A CURTAIN found with the body of murdered Glasgow prostitute Jacqueline Gallagher may lead police to her killer, the detective leading the inquiry said yesterday.
Detective Chief Inspector Jeanette Joyce took the unusual step of releasing details about evidence by describing the distinctive home-made curtain recovered from the murder scene.
The curtain is 108in by 58in and is made of a cotton-rayon material with a mauve, pink, and green swirling leaf pattern.
It is lined with white cotton material with blue dots and has been home-made using a sewing machine. It has a 4in false hem and hooks in the header tape.
Chief Inspector Joyce said the material had been imported from Holland in 1994 and could have been bought in a shop or from a market trader. She said it would have been relatively easy to obtain and would have cost around #5 a metre.
Ms Gallagher was last seen alive in the early hours of June 24 at the corner of Bothwell Street and Blythswood Street in the city's red light area. Her partially-clad body was found by a passer-by beside the A814 Old Kirkpatrick to Bowling Road later that day.
She was the fifth prostitute to be murdered in the Strathclyde area in the past five years but police are treating her death in isolation. Ms Gallagher, 26, of Foxbar, Paisley, was a heroin addict and had worked as a prostitute for around three years.
Chief Inspector Joyce, who obtained permission from the procurator-fiscal to reveal details about the curtain, said she was fairly sure it had been hanging in a window and described it as one of the most highly significant elements in the inquiry.
She would not reveal whether Ms Gallagher had been wrapped in the curtain or if it had been stained in any way. Details of how Ms Gallagher died have also not been released.
The detective said that material distributors and retailers would be contacted by police but appealed for information.
``One telephone call would let Jacqueline rest in peace. I'm appealing for people to look at their consciences. Jacqueline's family have been through hell.
``Someone sold this material, someone bought it, someone made up the curtains. Someone must know where this curtain has been hung and someone must know where the other half of the curtain is.''
Since Ms Gallagher's death, more than 500 people, including prostitutes and their clients, have been interviewed by detectives.
Over the weekend, members of the serious crime squad were drafted in to help with the inquiry and on Sunday night police set up road checks around Glasgow's red light district and close to the bushes where Ms Gallagher was found.
Ms Joyce said the response from clients had been good and that some of the men who had been clients of Ms Gallagher had come forward.
However, she said none of the men who had had sex with Ms Gallagher on the night she was murdered had come forward. Police are also anxious to speak to three young men who may have seen the murdered woman on a bus in Paisley the night she died.
Anyone with any information can contact police in confidence on 01389 732800.
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