Victim's sister speaks out after Tobin's death

The sister of Vicky Hamilton has expressed her fears that the extent of serial killer Peter Tobin’s crimes may never be known following his death.

Lindsay Brown said her family was torn apart by the disappearance of 15-year-old schoolgirl Vicky in 1991.

Her body was found 17 years later buried in the garden of Tobin’s former home in Margate, Kent, alongside 18-year-old Dinah McNichol, who was murdered in the same year as Vicky.

The notorious killer died in hospital on Saturday morning – but refused to share his secrets with police as he lay on his deathbed.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s The Sunday Show, Ms Brown, who was six when her sister disappeared, said: “It’s been horrendous. It’s ripped the family apart.

“Obviously all the years not knowing what happened to Vicky and not knowing where she could be, if she was still out there. That affected us not having that closure.”

And it was a “sense of relief” to finally get closure, as family members were finally able to say their goodbyes, she said.

But the family has been clear about wanting Vicky to be remembered – not Tobin’s harrowing crimes.

He was serving three life sentences for the girls’ murders as well as for the rape and murder of Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, and hiding her body under the floor of a Glasgow church in 2006.

Police believe Tobin was responsible for the murders of other women, with fears the true extent of his crimes may now never be known.

Ms Brown said: “The only thing I feel (about Tobin’s death) is did he have more victims, and now he’s gone are there other families out there that aren’t going to get that closure that we got because he is no longer around to tell (the) tale.

“I was hoping that he would maybe come out when he got diagnosed with cancer, that he would maybe come out and tell people what he did, if he did have any kind of remorse.

“But he’s clearly not the type of person that’s got any. All I feel is that if there has been other victims, and I know there’s speculation, they might not know what’s happened to their loved ones.”

The Sunday Mail previously reported Tobin had cancer and had fallen and broken his hip and was refusing medication.

A photo circulated last month showed the killer “chained to a hospital bed”, appearing seriously ill.

Following his death, Detective Chief Superintendent Laura Thomson, head of major crime at Police Scotland, said the final attempts to encourage Tobin to “do the right thing and share any knowledge he may have had which could assist the police were unsuccessful”.