World's End serial killer Angus Sinclair dies Published duration 11 March 2019

image copyright Alan Simpson image caption Sinclair was 69 when he was finally convicted 37 years after the World's End murders

Angus Sinclair, one of Scotland's most notorious murderers, has died at the age of 73.

He was convicted of four killings, including the 1977 World's End murders, but was suspected of killing four more women in Glasgow the same year.

Sinclair had been in prison since 1982 after being convicted of a series of rapes and indecent attacks on children.

Kevin Scott, the brother of one of the murder victims, described the serial killer as a "monster".

Sinclair was jailed for a minimum of 37 years after being found guilty of murdering Helen Scott and her friend Christine Eadie.

image copyright PA image caption Christine Eadie and Helen Scott were killed in October 1977

Speaking to BBC Scotland, Mr Scott said: "He was a monster. To treat innocent people the way he did was just evil. You would need to be a beast to commit those crimes.

"I would have wanted him to live longer to serve more of the 37 year sentence, as opposed to getting the easy way out.

"I do feel for the families of the other victims that he may have had. They'll never be afforded the kind of justice that we received."

The Scottish Prison Service confirmed on Monday that Sinclair died overnight at HMP Glenochil in Alloa, Clackmannanshire.

It is understood that he had suffered from a series of strokes.

Sinclair, who grew up in Glasgow, was 16 when he carried out his first killing in 1961.

He raped and strangled seven-year old neighbour Catherine Reehill before disposing of her body.

However, he was released in his early 20s after serving just six years.

image copyright Crown Office image caption Angus Sinclair is thought to have killed six women within seven months in 1977. He went on to kill two more women

In 1977, six women disappeared after nights out, and were found dumped on deserted farmland or waste ground.

Four of the victims - Frances Barker, Hilda McAuley, Agnes Cooney and Anna Kenny - were killed in Glasgow.

Teenagers Helen Scott and Christine Eadie went missing after last being seen at the World's End pub on Edinburgh's Royal Mile in October 1977.

They were found dead six miles apart in the East Lothian countryside the next day.

Despite the biggest manhunt in Scottish police history, the identity of their killer remained a mystery for decades.

The women Sinclair was convicted of killing

Catherine Reehill, seven

Christine Eadie, 17

Helen Scott, 17

Mary Gallacher, 17

The women Sinclair is suspected to have killed

Frances Barker, 37

Hilda McAuley, 36

Agnes Cooney, 23

Anna Kenny, 20

In 1982, Sinclair was jailed for life after he admitted 11 charges of rape and indecent assault.

Almost 20 years later, when he was being prepared for parole, a cold case review revealed that Sinclair's DNA had been found on Mary Gallacher - who was murdered in Glasgow in 1978.

He was given another life sentence after being found guilty of her murder.

Following that case, police began to examine the link between Sinclair and several other unsolved cases.

Scientific advances put Sinclair in the frame for the World's End murders.

image caption Christine and Helen were last seen in the World's End pub on Edinburgh's Royal Mile

He first stood trial in 2007, accused of killing Christine Eadie and Helen Scott.

However, the case collapsed due to insufficient evidence.

But following a change to Scotland's double jeopardy law, Sinclair was prosecuted a second time and found guilty of the murders in 2014.

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.

He was sentenced to a minimum of 37 years in prison for the murders of the two teenagers - the longest handed out by a Scottish court.