A detective in the case revealed he thinks Packer likely killed others before Emma Caldwell (Picture: PA)
A former detective believes a killer jailed for murdering a sex worker may have targeted other women.
Retired DC Stuart Hall told podcast The Beware Book that ‘there’s going to be more found out in the future’ about Iain Packer’s offending.
He was convicted of killing Emma Caldwell,27,in 2024,nearly 20 years after her murder.
Packer had been questioned in the weeks following her death,but instead a group of Turkish men were charged in 2007 in a case that later collapsed.
Mr Hall spoke to the podcast series – named after a journal used by sex workers to warn about dangerous clients – examining the deaths of eight women involved in prostitution in the 1990s and 2000s.
Emma Caldwell was killed in 2005 (Picture: PA)When asked whether he felt the full extent of Packer’s crimes had come to light,Mr Hall said: ‘No – short answer. I think there’s a lot more to be found out about Iain Packer. Personally,I don’t think it was his first murder.’Iain Packer was jailed for 36 years for Emma’s April 2005 murder. He was also found guilty of a string of sex attacks on multiple women.Days before she disappeared,Emma had told her mother that she wanted to confront her heroin addiction,triggered by a family bereavement in her early 20s.Her body was found in a remote location in Limefield Woods in South Lanarkshire a month after she vanished.Following Packer’s conviction,Police Scotland acknowledged that Emma ‘her family and many other victims,were let down by policing in 2005’.
Iain Packer was arrested more than a decade after Caldwell’s death (Picture: PA)Prosecutor Richard Goddard described him as a ‘violent’ and ‘obsessive’ user of sex workers who had an ‘unhealthy addiction’ to procuring their services.The court also heard that there had been a string of missed opportunities when he could have been caught sooner.Mr Hall said: ‘There’s a pattern of behaviour here. As they discovered during the trial,which is now common knowledge,he did the same thing to several girls.‘Although Emma was the only one we know of at this time who was murdered. I see no reason for there not to be more.’Other former detectives have previously told the podcast about their certainty of Packer’s guilt.However,they said their suspicions were dismissed by superiors,with one being told Packer ‘will never be accused’.A public inquiry,chaired by Lord Scott KC,is due to examine the police investigation into the murder.Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: ‘Emma Caldwell’s family have shown incredible courage and determination following her murder in 2005,and we are absolutely committed to supporting the inquiry and getting her loved ones the answers they deserve.’Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at .
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