Robert Mone Snr, also known as Sonny, murdered three women in Dundee in December 1978, driven by jealousy over his son's notoriety as one of Scotland's most infamous killers. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but never served time alongside his son, Robert Jnr, as he was stabbed to death by another inmate in 1983.
By 1978, Robert Mone Jnr had murdered four people in separate incidents, including a police officer and a schoolteacher, making him the most notorious prisoner in the Scottish penal system. His father was said to be extremely jealous of his son's notoriety and wanted to go one better.
The 1978 Dundee murders
On December 29, 1978, Sonny butchered widow Jane Simpson, 70, newly married Catherine Millar, 29, and his own aunt Agnes Waugh, 78, in a flat in the Hilltown area of Dundee. All three women had been tied up, strangled and beaten, and had been lying there for three days when police forced entry.
Police had few clues except distinctive marks left by a ring on the face of one of the victims. Sonny became a prime suspect when he was found wearing a ring similar to the one that left the marks, ironically a gift from his son who was already in jail. He admitted to detectives that he was desperate to be in prison alongside his son, and his second wife Mary revealed he had always wanted to go one better.
Son's earlier crimes
Robert Jnr had shocked Scotland in November 1967 when he broke into St John's Secondary School in Dundee, shot dead pregnant teacher Nanette Hanson and raped a female pupil. The following year, the 20-year-old was declared insane and sent to the State Hospital at Carstairs in Lanarkshire.
In November 1976, he escaped from Carstairs with fellow patient Thomas McCulloch, killing nurse Neil Mclellan, fellow patient Ian Simpson and police officer Constable George Taylor in the process. The pair fled using PC Taylor's stolen police car and were arrested in Carlisle. Both were convicted of the three murders the following year at the High Court in Glasgow and sentenced to life, with trial judge Lord Dunpark recommending they never be released.
Sentencing and death in prison
The jury took 75 minutes to reach a guilty verdict following Sonny's trial, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment by Lord Robertson at the High Court in Dundee in June 1979. Sent to Aberdeen's Craiginches Prison, he was stabbed to death by another inmate in 1983, who was jailed for a further eight years after saying he was fed up with Mone Snr boasting about his three murders and outdoing his son.
Robert Jnr remains in jail as Scotland's longest-serving prisoner and may never be given parole. Now 78, he spent years in high-security facilities and prolonged periods of isolation before being allowed to mix with other inmates. The attack on the school in 1967 is thought to have been revenge for his expulsion in 1964. He was bullied by his father and claims to have been raped by a family friend when he was 12.
In 2002, the punishment part of his sentence was reduced to 25 years under the European Convention on Human Rights, allowing him to apply for parole. He has been in custody for almost sixty years including his time in Carstairs. McCulloch was released in 2013, but Mone remains behind bars. While in prison, he is reported to have studied law and philosophy and transcribed books into Braille.
Former Detective Superintendent Joe Jackson was one of four armed police sent to recapture Mone and McCulloch after the breakout in November 1976. Jackson told the Daily Record: "Had it been necessary, we would have opened fire." He added: "Mone showed no remorse and took great delight in telling us what he had done that evening. He made my blood turn cold."
Jackson described Mone as "the classic psychopath" and said "his type never reform. He is still highly dangerous in my view." On the drive back, Mone boasted how he and McCulloch had made weapons in the workshops at Carstairs, saying they had forged passports and a stash of gold kruggerands. Jackson said: "It was like someone describing a day at work."
