World's End serial killer and rapist Angus Sinclair dies in jail aged 73 just days after joining a betting sweep on how long he would live after suffering a series of strokes
- World's End murderer Angus Sinclair dies in prison in Scotland aged 73
- He killed Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, both 17, in Edinburgh in 1977
- Also murdered Mary Gallacher in 1978 and has been in prison since 1982
- First killing was eight-year-old Catherine Reehill in his home in 1961
- Sinclair was serving 37-year sentence and recently suffered series of strokes
World's End serial killer Angus Sinclair has died just days after 'joining a betting sweepstake over his death'.
The 73-year-old had suffered a series of strokes in recent years and died in Glenochil Prison in Clackmannanshire.
Sinclair, 73, was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 37 years in 2014 after a jury found him guilty of killing Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, both 17, in Edinburgh in 1977.
The crimes became known as the World's End murders because the girls were last seen leaving a pub by that name in the city's old town.
Serial killer Angus Sinclair, pictured, has died in prison aged 73 after his health deteriorated following a series of strokes in recent years
Sinclair murdered Christine Eadie (left) and Helen Scott (right) in 1977. Their bodies were found six miles apart in East Lothian. They had been raped, strangled and bound with their underwear
According to The Sun, inmates at Glenochil last week started a book on when he would die after he was moved to the 'death row' medical wing at the prison.
A source told the paper: 'There's a book on when he'll snuff it and the lowest odds are on him not lasting this year.
'There's a fair whack of tobacco on offer and Gus wanted a dabble. It was pointed out he wouldn't be around to collect his winnings.'
In his last days Sinclair was said to only be able to have 'liquid meals' served to him in a 'baby cup'.
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Sinclair carried out violent crimes from the age of 16, and had also been found guilty of raping and murdering 17-year-old Mary Gallacher in Glasgow in 1978.
A criminal from a young age, his first major crime was in 1961 when he committed 'lewd acts' on an eight-year-old girl, but was only sentenced to three years' probation.
But later that year he lured eight-year-old Catherine Reehill into his home, sexually assaulted her and then strangled her before throwing her body over a balcony.
Just moments after the death he appeared at the scene and tried to convince witnesses she fell, before later vanishing.
He was eventually arrested and hauled before court in Edinburgh where, aged 16, he admitted culpable homicide and was jailed for 10 years.
Sinclair is known as the World's End killer because Miss Eadie Miss Scott were last seen leaving a pub of the name, pictured, in Edinburgh on the night they died
But Sinclair was freed after around seven years and embarked on a spree of rapes and murders that was not ended until the early 1980s.
During this time he also married trainee nurse Sarah Hamilton and had a son with her.
Police suspect he carried out as many as 30 rapes and sexual assaults on boys and girls aged eight to 12.
Officers also believe he murdered Frances Barker, 37, Hilda McAuley, 36, Agnes Cooney, 23, and Anna Kenny, 20, all from Glasgow, but were unable to prove it.
He was back behind bars in 1982 when he was sentenced to life imprisonment for sex attacks on 11 children aged six to 14.
His murders in 1977 and 1978 were then exposed almost two decades later thanks to advances in technology, with DNA evidence linking him to the killing of Ms Gallacher leading to a murder conviction in 2001.
Although he was initially put on trial for the World's End killings in 2007, the case collapsed after a judge ruled the case was 'too weak'.
But a retrial found him guilty in 2014 and he was handed a 37-year sentence, the longest ever handed out by a Scottish court.
Sinclair was first jailed for 10 years in 1961 for the culpable homicide of eight-year-old Catherine Reehill, left, whom he also sexually assaulted. DNA evidence later linked him to the murder of Mary Gallacher, right, in Glasgow in 1978
Miss Eadie and Miss Scott had been bound and strangled with their own underwear.
Sinclair was convicted of raping and murdering both girls with his brother-in-law Gordon Hamilton, who died in 1996, after the five week-trial in November 2014.
The prosecution was the first under changes to Scotland's double jeopardy law which meant he could be retried for their murders after a court case against him collapsed seven years earlier.
The sentencing judge described Sinclair as a dangerous predator capable of sinking to the depths of depravity and said the words 'evil' and 'monster' were inadequate for him.
The case, which became known as the World's End murders, was for decades one of Scotland's highest-profile unsolved crimes.
The then Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, prosecutor in the trial, said the thousands of police officers who worked on the case through the years 'never ceased in their endeavours to bring the girls' murderers to justice'.
Sinclair had launched a bid to have the term for the World's End crimes reduced but that was rejected by appeal court judges.
In a written judgment delivered in March 2016, they said of the 1977 murders: 'Those appalling crimes demonstrated an immeasurable capacity for evil, depravity, and sadism.
'The suffering of the victims and their bereaved families is, in our view, incalculable.'
SERIAL STRANGLER: A TIMELINE OF ANGUS SINCLAIR'S CRIMES
Sinclair was first jailed for culpable homicide after sexually assaulting and strangling seven-year-old Catherine Greenhill to death
1961: Sinclair was jailed for culpable homicide after sexually assaulting and strangling seven-year-old Catherine Greenhill to death. He was sentenced to ten years but was free to offend again after just six.
1977: Police fear Sinclair went on a murderous spree between June and December 1977, when he throttled and killed Miss Scott and Miss Eadie.
1978: Sinclair killed again in November 1978, raping, strangling and stabbing Mary Gallacher, 17, in Glasgow.
1978 - 1982: Sinclair raped and indecently assaulted 11 other young girls, some as young as six, over the next four years and was eventually handed a life sentence for his crimes.
1996: Sinclair's brother-in-law Gordon Hamilton dies, meaning he cannot be tried for any involvement in Miss Scott and Miss Eadie's deaths.
2001: It was not until 2001 that improved DNA technology linked him to the body of Miss Gallacher. He was convicted of her murder shortly afterwards.
2007: 30 years after Miss Scott and Miss Eadie were killed, a review of the World's End murders led to a trial, but it collapsed.
2014: Sinclair is jailed for life for the World's End murders.
