William Beggs: The Limbs In The Loch Killer (One Of Scotland's Most Prolific Serial Killers?) Part Four

(Pic credit: Daily Record)

As with parts onetwo and three, details in this post may be distressing.

Barry Wallace's remains were forensically examined and the findings were horrifying. Barry had been handcuffed on the wrists and ankles, he'd struggled in these restraints and it was clear he suffered a great deal. He had been violently raped and had bruising to his face. There was also a puncture wound on his arm that looked like he'd been injected by a needle. After this horrific ordeal, Barry's body had been cut into eight pieces, his head was placed in a plastic carrier bag and his other remains were wrapped in black bin liners where William Beggs had disposed of them whilst travelling back and forth on Ferries between Belfast and Troon.

One of the red flags the police discovered whilst searching William's house was a distinctive carrier bag with the DFDS Ferry line logo. This was the exact same type of bag that Barry's head was placed in. They also found Barry's blood in the house as well as William's semen stain along with drops of Barry's blood on a bed.

The police had noticed that William had tried his best to bleach and clean his house from top to bottom as a way to try and get rid of any evidence. They could smell fresh paint and noticed some of the decor had been replaced as well as the carpets which were brand new.

By the 18th of December 1999 it seemed like every Scottish newspaper had William Beggs on it's front cover. He was branded ''The Limbs In The Loch Killer'' and ''The Gay Ripper''. The newspapers also detailed his past violence towards men. As he was using the name ''William Frederick'' whilst travelling, the police couldn't track him down and assumed he was still in the UK somewhere.

There was a warrant out for William Beggs arrest and on the 28th of December 1999, he walked into an Amsterdam police station with his lawyer and handed himself in. He was remanded in custody and appeared in court the next day.

There was a sigh of relief from everyone when they heard that he was in police custody but the battle wasn't over yet. Scottish police wanted him extradited back to Scotland to face justice but William knew this would be a lengthy process and started to play games with appeals, trying to prolong the extradition for as long as possible.

On February the 29th of 2000, Barry Wallace's funeral took place, his friends and family called it a celebration of his life. 750 people attended the service and friends and relatives spoke fondly of Barry and the lovely person that he was. As his coffin was being carried out of the church, one of his favourite songs was playing, Angels by Robbie Williams.

William's extradition hearing opened in Amsterdam four weeks later in the District Court Of Justice. On the 11th of April 2000, the court decided that William should be extradited back to Scotland to which he appealed on the 25th of April. Five months later the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that William should be returned to Scotland but the decision was referred to the Justice Minister who upheld the decision to extradite him. His lawyers tried a last ditch appeal at Civil Court stating that the media coverage had jeopardised any chance of William Beggs having a fair trial in the future. On the 5th Of January 2001 the Dutch Court finally ruled that William Beggs be returned to Scotland.

Four days later, William Beggs arrived at Edinburgh Airport under heavy police surveillance and appeared in court the following day. He was charged with the murder, sexual assault and dismemberment of Barry Wallace. His trial began on the 18th of September 2001 where he plead ''Not guilty.'' He claimed to have been at a party at the time that Barry had gone missing but witnesses said that he appeared at the party for an hour but soon left. He told one of the guests that he couldn't drink anything alcoholic because he had to drive back to Kilmarnock.

After 17 days of evidence being presented to the court and a very long extradition process, William Beggs was finally found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison.

After the trial was over, the police released details of what they had found in William's house. Along with Barry's blood, they found blood belonging to 17 men as well as what they called ''Souvenirs'' and ''Trophies''. There was pictures of young men everywhere and police believe that he could be responsible for the deaths of many other men. They have since contacted authorities elsewhere in the UK and abroad to check their missing people and cold case files. They also believe that he may be connected to three unsolved murders of young men in Scotland, one of which had some of his remains found on a beach in Largs.

As you can imagine, William Beggs being behind bars hasn't stopped him from being as difficult as possible. If he wasn't spending the majority of his time trying to appeal and have his sentence of 20 years reduced, he was trying to take Scottish prison officials to court because they wouldn't let him buy his own laptop or have a treadmill in his cell.

There was outrage when a newspaper reported that William had won £5000 compensation when he took prison bosses to court over taking too long to process his appeals. He was also reported to be engaged to a paedophile and was attacked with boiling water when he made a joke about a fellow prisoner's deceased relative.

