21 Facts About Peter Manuel

Peter Thomas Anthony Manuel was an American-Scottish serial killer who was convicted of murdering seven people across Lanarkshire and southern Scotland between 1956 and his arrest in January 1958, and is believed to have murdered two more.

Peter Manuel was born to Scottish parents in New York City; the family moved to Detroit, Michigan before migrating back to Scotland in 1932, this time to Birkenshaw, Lanarkshire.

Peter Manuel was convicted in 1958 of the murders of seven people.

Peter Manuel was charged with this murder in 1958, but the case was dropped because of insufficient evidence.

Peter Manuel shot Marion, her daughter Vivienne, and her sister Margaret dead in their home in Burnside, Lanarkshire on 17 September 1956.

At the time of the murders, Peter Manuel was out on bail for housebreaking at a nearby colliery, and officers in charge of the manhunt for the Watts' killer suspected him.

Peter Manuel is believed to have shot and killed a Newcastle upon Tyne taxi driver named Sydney Dunn, on 8 December 1957 while looking for work in Newcastle.

Dunn's body was found on moorlands in County Durham soon after, by which time Peter Manuel had already returned to Lanarkshire.

Peter Manuel was never tried for this murder as it took place in a different legal jurisdiction, but 17 days after he was hanged a coroner's jury concluded Peter Manuel had murdered Dunn after a button found in Dunn's taxi was matched to one of his jackets.

Peter Manuel definitely did attend a job interview in Newcastle two days before this murder, but it is not clear that he hung around in the area.

Peter Manuel shot the Smarts dead in their Uddingston home in the early hours of 1 January 1958.

Peter Manuel then stole some brand new banknotes that Peter Smart had kept for a holiday, took the family car, and dumped it nearby.

Peter Manuel gave a lift in this car to a police officer investigating Isabelle Cooke's disappearance, even telling him that he felt that the police were not looking in the right places.

Peter Manuel used these same banknotes to pay for drinks in several east-end Glasgow pubs.

At 11:10 that evening, Peter Manuel was formally charged with murdering the Smart family and with breaking into the McMunn residence.

Peter Manuel was tried for these murders in a sensational trial at the Glasgow High Court.

On 11 July 1958, Peter Manuel was hanged on the gallows at Barlinnie Prison by Harry Allen.

Around the time of his trial and execution, some newspapers published claims that Peter Manuel was responsible for several other unsolved murders from the 1950s.

Peter Manuel was the third-to-last criminal to be executed in Scotland.

Peter Manuel had been arrested only eight days after the City of Glasgow CID took over the case, leading to calls for the creation of a national police force.

Peter Manuel's story was dramatised by ITV in 2016 in a 3-episode miniseries called In Plain Sight.