a panther out of a cage.
Fred Dinenage: 19 days later, 15 miles away in Kilmarnock, the brutal murder of Mhairi Julyan
sparked a high-profile hunt for her killer. In early January 1996, detectives had a breakthrough.
CCTV from the night of her disappearance showed a man following another young woman, a man
they recognized immediately. - It was Gavin McGuire. There was no doubt in anybody's mind about that.
Michael Orr: That was an incredible thing to pick that up whilst routinely looking through CCTV footage.
The officers knew of McGuire from before from his activities in the Stevenson area, the local area.
- On the 8th of January 1996, they interview him for the first time. He says no, no, I was nowhere near the bus depot.
I was in a bar in Kilmarnock called the Tudor Bar, and I didn't leave until close to 11:00, 10:45.
Fred Dinenage: McGuire's story did little to convince investigators. And his carefully concocted alibi was revealed to be false.
- He did change his story when police showed him a video of himself in the shopping mall
close to where Mhairi was attending theater. In fact, he was there Christmas shopping.
Fred Dinenage: It was enough to obtain a search warrant. On the 26th of January 1996, a search conducted
at McGuire's mother's home recovered clothes and a piece of broken shoelace, similar in appearance to the one
found by Mhairi's body. Nikolas Lemos: He was brought in, and a biological sample of his is tested for DNA.
But he has two brothers. And those two brothers need to be excluded, so their DNA is also tested.
And although we're very close, DNA-wise, to our siblings, there are little, tiny differences that set one
sibling apart from another. And McGuire's DNA is proven to be the one that matches the DNA that
was recovered from the scene of the crime and not his brothers'. Geoffrey Wansell: And at the end of January 1996,
McGuire is charged with the murder of Mhairi Julyan. [tense music] ♪ ♪ Fred Dinenage: But unlike his court appearance in 1986,
following the attack on Doris Thompson, McGuire refused to make any admission of guilt. Mhairi Julyan's family would have
to endure the nightmare of a trial, reliving the painful details of their daughter's horrific
and agonizing final moments. [tense music] [tense music] Fred Dinenage: In January 1996, Gavin McGuire
was in custody charged with the murder of Kilmarnock schoolgirl, Mhairi Julyan.
If found guilty, the 37-year-old, who terrorized the young women of Ayrshire for so long,
would face life imprisonment. [tense music] - McGuire was charged with Mhairi's murder.
And he appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff court three days later. Gordon Jackson: I was instructed for Gavin McGuire.
I had consultations with McGuire, so I would have been involved from a reasonably early stage.
Fred Dinenage: The trial for Mhairi Julyan's murder at Glasgow High Court began in May 1996.
The prosecution played a second piece of CCTV footage, which showed McGuire stalking his victim as she walked home from the theater.
Michael Orr: A predator, of which there are few in Scotland who could easily have
committed a crime like this. And he's got him on camera. Major breakthrough. Gordon Jackson: He had originally
followed another girl out of the underpass. And quite quickly, she turned into her own house.
So he came back, and then he followed the victim. Her home wasn't that far. She walked home through an underpass and then
onto a main road. Fred Dinenage: Presented with the video evidence, McGuire was defiant, challenging
the prosecutor to produce any footage that showed him killing the girl. Geoffrey Wansell: McGuire is very, very angry in the dock.
I mean, they point out that he's lied about where he was, that he was in the Tudor Bar.
No, you weren't. CCTV shows you're somewhere else. He's really, really furious. And at one point, he actually shouts in the court,
"You've not got me on video killing her, so prove it." Fred Dinenage: McGuire had preyed upon young women
since adolescence. He had a string of convictions of vicious sexual assaults and rapes to his name.
But at trial, these were irrelevant. - Previous convictions are not allowed to be mentioned in court.
The fact of previous convictions, even if I know them, do not impact on how I conduct a trial at all.
Fred Dinenage: Also in the court was Doris Thomson, who had suffered an horrific three-hour ordeal at McGuire's hands in 1986.
Doris Thomson: When I heard about the murder in the paper, I had a feeling. I said, I wonder if he's out.
I didn't even know he was out. I went to the trial, just listened to it. Fred Dinenage: The prosecution had an ace
up their sleeve, a key witness who was ready to take the stand. - One striking thing I remember is that his mom cooperated and,
indeed, gave quite important evidence, which, frankly, was a very brave thing for her to do.
Fred Dinenage: Nettie McGuire courageously testified against her own son in court.
It's never been confirmed whether or not she wrote the anonymous letter to Mhairi's family.
Geoffrey Wansell: She gave evidence against him. She said that when she found his jeans
in the washing machine the following day, there was blood on them. Nikolas Lemos: A trial transpires
that Gavin McGuire's mother had decided to wash them after believing his explanation that he tripped
and injured himself while going to the toilet. Fred Dinenage: In court, McGuire
insisted his mother was mistaken, claiming it was, in fact, mud on his jeans from walking the dog.
McGuire had denied everything, but he could not hope to explain the damning evidence
that detectives had amassed against him, including the shoelace recovered from the search of his mother's home.
- The piece that was found at the scene and the piece that was found at the house of the assailant
could actually be put together and physically match irrefutable evidence. Michael Orr: Ultimately, the crux of the case
was the DNA evidence that was found at the scene. Nikolas Lemos: They were able to pinpoint
the DNA to McGuire himself. After examining McGuire's DNA, we have to find out what are the chances that another person
could have deposited this kind of DNA at that scene with this kind of matching on the markers we're
looking at. And at the time, the forensic scientists determined that the odds of that happening were 8,200 to 1.
This was an incredibly high match ratio. - There is not much doubt in anyone's mind
that McGuire is guilty. This is not a master criminal, but he is an exceptionally dangerous man,
capable of monstrous deeds. Fred Dinenage: In spite of the evidence against him,
McGuire maintained his innocence in Mhairi's murder, forcing her parents to suffer the agony of hearing
in detail what horrors she'd suffered. Two weeks after the high profile trial had begun,
the jury retired to consider its verdict. - We were upset, and I couldn't get out to look at him.
But it didn't bother me. It didn't bother me. I was more focused on what was he going to get, and see
how he does time for a while. He's bound to be. [tense music] ♪ ♪ - While the verdict was being deliberated,
the senior police officer standing outside the court were as nervous as I've ever seen police
officers before a verdict. The jury returned a verdict very quickly in about 30 minutes or so, which, on any view,
is very quick in a case of that seriousness. [tense music] - Animal! Jane Hamilton: On the 30th of May 1996,
McGuire was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of Mhairi. Judge Lord Clyde called the crime an atrocity without mercy
and reiterated that McGuire should never, ever be released back into the public.
- When I heard it was 30 years, I kept saying he's away for 30 years, and that I felt relief.
But for me, that 30 years was not enough. I don't think a man like that should be ever released
because I know it's in him and what's in him because I've seen it. Rehabilitation will never fix that.
He's going to come out repeatedly, and he'll just keep repeating what he's doing.
Michael Orr: He's already spent decades in prison at that time for attacks on women,
since he was a very young man. What was known about him at age 37, and sometimes, this kind of behavior
could stop as individuals get older. There's no signs of that happening with Gavin McGuire.
Fred Dinenage: In 2002, McGuire appealed his sentence. Eight years had been added to his original term
to protect the public from danger. But New European human rights laws ruled this should be determined by a parole board, not a judge.
His 30 years was reduced to 22 minimum, meaning he became eligible for parole in 2018.
Geoffrey Wansell: I cannot believe that rage, that urge within him would have gone away, even
though he's now in his 60s. It's a very hard fire to extinguish. No matter how hard you try to rehabilitate him,
it's very, very hard. Jane Monckton-Smith: I don't think McGuire is ever going to change.
He is always going to be a danger to women. And he's probably one of those people who the parole board
should never release. - One of the most dangerous criminals that not just Scotland, but the world has ever known.
Fred Dinenage: For Doris, McGuire's potential release is a terrifying prospect.
- Nobody ever gets away from me. That's what he said. Nevertheless, I still suffer from post-traumatic stress.
It would have been easy to give up. Because I was exhausted. I was frightened. My children, that was my life saver because I
had to look after them. I wouldn't leave them, never. I'd never leave them. [grim music]
♪ ♪ But at the same time, I'm here. And I'm living to tell the tale. And there's a lot to be grateful.
[tense music] ♪ ♪ Fred Dinenage: For McGuire, hurting others was a compulsion, one that started in early childhood
with the animals in his care. His violent attacks escalated throughout his teens,
20s, and 30s, with long stints in prison proving no deterrent. With the brutal and senseless murder of 16-year-old Mhairi
Julyan in 1995, Gavin McGuire was finally recognized as one of the world's most evil killers.
[theme music] ♪ ♪ [audio logo]

