Edith McAlinden

Edith McAlinden (1968) is a British murderess who, along with her teenage son John McAlinden and his friend Jamie Gray, was involved in a triple murder dubbed 'The House Of Blood' killings in Glasgow, Scotland on October 17, 2004.

McAlinden was a convicted thief and prostitute and homeless drifter who was released from prison on October 16, 2004 after finishing a nine month sentence for serious assault. On her release from prison, McAlinden went to the flat of 67 year old Ian Mitchell and 71 year old Anthony Coyle, where her boyfriend David Gillespie was living. After a drinking session an argument erupted and McAlinden murdered David Gillespie by plunging a knife twice into his thigh, slicing through his femoral vein, killing him instantly. McAlinden then telephoned her son, John, who arrived with his friend Jamie Gray to help dispose of the body.

Realising that Mitchell and Coyle were witnesses to the murder of Gillespie, John McAlinden stabbed Ian Mitchell to death and kicked him so violently around the head that his brain was bleeding. By this time Mr Coyle had locked himself in a bedroom. Using a drill, the boys opened the door and after beating the pensioner, Mr Coyle died after Gray smashed his skull with a golf club. After the murders boiling water was poured on the victims in a bizarre attempt to see if they were still alive. Police described the bloodbath as the worst they had ever seen.

Edith McAlinden pleaded guilty to the murder of David Gillespie and was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 29, 2005. She was told she would spend at least thirteen years in prison.

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4583023.stm McAlinden pleads guilty to murder] - BBC article, dated Thursday 26 May, 2005
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4634055.stm McAlinden jailed for life] - BBC article, dated Wednesday 29 June, 2005