Find the stalker
Grieving son’s plea as cold case detectives try to hunt down murderer after 33 years
The son of murder victim Mary Ann McLaughlin has revealed someone followed his mum two days before she was strangled.
Mary Ann was killed in her flat in 1984 in what is one of Scotland’s longest-running unsolved cases.
Cold case detectives last week interviewed family members and took DNA samples as they search for a crucial breakthrough.
Mary Ann’s son Martin Cullen has told how the description of a man who was spotted tailing his mum and sister matches that of the last person seen with Mary 33 years ago.
Martin – who found his mum’s body at her home in Glasgow’s Thornwood – said: “All I want is the person caught. We’ve been speaking about the case as a family and recalled an experience my sister had at the time.
“She and mum thought they were being followed to Partick underground station by a strange man. Mum didn’t get on the subway but my sister did.
“The man followed her and both got off at Cowcaddens. He followed her to Possil Road. He began speaking to her and was asking if she wanted a job.
“She was terrified. He was well over 6ft tall, was smartly dressed, in his mid 20s and did not have a local accent.
“He matches the description of a man seen with mum on Crow Road two days later. This person was never traced by police and it was the last time she was seen alive. Police said at the time they believed the killer was known to mum. Could it have been a hitman or someone else following her to her house?”
It is understood a witness has also come forward to claim he provided a false alibi for a suspect. The person has told police he was placed under pressure to lie to detectives about the movements of one of the suspects on the day of the murder.
Dad-of-two Martin, 57, of Whiteinch, Glasgow, found his mum lying on her bed. The last sighting of Mary, 58, was on September 26, 1984, when she left the Hyndland Bar and walked along Dumbarton Road to Armando’s chip shop.
The mum to six girls and five boys was found in her flat in Crathie Court on October 2.
Her body had lain for six days before Martin forced his way into the house.
Police Scotland said: “We’re fully committed to identifying the person or persons responsible for the murder of Mary Ann McLaughlin.”
He got on the train and followed her. She was terrified