Glasgow Church of Horror to Shut Doors—The Sanctuary Where a Serial Killer Hid His Victim Faces Final Curtain
A haunting chapter of Scotland’s religious and criminal history is drawing to a close as St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Anderston, Glasgow, prepares for permanent closure. The church, forever marked by its association with convicted serial killer Peter Tobin, became infamous in 2006 when the body of 23-year-old Polish student Angelika Kluk was discovered buried beneath its floorboards. Tobin, who had been welcomed into the parish under a false identity, betrayed that trust in the most monstrous way, shattering the sanctuary’s sacredness and leaving scars on Scotland’s collective memory.
Though rededicated in 2007 by the late Archbishop Mario Conti, the building has struggled to recover from its dark legacy. Today, weekday Masses rarely draw more than 10 attendees, and the Archdiocese of Glasgow has confirmed that repairs alone would cost over £2 million. Once designed to inspire awe by Peter Paul Pugin and opened in 1898, the church’s majestic architecture now stands in quiet disrepair, symbolizing both a decline in faith attendance and the lingering shadow of the tragedy that unfolded within its walls.
If planning permission is granted, the listed property could be sold to a developer—an unceremonious fate for a site that once bore both reverence and horror. The closure also reflects a broader trend across Scotland’s Catholic churches, many of which face dwindling congregations, financial strain, and priest shortages. For locals, St Patrick’s is more than a building; it is a reminder of faith tested, violated trust, and a community forced to reconcile sanctuary with crime. Its silence will echo not only the absence of worshippers, but also the chilling reminder of a murder that turned a house of God into a crime scene.
