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12/11/2008

 

The first definitive biography of Scotland’s first serial killer is published this month by Edinburgh-based Black & White.

 

MANUEL – Scotland’s First Serial Killer tells the disturbing life story of Peter Manuel, one of the most notorious and evil serial killers Scotland has ever produced.

 

His case made headlines around the world and, even 50 years after his death, his face is still instantly recognisable. Yet, after all these years, Manuel remains an enigma and serious questions about him remain unanswered.

 

Now, for the first time, MANUEL – Scotland’s First Serial Killer tells the full story from start to finish and challenges many of the myths and legends that still surround Peter Manuel.

 

In a two year killing spree, Manuel was responsible for the death of 17-year-old Anne Knielands, attacked and killed on a golf course with an iron bar. He also gunned down Marion Watt, her sister Margaret and 16-year-old daughter Vivenne. And he killed 17-year-old Isabelle Cooke and shot dead Peter Smart, his wife Doris and their 10-year-old son Michael.

 

But what drove him to commit these heinous and barbaric crimes? And what other crimes was he really responsible for?

 

MANUEL – Scotland’s First Serial Killer is the definitive biography of a killer written by Allan Nicol, a leading member of Scotland’s legal establishment, which seeks to answer the questions that continue to haunt us.

 

How many people did Manuel kill? Why did he think it right to murder the Smart family yet return to feed their cat? What gave him the confidence and self-belief which ultimately led to his final, unsuccessful gamble with his life when he sacked his counsel in order to defend himself on capital murder charges? And, in the phrase of the times, was he really mad or bad?

 

With a foreword by Donald R. Findlay, one of Scotland’s top QCs, MANUEL – Scotland’s First Serial Killer by Allan Nicol is published by Black & White in paperback at £9.99 on Thursday 13th November.

 

ENDS

For further information please contact Alison McBride at Black & White Publishing

Tel: 0131 625 4500 E: ali@blackandwhitepublishing.com

Issued on behalf of Black & White Publishing by Liquorice Media tel 0141 564 8058
Date November 08

 

Notes to Editors

MANUEL author Allan Nicol studied history and law before qualifying as a solicitor in Scotland in 1980. He worked in private practice in Glasgow before joining the Procurator Fiscal service as a prosecutor in the west of Scotland for 12 years. He called at the Scottish Bar in 1993, where he continues to practice.