﻿Many people like to blame modern-day media for the violence that seems to occur in excess in
our society. Anything perceived to be less than family-friendly will be criticized endlessly; the
movies, video games, and whatever else they want to push the blame off onto becoming a scapegoat
for a species born violent. A quick glance through history shows the savagery of mankind,
as cruel criminals have been a global problem well before any modern technologies or inventions.
The crimes of the early-to-mid 20th century are amongst some of the most heartless and heinous,
displaying exactly what humans are capable of when no one is watching.
While many 20th century cases seem to go unsolved due to the lack of equipment for evidence testing,
there is always another case where the criminal opened their mouth and told it all upon capture.
These confessions are always hard to swallow, granting peace for the family
to know their loved one will get some form of justice but forever cementing the loss.
From 1927 to 1958, Peter Manuel put many lives at risk with his mere existence. Even before his
horrendous serial killing began, there was something never quite right with the man.
Whether it be taking something that isn't his combined with breaking and entering
or assaulting the local women, Manuel would find some way to cause chaos. A compulsive criminal,
many would suffer at the hands of Manuel before his reign of terror finally came to an end.
A past recorded by his own criminal record and concluded by his own confessions,
the long-time criminal had met his consequences. The awful truth of the crimes he committed
was revealed when Manuel was apprehended by police, talking too much for his own good.
His words lived on, causing Manuel to take his place in history as "The Man Who
Talked Too Much." With the cards stacked against himself after years of terror,
Scotland was finally safe again. What is the full story of Peter Manuel as we know it?
Born to British parents in 1927, Manuel's place of birth is New York in the United States. His
parents seemed to be relatively well-off, living comfortably in the States for a while without much
worry. When Manual was 5 years old, the family decided they needed to move "across the pond."
This decision was based on his father's deteriorating health. Manuel's family
wanted to return to their own families, where they would receive assistance. His father, ultimately,
would survive, but the family stayed in Europe and decided against moving back to the States.
Peter Manuel was a menace from a young age, seeming to gain the most entertainment from
causing mayhem, inflicting pain, or petrifying innocent people. When he began finding himself
in trouble with European authorities, he was barely in double digits. The first case that
led the juvenile to stand before a judge was burglary when he was 12. Whether he had offended
before is not said, though it is possible. Due to it being his first appearance before a judge,
Manuel was given a year of probation and released to the public once more.
It would be about a month until Manuel was before a judge again. This time, he was caught breaking
into a home. With the threat of probation doing nothing to prevent Manuel from committing crimes,
a new punishment had to be enforced. He was sent to a reformatory school
as a subsequent course of action. During his stay at the reform school,
Manuel managed to escape nearly a dozen times. As good as he was at escaping,
though, he was just as easy to catch. With every taste of freedom Manuel would gain,
he would lose it just as fast as he returned to the makeshift prison. Despite the lack of success
in this method, Manuel would continue trying. When he was 15, Manuel pushed the limits by
physically assaulting the wife of one of the teachers. Some sources say the assault occurred in
the teacher's home, where Manuel broke and entered before using a blunt object to beat the woman. He
would be removed from the reformatory school and placed into a juvenile prison for this crime.
Released from the prison when he was around 17 or 18 years old,
Manuel would travel to live with his parents. This relocation took him to Scotland, where
his years of terror would continue and escalate. Even when he was back home and finally free from
confinement, Manuel couldn't resist getting in trouble. He was arrested for burglary again within
two years of his release, the capture occurring in February 1946. Released on bail for this crime,
Manual tried to sexually assault two women before successfully assaulting a third woman.
The first two women were healthy and able to fight the demented man off,
while the last was recovering from surgery. These assaults took place within a two-week
timeframe that began when Manuel was released on bond. The criminal was identified from a lineup
for his assaults and sentenced to 8 years in prison. When he was free from prison once more,
he was 26 years old. By this point, he had spent over half his life in some kind of penitentiary.
Upon leaving prison, his father helped him get a job at the Gas Board Company. His father was
a respected figure in their community, and despite Manuel's history, he was accepted for
the position. This job seemed to take Manuel's attention from his need for crime during these
times – or he simply didn't get caught. During the years that followed this fresh start in his life,
Manuel would find love and become engaged. However, the relationship didn't last long,
existing for less than a year in duration when the engagement was called off.
A common reason attributed to this breakup is religious differences.
Around the time his engagement ended was also when Manuel chose to abduct a woman at knifepoint. He
attempted to sexually assault the woman and would stand trial after being identified post-crime.
