Carol Lannen was a mother, sister and daughter.
More than forty years after her death, there has still been no justice for
the teenager, who was murdered and dumped in Dundee’s Templeton Woods.
Chief reporter Lindsey Hamilton explores theories as to who killed Carol.
The Yorkshire Ripper, World’s End monster Angus Sinclair and the infamous American Zodiac Killer have all at one time been listed as possible suspects responsible for Carol Lannen’s murder.
Finger points to Andrew Hunter
All three were eventually discounted, which left police with few leads as to who was guilty of killing the teenage mum.
In his book The Law Killers, Sandy McGregor points a finger at former Dundee social worker Andrew Hunter, who was convicted in 1988 of strangling his wife to death in woodland in Fife.
A former DC Thomson chief reporter, Sandy was a working journalist in Dundee at the time of both Templeton Woods murders – reporting for the Evening Telegraph and The Courier.
He said: “I remember leading the team of reporters that covered the murders.
“Carol’s murder was big news when it happened and it became an even bigger story after the discovery of Elizabeth McCabe’s body.
“We sent reporters and photographers to cover both murders.
“There was a big appetite for the stories in the city.
“What quickly became apparent was the police were never anywhere near discovering who the murderer or murderers were.
“It’s also clear police made mistakes, with cross contamination a definite error.”
Sandy said he has always considered Andrew Hunter as a key suspect.
He said: “During his trial it emerged Hunter was trawling the city centre for prostitutes.
“The photo fit of the Templeton Woods murder suspect bore a striking resemblance to him.
“Thanks to the passage of time no one, except the person or persons who took the last breath of life from two defenceless women, is likely ever to know for sure if they were sisters in death or just strangers whose resting place simply happened to be 150 yards apart.”
Yorkshire Ripper once a suspect
Peter Sutcliffe was briefly thought to be a suspect but the theory was rejected as Carol hadn’t suffered a particularly violent death – the calling card of the Yorkshire Ripper.
Police took the possibility of Angus Sinclair being behind Carol’s death more seriously.
In 2004 they launched Operation Trinity bringing Deputy Chief Constable Tom Wood from Lothian and Borders Police to Dundee to lead the investigation.
Now retired, Tom told the Tele: “We initially took claims Angus Sinclair could have killed Carol very seriously.
“However, it wasn’t long before we realised Sinclair couldn’t have killed her because he was in prison at the time for a number of minor offences.
“That ended my involvement, but police in Dundee continued to put everything they had into solving the cases.”
The infamous Zodiac Killer, who terrorised California from 1968-1974, was also linked to the murder after a dossier of evidence was given to Tayside Police in 2005.
The dossier claimed the killer had fled to Scotland and said the Zodiac’s “last act” was the murder of Miss Lannen.
But this theory was eventually quashed by investigators in California.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.
