A SERIAL killer who murdered a Maldon teenager has died in hospital whilst serving life term prison sentences in Edinburgh.

Peter Tobin, who was convicted of murdering three different women, including Maldon teenager Dinah McNicol, died on Saturday morning in Edinburgh aged 76.

He murdered McNicol, who lived in nearby Tillingham, in 1991 after he offered her a lift back to Essex from a from a rock music festival in Hampshire.

Instead of driving her to Brentwood, where one of her sisters was living at the time, Tobin bound and gagged McNicol and then buried her in his back garden in Irvine Drive, Margate, in Kent.

Earlier that year, he had murdered a schoolgirl from Falkirk, Vicky Hamilton – but for 16 years, the murders of both McNicol and Hamilton went unsolved.

It was not until 2007, when Tobin was being tried for the murder of another woman, Angelika Kluk, that his former Margate address was searched by detectives.

Only then were the remains found of McNicol, who was buried alongside Hamilton, after extensive investigations from the Essex Police Major Crime Review Team.

Tobin subsequently faced three trials for three separate murders: in Edinburgh in 2007 for the murder of Angelika Kluk, in Dundee in 2008 for the murder of Vicky Hamilton, and in Chelmsford in 2009 for the murder of Dinah McNicol.

He was found guilty in each trial, with the jury at Chelmsford Crown Court reaching a verdict for the murder of McNicol in under 15 minutes.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette: Angelika Kluk, Vicky Hamilton, and Dinah McNicol are Peter Tobin's three known victims – but there are believed to be more (Credit: Press Association)Angelika Kluk, Vicky Hamilton, and Dinah McNicol are Peter Tobin's three known victims – but there are believed to be more (Credit: Press Association) (Image: PA)

Tobin was given life imprisonment at HMP Edinburgh.

Although he appealed against his life sentence in 2010 – prompting McNicol’s father to say he should be hanged for his crimes – Tobin later dropped the appeal.

On Saturday morning, Tobin, who was wheelchair bound and in ill-health, died at HMP Edinburgh whilst he was serving his life sentences.

Although found guilty of murdering Hamilton, McNicol, and Kluk, it is believed Tobin had many other victims.

David Swindle, of Strathclyde Police, headed what was known as Operation Anagram in an attempt to identify other potential victims of Tobin – though none were identified.

Detective Sindle told the BBC: “This is someone that has definitely killed other people – I have no doubt about it. This is a coward that has taken his secrets to the grave.”

Detective chief superintendent Laura Thomson, head of major crime at Police Scotland said any further information relevant to Tobin’s crimes were welcomed.

She said: “While we have no current lines of investigation into Peter Tobin, we welcome any information in relation to his activities.”