Murderer Iain Packer likely committed further sex crimes abroad, says survivor

The man convicted of killing Emma Caldwell as well as a string of sexual offences against other women likely committed further crimes abroad, according to one of his victims and a former detective.

Magdalene Robertson said that she believed Iain Packer would have committed crimes against women while on holiday in Florida.

She was indecently assaulted by Packer when she was 14 and raped by him when she was 15. She told police about him in 2006.

Ms Caldwell, 27, was killed in 2005 but it was not until 2024 that Packer was convicted of her murder, along with a string of sexual offences against other women.

Ms Robertson spoke to Clyde 1’s Beware Book podcast series, which is examining the death of Ms Caldwell and those of other women involved in prostitution around Glasgow during the 1990s and 2000s.

The podcast takes its name from a journal which was used by women involved in prostitution to warn each other about potentially dangerous or suspicious clients.

Ms Robertson, who has waived her right to anonymity, described Packer as an “incubus” – saying he was “somebody that sucks the absolute life and the joy out of any circumstance whatsoever”.

She said she was sure Packer had committed previous offences against women and girls before he attacked her.

She told the podcast: “They’ve always went to Florida, Boxing Day, they went there every year for two years.

“So, he’s been attacking people because you don’t be a serial rapist and sexual offender and say, ‘I’m on holiday from that’.

“Your habits go with you.”

She added: “He would have been definitely within the sex clubs or the strip clubs or what have you there as well. And he’s probably abused people in the hotel.

“I make that assumption. I would bet money on it.”

Ms Robertson said she had passed on her concerns to the FBI and was considering hiring a private investigator to find out more about Packer’s time in the US.

She also said she believed that the police investigation into Packer had discussed going to Spain at one point.

Meanwhile, retired detective constable Stuart Hall, who was involved in the initial investigation into Ms Caldwell’s murder, also said he believed that Packer had committed offences abroad.

He had earlier told the podcast series that the murder of Ms Caldwell was likely not the first killing carried out by Packer.

Mr Hall said: “When people go on holiday, they go on holiday to relax, to let their hair down, to, you know. So I don’t see him going to stop any pattern of behaviour. That’s who he is…

“So, absolutely. There’ll be more in this country and I think wherever he’s holidayed.”

Packer was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years after he was found guilty of Ms Caldwell’s murder.

Her body was found at a remote location in Limefield Woods in South Lanarkshire.

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 earlier: “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.”