Teen Mhairi was killed on her walk home after a festive night. Investigators traced her last steps, using CCTV and forensics that pointed to Gavin, a violent repeat offender whose history revealed how dangerous he truly was.

An in-depth look at the lives and crimes of some of the world's most evil killers, including Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez, Cary Stayner, Leonard Lake, Dorothea Puente and more.

For More FilmRise Check Out Our Other Channels: FilmRise Television: https://www.youtube.com/⁨@FilmRiseTelevision⁩ FilmRise Movies: https://www.youtube.com/@FilmRiseMovies Highway to Heaven - Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@HighwaytoHeavenFullEpisodes

Brief Summary

The episode examines the murder of Mhairi Julyan by Gavin McGuire and the investigation that led to his conviction.

Key points

Gavin McGuire Unmasked. Gavin McGuire, a convicted rapist, was identified as Mhairi's killer.
The Chilling Discovery. On December 17, 1995, police found the body of missing schoolgirl Mhairi Julyan.
Mhairi's Brutal Murder. The murder of 16-year-old Mhairi Julyan shocked her small Scottish community.
The Anonymous Letter. Mhairi's parents received a letter suggesting a son may have killed her.
DNA Evidence Found. Police discovered crucial DNA evidence at the crime scene.
Doris's Determination to Escape. Doris Thomson's will to survive shines through as she escapes her attacker.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He should have been stopped a long time ago.

Jane Monckton-Smith on Gavin McGuire

2:39WatchMay 20, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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