Teen loner who terrified classmates and threatened to rip the unborn baby from a pregnant woman before killing his own sister: Connor Gibson posted tributes to sister he murdered – after changing his Facebook picture to a devil brandishing a bloody knife
The devil-obsessed teen loner who sexually assaulted and murdered his 16-year-old sister was branded a ‘disgusting human’ by his peers who recalled that the killer once ‘threatened to rip’ an unborn baby from the womb of a pregnant pupil.
Connor Gibson, then 19, was found guilty for strangling his younger sister Amber, tearing her clothes off with the intent to rape her, before killing her on November 26, 2021.
Former classmates at Kear Campus in Blantyre, Lanarkshire – a secondary school for those with social, emotional and behavioural needs – said the convicted murderer was a loner prone to sudden fits of rage.
Students said the man – now 20-years-old – would ‘talk about killing other pupils’, while his Facebook profile picture, chosen just months before his sister’s death, showed a cartoon of a male angel-turned-demon grasping on to a bloodied knife, with blood splashed on its face and hands.
Following his arrest, in a last-ditch attempt to disguise his crime in a veil of grief, the murderer reached out to his local newspaper, the Daily Record, demanding a face-to-face interview to let people know ‘what Amber was like. The real Amber’.
Gibson faces a mandatory life sentence after a jury at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday convicted him of the sickening attack on his sister, whose body was found naked in a woodland southeast of the city.
Connor Gibson, then 19, sexually assaulted and killed his sister Amber. He was branded a ‘disgusting human’ by his peers who recalled that the killer once ‘threatened to rip’ an unborn baby from the womb of a pregnant pupil
His Facebook profile picture, chosen just months before his sister’s death, showed a cartoon of a male angel-turned-demon grasping on to a bloodied knife, with blood splashed on its face and hands
Foster parents Craig (back right) and Carol Niven (front left) yesterday said Amber (front right) was the ‘most giving, caring, loving supportive and admirable person’ who had ‘the most amazing outlook on life’. Amber was murdered by her brother Connor Gibson (back left)
Gibson (pictured) yesterday was found guilty of murdering and sexually assaulting Amber
The killer and his sister were removed from the home of their abusive parents and placed in the foster care system when they were just three and five.
The pair spent their childhood being bounced around different parts of South Lanarkshire, where there are more than 14,000 children, around 23 per cent, grow up in poverty.
Hamilton, the last place Amber lived, is an area where communities are recognised to be socially deprived, with much of this being centred in urban areas, according to data commissioned by South Lanarkshire council.
Soon after in 2008 they moved into the Larkhall home of their foster parents Craig and Carol Niven.
It was while Gibson was living with the Nivens that he attended Kear Campus, while his sister attended a different school, Moore House Academy.
Upon hearing of the horrendous attack, his former classmates recalled how the brute exhibited disturbing behaviour while at school.
‘He would talk about killing other pupils which, to be fair, I saw as an over-exaggeration, but looking back on it now maybe the stuff he said wasn’t exaggeration at all,’ one classmate said.
Another former pupil described him as a ‘disgusting human’ who ‘threatened to rip’ her baby from her while she was pregnant.
Even Gibson seemed to be aware of the perception that people thought he was an outsider.
Amber Gibson, 16, (pictured) was sexually assaulted and murdered by her brother Connor Gibson in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire on November 26, 2021
Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday November 26 and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen at about 10.10am on November 28
Gibson wrote on Facebook ‘People may think I’m weird but I am complex as f***, so don’t judge people based on their outside.
Another image shared on his account showed his own grave which said he would die a virgin having completed 2527 good deeds and 48 bad deeds
‘People may think I’m weird but I am complex as f***, so don’t judge people based on their outside. Try and look at them for who they are,’ he wrote on Facebook in March 2021.
Another image shared on his account showed his own grave which said he would die a virgin having completed 2527 good deeds and 48 bad deeds.
The two children continued to live with the Nivens for a few years but the foster care arrangement eventually broke down.
The former foster family recalled how when five-year-old Gibson and his toddler sister arrived on their door he declared ‘we are safe now’. But in a statement yesterday, the Nivens said they had been safe until ‘he took her safety away.’
