How a cigarette butt held the key to finally solving mysterious murder of mum-of-eleven 30 years after she was killed
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COPS revealed how a cigarette butt held the key to solve the murder of a mum-of-eleven 30 years after she was killed. Mary McLaughlin, 58, was found dead at her home in the west end of Glasgow after being brutally killed on September 27 1984. Her son, Martin Cullen, tragically discovered the body on October 2 after visiting to check in, as he did once a week.
![[Photo of Mary McLaughlin in a green shirt.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/21-01-2025-964186754.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
He noticed a bad smell and walked in on his mother's lifeless body lying on a bare mattress, with her dress on back-to-front. Mary had been out enjoying herself with friends in the Hyndland Pub on the night of her death. She set off alone to walk home, which was less than a mile away, between 10.15pm and 10.30pm.
![[Crathie Court apartment building in Glasgow, Scotland.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/crathie-court-laurel-st-partick-545370162.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
On her journey the 58-year-old stopped to buy some food and cigarettes at Armando's chip shop on Dumbarton Road. Police later interviewed a taxi driver, who knew Mary as Wee May, and he said he saw her walking barefoot while a man followed her. Mary was then strangled to death with her dressing gown cord in her flat and found five days later.
![[Photo of Mary McLaughlin's flat.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/picturess-crown-office-showing-mary-646386197.png?strip=all&w=869)
Police found no evidence of forced entry, and the case hit a wall after collecting more than 1,000 statements that upturned nothing. A new BBC documentary, Murder Case: The Hunt for Mary McLaughlin's Killer, details how the cold case was solved three decades on.
![[Black and white photo of Mary McLaughlin.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/crown-office-collects-picturess-crown-654105191.png?strip=all&w=320)
Mary's daughter Gina told the documentary she had always suspected "a hidden killer within the family". Her mum, who had 11 kids by two fathers, ultimately left her second partner with all the children. Gina said the move was not received well, and some siblings wondered if Mary's own brood could be involved.
![[Forensic scientist in protective gear holding a camera.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/21-01-2025-964186781.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
