A serial killer was on the loose in London, terrorising the gay community. During a 12 week killing spree in 1993 he strangled five homosexual men he had picked up in bars.

The telephone call to the newsroom of The Sun newspaper in London was brief and anonymous. A man's voice told a reporter: 'I have murdered a man.' He then gave an address in Vicarage Crescent, Battersea, south-west London.

Speaking in a gruff London accent, he continued: 'I am calling you because I am worried about his dogs. I want them to be let out. 'It would be cruel for them to be stuck there. They need food and water.' Then the voice added chillingly: 'I tied him up and I killed him and I cleaned up the flat afterwards. I did it. It was my New Year resolution to kill a human being. Is that of any interest to you? He was a homosexual and into kinky sex' Then he hung up.

The paper alerted the police, who went round to the flat on 9 March 1993. When they knocked on the door there was no reply, but they could hear dogs barking in the background. After forcing the door, the officers found the owner of the two dogs, a Labrador and a German shepherd, lying dead on his four-poster bed. He was spread-eagled and naked, with his wrists and ankles tied by cord to each corner post. A plastic bag had been tied tightly over his head.

Peter Walker was a 45-year-old theatre director who had been openly gay since his early 20s. He had spent his life working in show business, and when he died he was the assistant director of the West End hit musical City of Angels.

Detectives made a close examination of the scene to discover whether Mr Walker had been murdered, or had died accidentally during a sado-masochistic sex session. The police and pathologists had seen it many times before: sex games featuring bondage together with restricted breathing that had gone too far...Read More