Episode 584: Peter Manuel: The Beast of Birkenshaw (Part 2)

Morbid

Morbid Network | Wondery

True Crime, Comedy, Exhibit C

4.5 • 95.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2024

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Peter Smart failed to show up for work on the morning of January 6, 1958, officers in Lanarkshire, Scotland were dispatched to Smart’s home to conduct a well-being check. When no one came to the door, the officers forced their way inside, where they found Smart, his wife, and their eleven-year-old son all dead from gunshot wounds to the head. A week later, Peter Manuel was arrested and charged with the murders of the Smart family, but in time the police in Lanarkshire would learn that was only one of Manuel’s horrific crimes.

Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!

References

Birmingham Post and Gazette. 1958. "3 shot dead: no gun found." Birmingham Post and Gazette, January 7: 1.

Coventry Evening Telegraph. 1956. "Three dead in bungalow beds." Coventry Evening Telegraph, September 17: 1.

Daily Record. 1956. "Fifth tee murder." Daily Record, January 5: 1.

—. 1956. "Fifth tee murder: dramatic appeal." Daily Record, January 6: 1.

—. 1957. "Teenager vanishes." Daily Record, December 30: 1.

—. 1958. "Two sensations as trial opens." Daily Record, May 13: 7.

Daily Telegraph. 1958. "1958." Daily Telegraph, May 15: 15.

Evening Sentinel. 1956. "Bloodstains found on bed sheets." Evening Sentinel, September 17: 1.

—. 1957. "Tjhick snow hampers moors hunt." Evening Sentinel, December 11: 1.

Hull Daily Mail. 1957. "Police seek fresh clues in murder mystery." Hull Daily Mail, December 10: 5.

Lundy, Iain. 2007. "Psychopath who brought terror to the west." Evening Times, December 27.

MacLeod, Hector. 2009. Peter Manuel, Serial Killer. Edinburgh, Scotland: Mainstream Books.

Nottingham Evening News. 1956. "Bungalow riddle: two women and girl dead in bed." Nottingham Evening News, September 17: 4.

Silvester, Norman. 2022. The story of Scotland's first known serial killer Peter Manuel. October 10. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/23034356.story-scotlands-first-known-serial-killer-peter-manuel/.

The Times. 1958. "Statement on 8 murders." The Times, May 22: 5.

Western Mail. 1958. "Watt denies shooting his wife." Western Mail, May 16: 5.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Wundery Plus subscribers can listen to morbid early and ad free.
0:03.3	Join Wundery Plus in the Wundery App or on Apple Podcasts.
0:07.0	You know that's the sound of another sale on your online Shopify Store,
0:12.4	but did you know Shopify powers selling in person too?
0:15.6	That's right, Shopify is the sound of selling everywhere.
0:19.6	Online, in store, on social media and beyond.
0:24.0	Shopify POS is your command center for your retail shop.
0:29.0	From accepting payments to managing inventory, Shopify has everything you need to sell in person.
0:35.0	Connect with customers in line and online. Shopify helps you drive store traffic
0:40.0	with plug and play tools built for marketing campaigns, from Tik-Tock to Instagram and beyond.
0:46.0	Do retail right with Shopify.
0:48.3	Sign up for a one pound per month trial period at Shopify.co. UK slash morbid, all lowercase.
0:56.0	Go to Shopify.
0:57.3	Go to Shopify. Go to go UK slash morbid to take your business to the next level today. Shopify.
1:03.4	dot-K slash morbid.
1:06.0	I'm Dan Taberski.
1:08.0	In 2011, something strange began to happen at a high school in upstate New York. A mystery illness, bizarre
1:14.1	symptoms, and spreading fast. What's the answer? And what do you do if they tell you
1:18.3	it's all in your head? Hysterical. A new podcast from Wundry and Pineapple Street Studios.
1:23.0	Binge all episodes of historical early and ad free on Wundry Plus.
1:27.0	Hey, weirdos, I'm Alina, I'm Ash.
1:30.0	And this is morbid. I don't know. It's morning, more bit in the morning. I'm so tired.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -212 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Morbid Network | Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Morbid Network | Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.