The crime documentary Catching a Killer: The Murder of Emma Caldwell, created by Samantha Poling, has helped in unveiling the real murderer of Emma Caldwell. The documentary has shed light on several pieces of evidence that have helped in the resolution of the previously unsolved mystery of the murder. This documentary has also presented reasons why the police have missed out on several pieces of information and let the real criminal roam around free for so many years. How were the police misled? How will the real murderer come to the forefront? Let’s find out!
Where Was Emma Caldwell Found?
The documentary brings out how Emma Caldwell, a prostitute working in Glasgow City Center, was reported missing on April 3, 2005. It was found that she had turned to drugs after her older sister died of cancer. She used to get methadone from the local chemist regularly. 5 weeks later (after she went missing), on May 8, Emma’s body was found in a shallow ditch, and all her clothes had been stripped off. Mick McCarron, the detective sergeant, stated that there were six more similar cases in the area, hinting at something ominous. There was huge pressure from the police on the detectives to resolve the cases. The senior investigation officer, Willie Johnston, had been investigating the case, and it was named Operation Grail, which was one of the biggest manhunts in history.
How Were The Police Directed To Ian Packer?
A former detective, Stuart Hall, stated that he had found a cable with which Emma had been strangled, and one end of it was burned. Later, they found out that she had also been raped a few days before by an obsessive client named Ian Packer. The witnesses signaled the fact that he had a blue van, and when the detectives found out about the van, they called in its owner, Ian Packer, for interrogation. Upon being questioned, he denied having any knowledge of the case. He admitted having taken the service of some of the prostitutes but said that he was never rough with them. However, the other women he had been with, such as Nicky, testified to him being very violent. 10 weeks after Emma was found, Ian was summoned again, but Willie Johnston asked not to detain him for the case. Meanwhile, Magdalene said that Ian was her family friend and would often touch her inappropriately. She also said that he had raped her once, but when she told people about it, nobody believed her as a child. It also came up that Ian had previously tried strangling a sex worker, but the police paid no notice. When she approached the police to lodge a complaint, they arrested her under Section 46 for prostitution.Â
What Did Pauline Say About Ian?
Another witness Pauline (who died from a drug overdose in 2014) said that Ian was once her client. One day, he drove her to the outskirts of the city, where he suddenly turned violent after she refused to strip for him. When she took the police to the area, they confirmed that it was the same location where Emma’s body had been found. David Barr, a former detective, said that Pauline had been taken to the same location where the body was found, and three other women showed the same location, but Ian was still not arrested.
Why Were The Turkish Men Arrested?
The night Emma had gone missing, the last call on her phone was from a Turkish man called Abubekir Oncu. When he was questioned about it, he denied having known Emma too well and said that they had only met once. Later, when the police detected Emma’s last phone signal near a Turkish cafe that was run by Huseyin Cobanoglu, they became suspicious. They started following Oncu, and even the bedding at the cafe had some spots of Emma’s blood. However, it was not solid proof, as she could have been engaged in sexual activities in the cafe with the men.
The secret detectives on “Operation Guard” (chief in lead: Colin Field) set up secret cameras and mics in the cafe. As per David Barr, if the case at the cafe was not proven, every other suspect in the case was to be ruled out. SIO Willie Johnston had been, for some reason, trying to keep Ian safe. Later, when Ian was summoned, he confessed to having taken her to the deposition site. Meanwhile, Willie Mason went to the detective chief inspector, Colin Field, to conduct the Turkish surveillance operation and asked why Packer was being interviewed when he had been eliminated as a suspect. He was almost sure that the Turkish men did it, and he dismissed Colin from the case when he tried to dig deeper.
Nick McCarron said that they identified four Turks, and their conversations in Turkish in the cafe were translated, where they admitted to the murder. Thousands of hours of conversations were recorded at the cafe, where there was a mention of a casino. On April 7, 2006, the authorities went to the casino, which was a few minutes away from the cafe. They found a muddied dress and a horseshoe keyring, which was supposedly Emma’s. On the basis of this evidence, the four Turkish men were arrested.
Why Were The Turkish Men Let Off?
When Abubekir was interviewed by Mick and he heard the recordings, he started mocking the translations. He told Mick that the translation was all wrong. It came as a shock to Mick, as he believed that the best Turkish translators had heard the recordings and found out the admissions. However, upon further cross-verification, it was found that there was nothing related to murder in the audio and that the fellow officers who had helped with translations were not even well versed in Turkish. They only had some basic knowledge of the language, and it was found that not even a single admission of it was recorded, and their words had also been misquoted earlier. The dress and keyring were also never proven to be Emma’s, resulting in the case collapsing. Around 4 million dollars had been spent on the case so far, yet it continued to remain an unsolved mystery.
Was Ian Eventually Arrested?
When Samantha Poling later confronted Ian about his sexual violence, he said that he was never involved in such crimes. However, the testimonies and the facts presented by the victims against Ian proved his crime. Ian Packer was finally charged with murder in 2022, and his interviews were used as solid evidence against him in court. Finally, on February 28, 2024, he was found guilty of the murder, along with 32 other charges of attacking 22 women. He was eventually sentenced to 36 years in prison.
Final Words
The case of Emma Caldwell is yet another example of the mismanagement of the law. Why did it take so long to get justice for the victim? There is a possibility that Willie Johnston had somehow been trying to protect Ian from the case. He had tried diverting the entire case to put the blame on the Turkish men. Maybe he had known all along about the real murderer, but he must have engaged in some monetary interests, trying to help the killer get away with his crime. Justice for Emma Caldwell will be served when an investigation into Willie’s involvement in the case is made.