Another horrible fact which dawned on me during my research of this case, is that it's nearly 20 years since Barry Wallace was murdered and William Beggs will be able to apply for parole in December (2019) which makes my blood run cold. Due to his ability to get off lightly with horrific things that he has done in the past I worry that he may be released again and who knows what else he will do. It's clear to me that William Beggs has been violent towards men for a very long time and it seems to be a way of life for him. I do believe that he is responsible for more murders but because of the way he disposed of the remains and lack of evidence, he's managed to get away with it so far.

And what of the 17 samples of blood that were found from other men in his house? I know one of his previous lovers had mentioned earlier that he hated his sexuality and would attack men after having sex with them. It seems to me (and this is my opinion) that he enjoyed the cutting of his victims. In the beginning he would attack people with knives and razors but it soon progressed, you could see that he tried to dismember Barry Oldham but failed. It was almost like he was practising and by the time that he had murdered Barry Wallace, it was so quickly done, the attack, the dismemberment and disposing of the body, like he'd done this many times before.

I think that William Beggs is a dangerous individual and should never be released. He is reported to still own the same house in Kilmarnock where he murdered Barry, where he attacked the man who jumped through the glass window to escape from him and where the 17 samples of blood from different men were found. It is a house of horrors and before he was jailed he continued to live there quite happily to the disgust of his neighbours. Like I mentioned before, he has no shame, no care for what anyone else thinks of him and I wouldn't be surprised if he returned to live at that house if another mistake is made and they let him back on the streets.

The English police force lost their battle in trying to persuade the Crown Prosecution Service in England to try William Beggs again for the murder of Barry Oldham.

I will be keeping a close eye come December and I hope and pray that he will remain in prison. He's 55 years old now and he may be responsible for the deaths of a lot of young men. I've heard it said many times that he could be one of Scotland's most prolific serial killers and I believe that to be true.


Thank you for checking out my four posts on this case, I really appreciate it x



RIP to Barry Oldham and Barry Wallace.




Further Reading And Sources:













Keep up to date with my latest posts on: @CaledonianTweet & Bloglovin  

Check out my community page & promotional platform for bloggers on twitter: @TheBloggersPost

If you enjoy my content or I have helped promote/share your blog and you would like to say thanks, you can donate a coffee to me, if you like here!! 


For all enquiries and collaborations, please contact: caledoniankblog@yahoo.co.uk

7 comments:

  1. For someone who tried so hard to get away with it, it was kind of shocking that he did turned himself in like that. I have to wonder why he didn't keep running? I don't think that 20 years is near enough, not for that crime, or all the others he had done. Also, with the fact that he was pulling all that from prison, he should have gotten more time.

    I can understand the outrage, he shouldn't have been allowed to appeal, or gotten money for it. The fact that he is allowed to apply for parole is so messed up. If he gets out he will do this again, and at this point I feel like its the courts fault. William seems to be one of those people who can easily manipulate and twist others, so I don't doubt he will manipulate others to his side.

    How is he still allowed to own a house? He should have lost it in my opinion.

    I hope that he remains in prison as well.

    http://loveiszero.net

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for this amazing comment! I totally agree, I have to question the justice system in the UK at times. I agree that he will do this again if he gets out. Praying that he doesn't. Thank you again for the comment : ) x

    ReplyDelete
  3. I found your blog via Twitter, so glad I did. I find true crime stuff fascinating. I had never heard this story before.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you alid! Hope you enjoy my posts : ) x

      Delete
  4. Wow I hope he dose not get released from jail. I think he will do it again not straight away but he will do it again. And the first two times he got sent down and only did some of his time is not good. To me life is life no parole he should rot in jail. I feel sorry for the other 17 victims of beggs there familys may not know what happened. That was a very chilling case kitty and very well written

    R. I. P
    Barry oldham
    &
    Barry willace

    ReplyDelete
  5. I knew Beggs at Teeside Poly. I took up office as Student Council chair because he was standing alone. He got zero votes. Not even his own.

    He is everything you describe. Cares for no one but himself.

    His inability to accept his sexuality stems from his strict religious upbringing.

    No one was really surprised when he was caught in 1987. My wife saw him the morning after the murder with a black eye. He claimed he was attacked for no reason.

    I won't give details as in the end, it's hearsay and he's litigious but friends who house shared with him found some disturbing stuff in his room after he left.

    It's still chilling to think he once was in our house.

    He should never be released as he will never be safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow! Thank you so much for checking out my posts and for sharing this. I really appreciate it x

      Delete