POLICE are to reinvestigate the unsolved murder of Emma Caldwell more than 10 years after her death, we can reveal.
Scotland’s leading law officer ordered officers to launch a new probe following a review of the case by the country’s senior prosecutors.
The decision comes seven weeks after the Sunday Mail revealed a forgotten suspect.
Iain Packer is a former client of Emma, who had become a prostitute after developing a drug addiction.
He was interviewed six times but never arrested despite directing officers to the remote forestry track 30 miles from Glasgow where the 27-year-old was found dead.
Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland has now told Police Scotland to launch a fresh inquiry and senior officers yesterday said preparations were at an advanced stage.
The police will conduct the probe with the Crown Office’s Cold Case Unit which specialises in revisiting unsolved serious crimes.
It is thought detectives from outside Glasgow and Lanarkshire, with no previous involvement, will be asked to lead the probe. Packer, 42, changed his story repeatedly during his police interviews. He finally admitted taking Emma to the woods where her body was found at least six times.
Another prostitute also directed officers to the spot where Packer took her, not knowing it was where Emma had been found.
But twice-married Packer, of Airdrie, was never arrested.
Four Turkish men were eventually charged after a 27-month police investigation but the case against Huseyin Cobanoglu, 63, Halil Kandil, 42, Abubekir Oncu, 39, and Mustafa Soylemez, 44, collapsed.
A Crown Office spokesman said yesterday: “The Lord Advocate has instructed Police Scotland to carry out a reinvestigation into the murder of Emma Caldwell.
“The family have been informed of the decision in this case.
“The decision followed careful consideration of the case by Crown Counsel, the most senior lawyers in Crown Office.
“Unresolved homicides are never closed. We maintain a database of all cold case homicides and cases.
“The Cold Case Unit works closely with Police Scotland to review these cases to ascertain if there are any new evidential developments, including advances in forensic techniques, which would assist in providing a basis for criminal proceedings.”
Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said yesterday: “Police Scotland is at an advanced stage in its preparations to undertake a reinvestigation into the murder of Emma Caldwell.
“All necessary resources with the appropriate skills and experience will be deployed to ensure a thorough reinvestigation takes place.
“Senior officers will meet the family to outline the plans in place and provide information on areas to be explored in an attempt to identify new evidential opportunities.
“Detectives will be using the most up-to-date investigative techniques, particularly those in forensics, within which there have been significant advances in recent years.
“We would urge anyone with information relating to the murder of Emma Caldwell to contact us via the non-emergency number 101.”
Emma, who grew up in a loving family in Erskine, Renfrewshire, disappeared on April 4, 2005, sparking a nationwide hunt.
She was last seen leaving a hostel for homeless women in Glasgow. The following month her naked body was found in woods near Roberton, Lanarkshire.
During his sixth interview, Packer, a compulsive user of prostitutes, directed two officers to the spot and admitted, despite previously denying knowing Emma, that he had taken her there several times.
Her mother Margaret visited the spot with her husband, William, who died in 2011, to lay flowers where her daughter was found.
She told the Mail: “We were completely unaware of this man’s existence but it seems almost unbelievable that he would, by chance, have taken Emma to this place too.
“It has been so hard over the years and part of me just wants to let it go but she was my little girl, is still my little girl, and we need to know the truth. I hope they will properly look at the evidence again.”
Emma became depressed after the death of her sister from cancer in 1999. She turned to drugs and became hooked on heroin. Her habit forced her onto the streets where she worked in Glasgow’s red light zone.
The four Turks were arrested in 2007 after one of the biggest murder investigations mounted in
Scotland.
The £4 million probe involved covert surveillance but no date for a trial was ever set and the case collapsed amid
concerns surrounding the translations of audio tapes.
The Sunday Mail revealed the existence of forgotten suspect Packer last month after an 18-month probe by former
detective turned author Gerry Gallacher.
Yesterday, he said: “I hope that the re-investigation will eventually provide the Caldwell family with a form of
closure. I am sure the police will be looking at every aspect of the investigation with fresh eyes.
“It was a huge inquiry and they have a huge task ahead but they have successfully reinvestigated a number of dormant murders.
“If the Lord Advocate wants to show there is no time limit on justice, this is a perfect opportunity."
