Convicted serial killer Andrew Dawson is well-known for the horrifying killings of Paul Hancock and John David Matthews.
On February 4, 2025, ITV’s Tracking a Serial Killer will examine his crime spree, which started in 1981.
Dawson’s crime spree begins
Dawson was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, in 1962.
He claimed his first victim when he was 19 years old, yet nothing is known about his early years.
He killed Henry Walsh, a 91-year-old grocer in his hometown, in August 1981.
Dawson was freed from prison in 1999 after being imprisoned in 1982 for stabbing Henry eleven times.
He was jailed three more times between 2003 and 2007, before being released in 2008.
Dawson’s struggle to rejoin society
Following his release from prison, Dawson was placed in a probationary hostel before being relocated into supported housing.
After a while, he was permitted to live in a private home, but Artell Black, his landlord, claimed Dawson was a troublesome renter.
Black claimed that Dawson regularly irritated other locals and posed a “risk to the community.”
Dawson’s double murders
John David Matthews was discovered fatally stabbed in his Chaddesden, Derby, apartment on July 25, 2010.
Five days later, Paul Hancock was discovered dead in the same location.
Dawson tried to hide the bodies of both men by placing them in their bathtubs.
On the same day that John’s body was discovered, Dawson was taken into custody.
A letter written by the murderer was discovered during a search of his residence after he was taken into custody.
The letter was signed “Yours, the Angel of Mercy” and appeared to be a confession.
Detective Inspector Paul Callum said: “Dawson has shown no remorse for his actions and has simply sought to blame anyone he can for the direction his life has taken.
“These were cold, calculated and savage acts. He has shown a degree of thought and planning and sought to conceal and destroy evidence where he could.
“He has stretched out this process unnecessarily for the families of those men that died for no reason and I would like to express my sympathies for the loss of their loved ones.”