Left Behind

Left Behind

Episode Summary

Marion Hodge and Helen Wilkie’s tragic stories may be ten years apart, but the outcome for their children was the same, they were left behind to grow up without their mothers after they suddenly disappeared from their lives.  

Please Be Advised – This episode may contain content that some may find distressing. As always, we advise listener discretion. This episode it not suitable for anyone under the age of 13.

Listen on:

If you have any information relating to this case, contact;

Crimestoppers UK anonymously on 0800 555 111 or crimestoppers-uk.org

Galloway Police Dedicated Phone Line on 01387 242355 (UK)

Refuge – 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline 0808 2000 247 (UK) or nationaldahelpline.org.uk

The Law Killers

by Alexander McGregor

Synopsis

True crime from Dundee, covering the most fascinating and shocking cases from the last century. Having reported on many of them first-hand, journalist Alexander McGregor has unique insight into the cases and his stories are as chilling as they are compelling. In The Law Killers Alexander examines some of the country’s most fascinating and chilling cases and peels back the civilised layers of our society to reveal what lies beneath.

Our Review

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn

Hosted by Dawn and Cole

Researched and Written by Dawn Young

Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull

Production Company Name by Granny Robertson

Music:

Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Dawn:

Marion Hodge and Helen Wilkie’s tragic stories may be ten years apart, but the outcome for their children was the same, they were left behind to grow up without their mothers after they suddenly disappeared from their lives.

Dawn and Cole:

Hi Wee Ones, I’m Dawn and I’m Cole, and this is Scottish Murders.

[THEME TUNE]

Dawn:

Marion Hodge was a 34 year old married mum of two when she disappeared in 1984. Little is known about Marion’s younger life. other than she would have been called Marion Gibson and she had a brother Robert. It’s also been mentioned that she had been a Gala Queen when she would have been about 14 or 15 years old, but I wasn’t able to confirm this.

Cole:

So, what’s a Gala Queen?

Dawn:

Yeah, I didn’t know what that was either. We didn’t have anything like this when we were growing up. But, according to the National Museum Scotland website, a Gala day is quite a tradition every year in certain parts of Scotland, where young and old people come together, where sports are played, houses are decorated, and there are food stalls, parades, floats, fancy dress and brass bands, kids get to be the centre of attention and one of them is crowned either king or queen for the area that year where the gala day is being held.

Cole:

Alright, that sounds like a really nice day out.

Dawn:

It does doesn’t it?

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

I don’t know why we didn’t have something like that when we were growing up.

Cole:

Me either. I’d have loved that, and I would have been crowned for sure.

Dawn:

(laugh) You didn’t laugh.

Cole:

It’s not a laughing matter.

Dawn:

Oh you were deadly serious, oh sorry. Well it’s thought that Marion was crowned the Lockerbie Gala Queen, but like I said I haven’t been able to confirm this for sure from my research. 

Cole:

Did she did live in Lockerbie?

Dawn:

She did live in Lockerbie.

Cole:

Oh.

Dawn:

That’s why she was the Lockerbie Gala Queen.

Cole:

Lockerbie.

Dawn:

I know but we’re not alluding to our other story.

Cole:

A lot, a lot seems to happen in Lockerbie.

Dawn:

Hmm really?

Cole:

Well, let me tell you a story.

Dawn:

Maybe, maybe we’ll leave that for another episode. 

Cole:

Okay.

Dawn:

Anyway, so, in March 1969, when Marion was 19 years old, she married Bill Hodge, who was 24, in her hometown of Lockerbie, where they continued to reside. According to Wikipedia, Lockerbie is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway located in south western Scotland approximately 75 miles or 120 kilometres south of Glasgow, and is about 16 miles or 25 kilometres away from the England/Scotland border.

Cole:

Did you know that Calvin Harris is from Dumfries and Galloway.

Dawn:

You told me that already.

Cole:

Well, it’s one of my top Scotland facts and one of my top Lockerbie facts. I’m apparently obsessed with it. Carry on.