The family said both siblings had been ‘let down by the system’, adding that they felt ‘this could have been prevented’.
‘We now have one daughter buried in Larkhall Cemetery and another child in prison,’ they tragically concluded.
Amber moved back to Hillhouse children’s unit in Hamilton when she was 14, where she was living at the time of her death. Her brother remained with the Nivens until he turned 18 in 2020.
It was while in the care of the state that Amber was raped by 20-year-old Jamie Starrs, who attacked her in June 2021 after being released on bail for another sex attack. Starrs is yet to be sentenced.
Amber moved back to Hillhouse children’s unit in Hamilton when she was 14, where she was living at the time of her death
Connor and Amber are pictured together in CCTV the night she was killed. The pair were seen walking on a street in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire at 9.55pm
Amber’s brother remained with the Nivens until his 18th birthday in 2020. Craig Niven is pictured at the High Court in Glasgow during Connor Gibson’s trial
Care home manager Ian Currie, 55, (pictured) said Connor Gibson called the Hillhouse unit to speak to his sister on the day she was killed. A short time later, Amber left with him, despite Mr Currie’s attempts to discourage her from doing so. She was never seen alive again
When Amber was killed, Gibson had been living at a hostel called Hamilton’s Blue Triangle project, which helps homeless youngster in the Lanarkshire area.
The siblings, who had a turbulent relationship according to Amber’s friend Angel McKean, 19, had met up that fateful night.
Care home manger Ian Currie, 55, said Gibson had called up the children’s home asking to speak to his sister on the day she died.
The pair left together, despite Mr Currie’s attempts to stop the young teenager from heading out.
Amber, seemingly excited to see her brother, sent a cheeky selfie to a friend over Snapchat with the caption ‘my big bro’, the court heard. That was the last time she was heard, at 9.15pm on the night of the murder.
Four days later Gibson shared a fake tribute to his little sister. It read: ‘Amber, you will fly high for the rest of time. We will all miss you. Especially me. I love you ginger midget. GBFN (goodbye for now) x’.
He also invited people to ‘leave a light on’ in remembrance of Amber.
Less than 24 hours later he was arrested on suspicion of murder.
On December 2, the murderer was supposed to have met a Daily Record reporter at a chip shop in East Kilbride – away from prying eyes at his homeless shelter – claiming he wanted to pay tribute to his sister.
Following Amber’s death, Gibson continued to post on Facebook a series of tributes to his younger sister – who he had killed days earlier
CCTV shows Connor Gibson and his sister Amber Gibson walking on a bridge in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire at 9.57pm
CCTV from after the murder shows Gibson walking down a darkened pavement before stooping over for several seconds by a fence
CCTV shows Connor Gibson walking alone on a street in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire at 11.44pm
In a string of messages before his arrest he told the paper: ‘I’m her big brother. Her biological big brother.
‘I’d like people [to know] what Amber was like. The real Amber. Not the Amber that people saw but the person she was on the inside. I’d like them to know.
‘I know some people will not agree with me talking to you, however this is my decision.’
But Gibson failed to show up at the chip shop just hours after a 19-year-old man had been arrested. Police later confirmed it was Gibson.
He denied sexually assaulting and murdering Amber but was convicted following a 13-day trial based on a combination of CCTV footage and DNA evidence, including his bloodstained jacket.
As he trial was carried out, his biological father, Peter Gibson, was jailed for 10 years for physical and sexual abuse as his son awaited trial for murder.
The 62 year-old raped a woman in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, which included him tying her up and blindfolding her.
The crime that eerily echos those committed by his son, which included raping a woman who he grabbed by the neck and strangled. Reporting of his case was delayed until the end of the murder trial.
Gibson now faces a life sentence after being convicted of murder and attempted rape. Corrigan was convicted of a breach of the peace and attempting to defeat the ends of justice. They will be jailed in Livingston on September 4.
Judge Lord Mulholland told him during his conviction: ‘Your sister – the last person she saw was you strangling her. It was depraved and you will pay a heavy price for that.’
He told Gibson he faces a mandatory life sentence with the punishment part to be decided after considering the plea in mitigation on his behalf and a criminal justice social work report.