A BEASTLY murderer is back in the headlines, 26 years since his infamous crime.
Following the return of the BBC documentary series, here’s everything you need to know about the Limbs in the Loch killer William Beggs.
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On a cold December morning in 1999, the limbs of a young man were discovered in Loch Lomond, sparking an international manhunt.
Beggs was jailed for life in 2001 after murdering and dismembering 18-year-old Barry Wallace after luring him back to his flat in Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire.
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He disposed of the limbs and torso in Loch Lomond and the head at sea.
Where is William Beggs now?
The 62-year-old murderer, who is dubbed the whinging killer has been in prison since October 2001, two years after the murder took place.
He is called a whinger following countless attempts to be granted parole for the crime he was imprisoned for 20 years for doing.
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In 2018 he failed to overturn a ban on having a computer in his cell.
December 2019 marked the initial end to his 20-year minimum, but his parole was denied.
The Parole Board ruled that he presented a “high risk of sexual reoffending”, had refused to undertake “offence-focused work” while behind bars and had also not been tested in less secure conditions.
It is estimated that Beggs has cost the taxpayer over £1m in legal fees due to all his appeals and court cases.
Since then, Northern Ireland born Beggs has petitioned again for parole, and in February 2024 which he was later denied.
Lawyers for Beggs claim that the parole board’s decision to deny their client’s release from custody was incorrect – this has prompted them to raise a judicial review at Scotland’s highest civil court.
But in May 2025, lawyer Mark Lindsay KC told Judge Lady Drummond that parole board officials acted lawfully in a decision made by the organisation in February 2024.
He told Lady Drummond: “There’s no merit in the grounds of appeal advanced on behalf of the petitioner.
“I invite your lady to dismiss the petition.”
Lindsay also told the hearing held in May 2025 that Beggs will have another chance to apply for parole at another hearing in August 2025.
When is Limbs In The Loch airing?
Limbs in the Loch: Catching a Killer outlines how investigators solved the cases across a six-part documentary.
The show details how the divers spotted submerged bin bags, expecting them to be filled with rubbish, only to find themselves inspecting human limbs.
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Eight days after the initial discovery, another bag containing a head was found washed up 60 miles away on Barassie Beach, Ayrshire.
Following the discovery, the body was identified as a young Kilmarnock man, Wallace, inciting a huge police operation, which rocked Scotland.
The documentary was a Firecracker production for BBC Scotland and was produced and first released in 2024, 25 years after the crime was committed.
All episodes are already available on iPlayer, but viewers can catch the documentary unfolding weekly on BBC Two on Wednesday nights.