Dawn:

Four months after Bill and Marion got married they welcomed their son Bobby, followed about two years later by their daughter Kathryn. The couple and their children lived in a farmhouse in Balgray, a remote property, but still only a few miles from Lockerbie Centre, where the couple raised their children. Now, it seems that Bill had a number of jobs over the years, he was apparently a manager at an agricultural merchants.

Cole:

Is that someone who sells farm animals and equipment?

Dawn:

Nearly. But it’s someone who works closely with farmers helping them to purchase items such as grain, fertilisers or seeds. He also apparently worked as a security officer and/or safety officer, although they may have been the same job. Once the children were at school Marion worked as a clerk in a bank in Lockerbie. Now, it’s not known the state of Marion and Bill’s relationship throughout the years, but presumably the relationship had been having problems, as on the evening of the 5th of July 1984, Bill accused his wife of having an affair with a family friend. Going as far as confronting the man the same night about this, but the man denied the allegations. Now, I can imagine the couple would have fought that night, because if Bill had these thoughts in his head he was hardly just going to let it drop, and at some point apparently Marion told Bill that she was going to leave him. Bill said that the next morning about 8 a.m. on the 6th of July 1984, he dropped Marion off at the bus station in Whitesands in Dumfries, which is about a 30 minute drive from their home, after Marion had asked him to take her there. He said that she’d taken a blue suitcase with her and a brown handbag, and that she had about a £1,000 or $1,300 in cash with her.

Cole:

So, do we know why she had so much cash on her, or like where she was planning to go?

Dawn:

It wasn’t known by Bill where Marion might be going. Maybe she just wanted to get away for a while. Maybe the cash was to help her get by while she was away. Now, as this was a Friday, presumably Bill would have then gone to work, no doubt with a lot of emotions about what was going on in his private life. The fact that Marion possibly wanted to get away for a while wasn’t really a surprise, and her brother even said in an interview in The Sun Newspaper later that he could understand Marion wanting to get away from Lockerbie for a bit as everybody knows everybody, and there probably would be a bit of gossip about an affair. However, he also said in the same interview that there had never been a whiff of scandal in relation to Marion. The strange thing about Marion leaving on this day was the fact that it was her son Bobby’s 15th birthday. Regardless of what is going on in a mother’s life, would Marion have really just walked out that morning on the very same day as her son’s birthday? Although he was turning 15 so perhaps her son was planning on spending time with friends for his birthday, so maybe she thought she’d not be missed. Anyway, Marion wasn’t there for her son’s birthday. And as time went on and her family had had no contact with Marion they began to worry. Now, it’s not reported exactly when the family contacted the police, I imagine they would have given Marion some time thinking she just wanted a break, but they would have become worried when Marion didn’t make contact. When the police were contacted a missing person inquiry was launched, and the police had to firstly try to determine if it was more sinister than just Marion wanting time alone, even though her family were adamant that she was a devoted mother to her children and that she would not just disappear of her own accord and not contact her family again, something which the police themselves also found baffling. So, the police’s first port of call was the bus station to try to find out where Marion could have gone, but they could find no trace of Marion ever having been there. Nobody, including taxi drivers, staff or the public, remembered seeing her at all.

Cole:

Oh, that’s quite odd and kind of ominous.

Dawn:

Yes, it is a bit odd that nobody could place her there. Following having no luck in tracing Marion’s movements at the bus station, the police issued a nationwide appeal for anyone to come forward if they’d seen Marion Hodge, who they described as 34 years old, five foot four inches, slim build, dark brown collar length hair, sharp features, fresh complexion, prominent teeth, brown eyes and wore contact lenses or glasses.

Cole:

Prominent teeth? Was she a vampire?  

Dawn:

(laughs) Well, I’ve seen a photo of Marion, which is also on the website, and all I can say is that she has a slight overbite, but, no, she’s not a vampire. (laughs)

Cole:

Well maybe we’ll just never know.

Dawn:

(laughs) The police, now beginning to wonder if Marion wasn’t just missing, also searched a quarry and other locations in the area, but Marion was not found. During a missing person investigation, the police try to establish if the person that is missing is deliberately missing or if there is another reason, such as they’ve been murdered, and they do this by trying to establish if bank cards, phones, doctors, dentists etcetera have been accessed or used since their disappearance. What the police found out was that an hour after Bill said he dropped Marion off at the bus station her bank card had been used to withdraw £100 or $130 from a cash machine in Dumfries. This was the last time the card was used.

