Serial rapist guilty of murdering woman found naked in woodland nearly 19 years ago

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A man been found guilty of murdering a 27-year-old woman after her naked body was found dumped in Scottish woodland nearly 19 years ago.

Iain Packer was accused of strangling Emma Caldwell and concealing her body in South Lanarkshire in April 2005, as well as raping or sexually assaulting 21 other women.

Packer faced a total of 36 charges which spanned over two decades, all of which he denied at the High Court in Glasgow.

Since his guilty verdict, Police Scotland has apologised for how the orginial inquiry was handled, after Miss Caldwell and her family were “let down” by the investigation.

Miss Caldwell was last seen between 12.30am and 1.30am on 5 April 2005 on London Road, Glasgow, and was reported missing by her family five days later.

Iain Packer denied the charges against him

(BBC)

At the time, Ms Caldwell had been living in a hostel in Glasgow having left home and becoming addicted to heroin after the sudden death of her sister.

The body of the victim, who had been working as a sex worker in the city, was discovered in the woods on May 8 the same year. She was discovered by a dog walker with a “garotte” around her neck, prompting one of Scotland’s largest murder investigations.

A habitual user of prostitutes, other women had raised concerns about Packer’s behaviour towards the police yet he was not arrested or charged for 17 years.

This was despite him admitting to the police in the initial investigation that he had previously taken Ms Caldwell to the forest for sexual purposes.

Instead, the police wrongly focused on a group of Turkish men until a team of cold case detectives re-examined the case in 2015.

Emma Caldwell’s mother, Margaret Caldwell called the police after her daughter failed to make contact

(Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

During the trial, Packer admitted under cross examination that he had paid Ms Caldwell for a sex act in 2004 and had continued to have sex with her after she had asked him to stop.

He said he was “ashamed” of his actions towards her, and described his behaviour towards another sex workers as “disgusting”.

He denied her murder however, telling the court: “It wasn’t me who killed her. It wasn’t me. I didn’t do anything to her.”

Evidence was also heard from multiple other women who had been brutally attacked by Packer, with his behaviour described as “violent” and “obsessive”.

The court heard a soil sample taken in 2021 from the site where Miss Caldwell’s body was found was a “97% match” with soil found in his blue work van, and Packer was charged by police in February 2022.

Following his conviction, Assistant Chief Constable for Major Crime and Public Protection Bex Smith said: “Emma Caldwell, her family and many other victims, were let down by policing in 2005. For that we are sorry.

“A significant number of women and girls who showed remarkable courage to speak up at that time also did not get the justice and support they needed and deserved from Strathclyde Police.”

She added it was “clear” that further investigations should have been carried out which subsequently caused unnecessary distress to her family and the other women who had been affected.

“Iain Packer was a calculating sexual predator who targeted women over many years. It is hard to comprehend how anyone could carry out such despicable, ruthless acts,” she said.

“He took Emma’s life for his own gratification in the most appalling circumstances and cruelly left her body in remote woods hoping to cover his tracks.

“But time is no barrier to justice and I would urge anyone who has been the victim of sexual violence to please come forward and speak to us.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.

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