The parents of one of serial killer Peter Tobin’s suspected victims described their heartbreak as he took his secrets to the grave.
After the monster died, aged 76, Valerie Earl, mum to murdered Jessie Earl, 22, said: “We’ll never know if he killed our daughter.”
Before his death Tobin reportedly boasted in prison of killing up to 48 victims.
Valerie, 90, told the Sunday People she had hoped Tobin “might choose to tell somebody something ”while he was still alive. But she added: “I doubted he would after all these years.”
Husband John, 94, said he has never had any strong feelings about Tobin, “except a couple of times I’ve seen him on television is that he struck me as a pretty unpleasant character”.
Art student Jessie’s body was found in undergrowth at Beachy Head, East Sussex, nine years after she first went missing in May 1980.
Police declared her death suicide and never investigated, which infuriated her parents.
John said: “The decision it was a likely suicide poisoned the investigation. It was disgusting.”
Jessie sang in the choir of the church where Tobin was caretaker, so they could have known each other, Valerie revealed.
In May a coroner finally ruled Jessie was a murder victim - though they do not know if Tobin was her killer.
But despite their grief, the couple - married for 70 years - said they had never wished for the death penalty for Tobin.
Valerie added: “I was horrified when people asked. No, we don’t.”