Cole:

Didn’t her husband say that she had cash on her?

Dawn:

Yeah, he did.

Cole:

So, I wonder why she’d go out and get some more cash then? Definitely not to buy garlic.

Dawn:

No. (laughs) It could have been to buy garlic. No, it’s actually a good point. But even more strange is the fact that it took three attempts for the right pin number to be entered.

Cole:

Oh that’s strange.

Dawn:

It is a bit strange, but maybe she was upset and maybe just forgot, I’ve actually done that myself. But her brother Robert had other ideas. He said in an interview with the Daily Record that when the police told the family that the pin number had been put in wrongly twice he immediately felt that this was Marion’s killer trying to convince everyone that Marion had left of her own free will. He went on to say that he had no doubt his sister was murdered the day she disappeared. Another strange thing that the police found out upon speaking to Marion’s colleagues at the bank where she worked, was that three days after her husband dropped her off at the bus station a colleague of Marion’s was called at his home and told that Marion was okay but that she wouldn’t be returning to work. This caller was never traced.

Cole:

Okay, that is quite weird. I mean, why would someone ring her colleague and not her boss? But also why would you say she’s okay but she’s not going to be in? That makes me feel like she’s not okay. It’s just all very suspicious.

Dawn:

Yeah, it is, it’s very strange. And why call him at home as well, you would just call the bank not somebody at home.

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

I mean, the bank card being used and the pin number being forgotten I could just about accept, but this, no, this is something more sinister.

Cole:

Yeah. And maybe you could accept the bank card, but I, I can’t accept that.

Dawn:

All right then, well, fine.(laughs)

Cole:

So, was Marion’s husband a suspect? You know it’s always the people closest to you that are looked at first.

Dawn:

So, yes, he would have been interviewed by the police as he had when the last person to see her, or one of the last people to have seen her alive, but no he was never an official person of interest. The police would have checked out his account of what happened on the morning Marion disappeared, and even though there was no cameras or CCTV back then, which could easily have corroborated his side of things, there must have been some evidence or a witness that came forward to have backed up what he had said. Also, nothing is said about whether Marion and Bill’s children, Kathryn and Bobby, were in the house the night before or the morning Marion asked to be taken to the bus station, but perhaps they were present and could back up what their dad had said had happened. I’m only guessing of course. And so, with no evidence or witnesses or further information to go on, the case grinded to a halt. But Marion’s family were convinced that Marion was dead, with her brother Robert saying in an interview with The Sun Newspaper in 2017, that Marion was a straightforward person who he trusted. She would never have just disappeared and not contacted her family again. She would have got in touch with them if she could, and would never put a family through the heartache that they were going through. Over the years Marion’s family’s heartache would continue, but it boiled over in 1992, eight years after Marion’s disappearance, when her husband, Bill, made an application for the court to officially declare Marion dead. This attempt was blocked by Marion’s parents, who alleged that they believed Bill had in fact killed Marion. However, this finally was granted by the court of session in Edinburgh, stating that Marion had officially died at midnight on the 6th of July 1991.

Cole:

So, why did he decide to get Marion declared officially dead at this time? I mean obviously he would have wanted to get on with his life, but was there a reason?

Dawn:

Well, he actually waited a further year after the standard period of seven years, but, yes, I imagine he wanted to get on with his life and end that chapter. Bill had actually met another woman called Penny three years after Marion went missing.

Cole:

Okay, so that was a respectable time after Marion went missing, and he waited a year after the official seven years to have Marion declared officially dead, so nothing suspicious or disrespectful in that.

Dawn:

No, I agree. Bill and Penny did marry soon after Marion was declared officially dead and the couple lived about 15 miles away from where Bill had lived with Marion.

Cole:

Yeah, I can imagine it would have been strange being married and living in the same house where your missing wife used to live.

Dawn:

Yeah, it would have been. The marriage didn’t last long though and ended abruptly one day when Penny came home to find that Bill had packed all of his things and left her.

Cole:

Oh, okay. Did she know that was coming at least?

