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The Forgotten Women

Episode 1: Anna Kenny, Hilda McAulay, Agnes Cooney

Duration: 28 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio OrkneyLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio Scotland Highlands and Islands

Anna Kenny, Hilda McAulay and Agnes Cooney. You might not recognise these names. All three were killed in Glasgow in 1977; the same year that Helen Scott and Christine Eadie were murdered in Edinburgh, after leaving the World's End pub.

In last year's BBC Radio Scotland series 'The Long Shadow at the World's End', Edi Stark told the story of the Edinburgh investigation, following the case over 37 years until it's eventual conclusion in 2014.

By this time Sinclair had a history of murder, rape and sexual assault.

He's now convicted of four deaths: the culpable homicide of Catherine Reehill in 1961, serving six years. In 1982 he was charged with 13 sexual assaults on young girls across Glasgow and sentenced to thirty years. His DNA linked later him to the murder of Mary Gallagher in 1978, after police carried out a cold case review in 2001.

While Angus Sinclair was found guilty of all these crimes, the cases of Anna Kenny, Hilda McAulay and Agnes Cooney have never been solved.

Detectives have long suspected that Sinclair killed all five women. Forensic pathologists at the University of Glasgow even concluded that there were "striking similarities" linking each case.

In 2004 Lothian and Borders, along with Strathclyde Police, set up a joint investigation: Operation Trinity. Detectives were determined that the women and their families would finally get justice.

In part one of The Forgotten Women, Edi Stark tries to find out more about the three women. She speaks with friends, detectives and journalists about the compelling evidence linking Sinclair to their deaths.

Will these women ever get justice? Show less

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