Iain Packer (Jail 35 years , 3 months , 1 day left)

Iain Packer was convicted of the murder of Emma Caldwell.

He killed her in 2005 but was not convicted until 2024.

Iain Packer had been 32-years-old at the time.

Emma Caldwell had been a prostitute and went missing from her flat in April 2005. Her body was later found in Limefield Woods, also described as Roberton Woods near Biggar in South Lanarkshire.

She was found naked in a ditch by a dog walker on Sunday 8 May 2005 near Kilnpotlees, between Roberton and Rigside. When her body was found it was in an advanced state of decomposition and the police were unable to determine when she died.

No cause of death was stated.

She had been a heroin addict and a prostitute. At the time she had been staying in a woman's hostel in Govanhill.

She was last seen alive in CCTV footage on 4 April 2005 walking along Inglefield Street at about 11pm which was about 70 miles away from Roberton Woods. It was also thought that she might have been seen at about 11.30pm at the bottom of Argyle Street getting into a black saloon car, like a BMW, that was similar to someone’s car that regularly went to Glasgow and who came from the Dumfries area.

She had been seen shortly before walking along Butterbiggins Road going towards Victoria Road in Govanhill.

It was thought that she had died soon after her last sightings.

When she was found her fake fur jacket that she had been wearing on the night was missing. It was dark brown with darker brown collar and cuff trims. It had come from Primark. Her bag was also missing.

The police later found CCTV footage of a woman getting into a silver Skoda Felicia car near a casino in Broomielaw. The police later traced all vehicles of that type in Scotland and questioned their owners and drivers.

Four Turkish men were charged with her murder but released after the case against them collapsed in mid-2008. One of the Turkish men later sued the police for false arrest and was awarded an out-of-court settlement. One of the Turkish men had been a client of Emma Caldwell. The Turkish men had been considered suspects and a surveillance operation was set up and a cafe that they used was observed during which the police recorded what they thought were incriminating conversations. However, the translations from Turkish were later challenged and the case collapsed. It was said that they had murdered Emma Caldwell at the cafe and then driven her out to the wood where they had dumped her.

Iain Packer was also suspected at the time. He was described as an obsessive user of prostitutes with a very violent history. When he was interviewed he admitted taking Emma Caldwell to Roberton Woods before on several occasions. However, no charges were made and he later attempted to get compensation from the police for investigating him.

However, he was later arrested for her murder on 24 February 2022 and convicted on 28 February 2024.

Meanwhile, a woman claimed that she had seen and spoken to Emma Caldwell on 8 April 2005 on a Glasgow subway train. The woman said that she contacted the police twice about the sighting, leaving messages on their hotline number but was never called back. She said that she saw Emma Caldwell, who she didn't know, get on at St Enoch's underground. The woman said that she had some flowers with her and that the woman that she said looked like Emma Caldwell had commented that they were nice flowers and that they had had a short chat.

Her friends had also stated that Emma Caldwell had told them that she thought that she was being stalked by a black cab driver and that she had even changed her regular location to avoid his attention.

A woman that had run the Salt and Light support group for prostitutes in Glasgow had said that she had noticed a change in Emma Caldwell's behaviour in the months before she was murdered saying that she had become gaunt and withdrawn.

Emma Caldwell had been 5ft 6ins tall, slim, and had shoulder-length hair and grey-blue eyes. She also had a heart-shaped tattoo on her back.

Iain Packer was arrested in February 2022 after the investigation was re-opened in 2015. Later that year the Sunday Mail newspaper named Iain Packer as the 'forgotten suspect' in the murder inquiry and in 2018 he contacted the BBC and asked to tell his side of the story in an attempt to clear his name and he was interviewed twice by a journalist who made a documentary entitled, 'Who Killed Emma?'.

However, it was noted that following the second interview, Iain Packer had become 'white as a sheet' as though something had gone badly wrong and it was all closing in on him.

Following that interview Iain Packer stalked and attacked the woman that interviewed him and he was arrested and sentenced to two years imprisonment in February 2020. He was then arrested for Emma Caldwell's murder in February 2022.

At the trial it was also heard that Iain Packer had been a frequent user of prostitutes, using them as often as he could afford, and that he had become infatuated with Emma Caldwell, who he would driving around searching for, often scaring off her other customers. during that time he took her to Limefield Woods once or twice and also assaulted her in Barrowlands.

As well as murder, he was also convicted of 32 other charges including 11 rapes and multiple sexual assaults against a total of 22 women.