The Glasgow crime story of the murder of OAP Emily Mutch

Emily Mutch, who was deaf and suffered from Parkinson’s, was dragged to the floor and sexually assaulted before being beaten to death in her home in Garnethill in July 1996.

Emily, aged 77, had lived alone in the housing association flat in Buccleuch Street since the death of her husband Teddy.

She often left the door unlocked to allow family members to keep tabs on her.

A neighbour found her battered and brutalised body on the bedroom floor – her face covered in blood.

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Elizabeth McKay with a picture of Emily (Image: GCS)

The sadistic killer even ripped Emily’s gold band wedding ring from her finger – given to her 39 years earlier by Teddy.

The sickening injuries inflicted on the pensioner – who also had senile dementia and severe arthritis – shocked even the most hardened detectives.

Emily’s niece Elizabeth McKay, 42, from Knightswood, revealed she had seen the state of the flat after the murder and wondered if more than one person had been involved.

In an interview at the time, she said: "The place was totally done over. The bed was overturned and lying upside down and the mattress was at the other end of the room. The bath surround was kicked in. She had a toy dog, the kind with batteries in it, and it was torn to bits, all the fur torn off and the mechanics everywhere."

Elizabeth also revealed her husband and four-year-old daughter had called on her aunt shortly after her murder, only to be stopped in time by police at the entrance to the flats.

Normally the girl would run into the unlocked flat to greet and hug Emily.

If she and her dad had been any earlier, she might have been the one to find the body.

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Emily's brother Andrew Crooks (Image: GCS)

Emily’s killer became the most wanted man in Scotland but there was a lack of eyewitnesses and information as to his identity.

The attack had happened at night when most people were in their beds.

However, the suspect had left a DNA trace at the murder scene but it didn’t match any samples held on a national police database.

It was then decided to take DNA samples from the 3500 men who lived in the Garnethill area in a bid to trap the killer.

The dramatic move rekindled memories of another unsolved murder committed more than 40 years earlier in the same street.

Betty Alexander was four-and-a-half when she left her home to play outside on October 7, 1952, never to return.

Three days later a cleaner entering a little-used yard at the back of the nearby children’s dispensary in Buccleuch Lane, less than 200 yards from Betty’s home, found her body on a short run of steps.

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The killer had left behind a fingerprint at the spot where she was found.

The City of Glasgow Police launched Scotland’s biggest ever fingerprinting operation, bringing in every adult male in Garnethill for testing, more than 1000 in all.

But the prints did not match, and the weeks passed into years and the leads went cold.

To this date, Betty’s murder – committed when Emily was around 23 – remains unsolved.

This time the mass DNA testing – the first of its kind – involved every male over the age of 12 being swabbed.

Though people could refuse, police also had the power to obtain a court order to force a sample from them.

In reality most of those approached were happy to co-operate, knowing that it might bring the killer closer to justice.

All 3500 men were tested against DNA samples found at the murder scene but all tested negative. As the weeks turned into months police drew a blank in their bid to identify a suspect.

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Numerous appeals were made by the police and family members for information including Emily’s younger brother Andrew. A Crimestoppers reward was also offered.

Then in 1998 the police finally got the breakthrough they were looking for.

Constables Kenny Pike, 34, and Colin Montgomery, 28, had been on nightshift when they were called to a disturbance at a BP petrol station in Great Western Road.

When they arrived, they found a man called Thomas Galloway hiding in a bus and took him to nearby Partick Police Office in Dumbarton Road.

Galloway told them his name and address and a check uncovered a number of previous convictions for assault and robbery, dishonesty and for carrying knives. He had also been jailed several times, including a seven-year sentence.

The two officers were immediately suspicious of the man and took a DNA sample from him which was then submitted for testing.

Three months later they were called before Detective Superintendent Bob Lauder – the man in charge of the Emily Mutch investigation – and were told they had snared her killer.

The test had proved positive, and Galloway was charged with the brutal murder.

Galloway stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow in January 1999 and a jury took just an hour to convict him.

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They had been told the chances of someone else having the same DNA profile as Galloway was 500 million to one.

They were also told he had sneaked into Emily’s flat during a housebreaking expedition.

Galloway found her in bed, hauled her on to the carpet and then subjected her to a disgusting sexual ordeal.

Then, in a cold-blooded frenzy, he jumped and stamped on her face, head, throat and body, smashing her ribs, facial bones and nose, and causing bleeding of the brain. Emily’s swollen and black and blue face was virtually unrecognisable.

Brought in for questioning, Galloway, a landscaper from Maryhill, denied ever being in her flat or even knowing about her murder.

But his finger and palm prints were compared against prints found on her front door, bathroom door and the side of a wardrobe, and these too proved that Galloway was the killer.

His flat was searched and police discovered he had kept two mementoes of his horrible crime – an inlaid jewellery box and an ornamental fan, both similar to ones missing from Emily’s house.

While on remand, Galloway confessed to a cellmate that he had “done” Emily. He gave details of the crime and sexual assault on the old woman which only the killer could have known about.

Even after he was charged, Galloway still thought he could escape conviction.

He persuaded his lawyers that he might be mentally ill and managed to get admission to the State Hospital at Carstairs so he could be examined. He was deemed sane and fit to plead but remained in Carstairs pending trial.

Galloway kept asking his lawyers to get evidence to prove that the crucial DNA evidence was a “fantastic coincidence”, and that police had framed him by planting his prints in Emily’s flat.

Two sets of defence lawyers and counsel were sacked after they told him the evidence against him was “overwhelming”. Judge Lord McCluskey told Galloway that he had been convicted on “overwhelming evidence” and that he had been responsible for a “brutal, disgusting and horrifying attack on a defenceless pensioner”.

He recommended that Galloway, 42, should serve 20 years of a life sentence before being considered for parole and ordered his name to be placed on the sex offenders’ register.

Lord McCluskey added: “You carried out an appalling, outrageous murder and the public needs to be protected from you.”

As he was led away Galloway continued to protest his innocence despite the overwhelming evidence against him.

In an interview after the case, one of the two police officers who arrested Galloway spoke about their success.

PC Pike said: “We were stunned to find that Galloway had been responsible for such a horrendous crime.

“When we sent away the DNA sample, we had no idea that he had anything to do with it, just the criteria laid down, matched with our experience, suggested that he should be tested.

“This had been a dreadful murder and every cop wanted to catch him.”

Emily’s niece Elizabeth was also in court to see Galloway be sent down.

She said: “Emily was a frail old lady, a wonderful and lovely person who never harmed a fly.

“What that monster did to an old lady who couldn’t lock her own front door, far less lift a finger to save herself, was just unbelievable.

“As a family we just couldn’t be at peace – and we know Emily wouldn’t be – until Galloway was brought to justice for his crime.”