Mary McLaughlin: Murder accused 'confessed killing' to ex-wife

Mary McLaughlin was found dead in her Partick flat on 2 October 1984

A man accused of murdering a mother-of-11 confessed to killing a woman he met in a pub, a court has heard.

The body of Mary McLaughlin, 58, was discovered in her flat in Partick, Glasgow, on 2 October 1984.

Graham McGill, 59, denies the murder and assaulting Ms McLaughlin with intent to rape.

But Mr McGill's ex-wife said in 1988 he admitted to her that he had murdered a woman and threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone.

Earlier the court heard a DNA profile matching Mr McGill was found on the knot of the dressing gown cord used to strangle Ms McLaughlin.

Similar samples were also detected on a dress, bra and cigarette butt.

Under questioning from prosecutor Alex Prentice QC, Suzanne Russell told the court: "He said he was round the pub for a drink and he said a woman wouldn't leave him alone and kept pestering him.

"He decided to go back to her flat with her. He said he murdered her."

• Son recalls finding mother's body in 1984

The witness, who was in a relationship with Mr McGill from 1985 and married him in 1993, added: "He said he strangled her and said he just wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.

"He said he used her tights and said he was shocked how long it took to actually murder her."

The witness said Mr McGill told her he was not concerned that the police would be after him.

Asked if he gave a reason why, Ms Russell told the court: "He said he wasn't worried about it as she had no one and was more like a prostitute."

The witness said she didn't believe him and added: "He threatened me and said if I ever told anyone he would kill me and if I ever reported it or tried to leave him that's what would happen."

Under cross-examination by defence counsel Sarah Livingstone Ms Russell denied she wanted to get Mr McGill into trouble.

Ms McLaughlin was found dead on her bed in her flat in Crathie Court, Laurel Street.

Her dress was on the wrong way round and a dressing gown cord was wrapped round her neck three times.

Pathologists concluded the cause of death was "ligature strangulation".

DNA in knot

The last reported sightings of her occurred six days earlier, on the evening of 26 September 1984 when she enjoyed a night out in Glasgow's west end.

Forensic scientist Joanne Cochrane told the jury a number of forensic investigations were undertaken to try to find DNA other than Ms McLaughlin's from items at the scene.

Four previous attempts to recover samples had been made between 1984 and 2008. The most recent bid got under way in 2014 and continued until last year.

Ms Cochrane said that the ligature had been examined before but there was one knot in the cord which had never been opened.

She told the court: "We felt that within the knot might be protected from contamination. We felt there was a possibility of receiving DNA from within the knot.

"We did it very slowly and took photographs at all stages. It was very difficult to unfasten."

The jury heard that previous examinations of the cord had only found Mary's DNA and a trace sample that it was then not possible to analyse.

'Billion to one'

Ms Cochrane said that the latest analysis carried out by her and a colleague found a mixed DNA profile with a major profile attributed to Mary and a minor one to Mr McGill.

She said that the likelihood of the DNA belonging to someone other than the accused was 85,000 to one.

The chance of DNA on the cigarette butt and the dress not being from Mr McGill was one billion to one.

And for a black bra, which was found abandoned outside, it was 320 to one.

Meanwhile, retired police officer Brian Foster told the court he was part of the CID team that investigated the crime in 1984.

He said: "Whoever had committed the murder had locked Mary's door leaving her dead inside. We never found Mary's keys."

The jurors were shown a seven-minute video of the interior of Ms McLaughlin's flat.

It showed her lying on her back on her bed with a ligature wrapped round her neck. Her dentures were lying on the floor beside the bed.

Mr McGill is also accused of stealing a set of keys from Ms McLaughlin's home.

He faces a further charge of threatening to murder Ms Russell and children at an address in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 1988.

Mr McGill denies all the charges against him.

The trial, before judge Lord Burns, continues.