Bio

Joseph McGinlay was born in 1955 and was from Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland. In July 1972, he was convicted at Ayr Sheriff Court of assault with intent to ravish and received two years of residential training. By age 18, McGinlay had escalated to extreme violence. He later became one of the few men in Scottish legal history reported to have been released from a life sentence and then committed another murder while still under supervision.

Murder Story

Joseph McGinlay first received a life sentence after murdering Elizabeth Cassidy in 1973. He was also convicted of attempting to murder 13-year-old Josephine Humphreys during the same attack. In December 1974, the High Court in Glasgow sentenced him to life imprisonment.

After many years in prison, McGinlay was granted weekend leave from Noranside Open Prison. While on leave in 1996, he murdered again. His second victim was Mandy Barnett in Edinburgh. Police found her body in her flat after she failed to visit her boyfriend in prison.

Investigators found that Barnett had been strangled and stabbed through the heart. Her body was left in the bath. McGinlay later admitted he had been at the flat. He was tried at the High Court in Edinburgh and, on March 27, 1997, was found guilty of murder. He received another life sentence, with a recommendation that he serve at least 30 years before any release could be considered.