Being a true monster, Manuel would not return to prison,
instead convincing jurors the exchange between himself and the young woman was consensual.
The details aren't clear on how he managed to do this. It would be
within his next year of freedom that Manuel killed for the first time.
It was just past New Year's Day 1956 when a young woman would be targeted by Manuel.
At 17-years-old, she was defenseless when faced with his disgusting desire for fear. He sexually
assaulted his victim before shattering her skull with an iron piece. When the body of his first
victim was discovered, police suspected Manuel of the crime and questioned him. He was left alone
when he provided a false alibi that his father corroborated, despite knowing it was a lie.
His petty crimes continued despite the brutality of his first murder.
Evidence of these petty crimes can be found displayed in a recorded arrest for burglary in
March of 1956. His behavior became increasingly dangerous when he received a gun from a friend.
There was a world of unlimited possibilities and an endless realm of fear behind the trigger.
His first known heinous act with the gun came in September.
On the evening of September 17th, 1956, Manuel broke into the house of the Watts family.
In the home during the break-in were three females: Two women in their 40s, the matriarch of
the home and her sister, and a teenage girl, the daughter of the homeowners. Their corpses would
be found by their housekeeper, each of the victims killed by gunshot. Manuel would be a suspect for
this case as well, but the police focused on the patriarch of the murdered family instead.
Despite the man being innocent, nearly 100 miles away on a fishing trip, there were eyewitnesses
stating they saw him that night, and the Watts patriarch would be the main person of interest.
Following the murder of the Watts family, it would be a relatively "silent" year for Manuel. While he
surely kept committing the petty crimes he was notorious for, there isn't much recorded about
the criminal during these months. The next time he would kill would be early December of 1957.
Manuel was in England during this time, reportedly searching for work there, when he crossed paths
with a taxi driver, a man in his mid-30s. Manuel killed the taxi driver with a gunshot,
precisely as he had the family he executed over a year prior. The man's body would be found
sometime later when Manuel was already back in Scotland. Manuel would not confess to this crime,
but he would be connected officially to this horrific murder after his death.
Less than three weeks later, Manuel would claim another victim. A 17-year-old girl was
leaving home to attend a school dance when she was spotted by the criminal.
Manuel began to stalk her before he then abducted, assaulted, and strangled the young girl.
He would hide the evidence by burying her body in a nearby field.
Three days later, on New Year's Day 1958, Manuel would commit his final atrocity. He broke into
the home of the Smarts and proceeded to murder the father, mother, and young son trio with his gun.
The style of execution was familiar, disgustingly similar to the murders of the Watts. As if to mock
the deaths of three innocent people, he spent the next few days living in the home of his victims.
Manuel helped himself to leftovers of a family meal and even fed the deceased family's cat.
Neighbors recall getting eerie feelings when they passed the house,
feeling as though they were being watched even though the home's blinds were all shut.
When he finally departed from the home, he left with the new banknotes the family had gotten
for an upcoming holiday. He also left initially with their car, but the vehicle would be found
abandoned some miles down the road for the home. Manuel kept the banknotes for his own use, though,
loving the freedom of having cash. The bodies of the Smart family were discovered on January 6th
when the father didn't show up for work. The similarities of the crime to the Watts' murder
helped prove the Watts patriarch's innocence, providing the evidence needed to exonerate him.
Further justice was served within the week of the bodies' discoveries.
Manuel was quickly labeled as the suspect in the murders, and it was quickly confirmed.
Manuel was flaunting his newfound cash at the local pubs, allowing the crisp bills to be
traced. With the help of the bank, the police were able to trace the notes back to the Smart family.
Arrested on January 13th, 1958, Manuel would confess to almost all his deeds once he was
in police custody. He confessed to killing the Watts family, the Smart family, and two different
17-year-old girls. He even guided officers to the location of the buried teenage victim.
Put on trial in May of 1958, Manual chose to defend himself. He tried to recant his prior
confessions, but neither the judge nor the jury was convinced by this tactic. It was a relatively
easy legal battle, especially with his own words stacked against him. Despite his best defense,
Manuel was found guilty on May 29th, 1958. He was sentenced to death by hanging.
Manuel would have an opportunity to appeal the verdict and try to delay his death at the least.
When his appeal failed on June 24th, his fate was sealed. There would be one more attempt at
clemency, which was also denied before making his way to the gallows. On July 11th, 1958,
Peter Manuel was hanged, paying for the lives of his victims with his own. Peter
Manuel was one of the last men to be executed in Scotland. With his death, the tale of the man who
talked too much was concluded forever. What did you think about Peter Manuel?
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