Dawn:

Well, from what I’ve read no, I don’t think she did.

Cole:

Oh, that’s nice.

Dawn:

Mmmh. So, life did go on for Marion’s family and children, although the fact that Marion was still missing had hung over the family for years. Oh and by the way, all this time Marion was still classed as a missing person, however, that was to change in March 2006, 22 years after her disappearance.

Cole:

Is that because they still hadn’t found a body?

Dawn:

Yes, that was the reason. In February 2006 Detective Superintendent Bill Gillis, who led the team who looked at unsolved cases, released a statement saying that the missing person inquiry into Marion’s disappearance was Dumfries and Galloway police’s last outstanding long-term missing person inquiry and that there continued to be a lot of unanswered questions, and so his team would be taking a further look into it, starting by putting up posters throughout the region asking for any information about what became of Marion and any sightings of Marion at the time or since. However, Detective Superintendent Bill Gillis confirmed that he was still treating it as a missing person inquiry. At the time, Marion’s brother, Robert, said that he continued to believe that Marion had been killed and he was hoping for some new information so the family could finally have some closure. Only a month later, following the posters being put up in the region things had changed, and finally this case was now being classed as a murder.

Cole:

Oh, so what happened? Did they find Marion’s body?

Dawn:

No, they definitely hadn’t found Marion’s body, but I can only assume the new information was that someone had come forward giving the name of a person thought to have been involved in Marion’s disappearance. As on Saturday the 11th of March 2006, Dumfries and Galloway Police made a statement saying that a man had been detained in connection with Marion Hodge’s murder, and that a report was going to be sent to the Procurator Fiscal in Dumfries recommending prosecution. However, after this man was detained and questioned for six hours, Detective Superintendent Bill Gillis confirmed that this man had now been released without charge. Despite the 12 strong team working on this case and hoping for new evidence to lead them to Marion’s killer or body, other than one man being questioned, the case went cold again. However, three years later in 2009, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of Marion’s disappearance, another appeal was launched asking for information into the disappearance of Marion. There was a new detective on the case now, Detective Superintendent Kate Thompson, and she said “We remain resolute in our belief that the circumstances surrounding Marion’s disappearance are suspicious, and therefore it is vital that any person who has any information which could assist this inquiry come forward now. We fully appreciate the distress this investigation has had on Marion’s family and we will continue to investigate all lines of inquiry to try and provide the answers they so desperately need. While the strange surroundings of Marion’s disappearance continue to be investigated and police officers do continue to make appeals and ask the public for information and have assured Marion’s family that they will continue to do so, Marion is still missing and her family still have no answers.” Marion’s brother, Robert, continues to believe that Marion would not just have walked away from her life, her children or her family, and it’s the not knowing what happened to Marion or where she is buried that is the worst. Sadly, Marion’s parents, Robert senior and Agnes, died without having any answers or being able to lay their daughter to rest or have any justice for Marion. So, what about Marion’s children who were left behind? Bobby had just turned 15, how on earth would a teenage boy have coped with his mother just disappearing, and on his birthday. What must he have thought as a lad? And Marion’s daughter, Kathryn, was only 13 at the time her mum went missing, just a teenager and needing guidance from her mum. What would life for young Kathryn have been like? It’s sad to think about the children that were left behind who, for such a long time, probably believed that their mother had simply left them. From all accounts though, Marion Hodge would never have left her children, not by choice anyway. It was reported though that both Bobby and his sister Kathryn to this day remain very close to their dad, Bill. It was reported in 2017 in The Sun Newspaper that after Bill walked out on his marriage to Penny, he then moved to England to start a new life. Marion’s body sadly has never been found. If you have any information on the disappearance of Marion Hodge in 1984, there has been a UK dedicated phone line set up for all inquiries on 01387 242 355, or contact the confidential CrimeStoppers line on 0800 555 111. We’ll also put these numbers on our website. I hope that one day Marion’s body is found and her killer is caught and brought to justice, and it does seem her case is still being looked into and the police are clearly not given up.

Cole:

So, before I start my story, most of the information I found about this case came from a book called the Law Killers by Alexander McGregor. In April 1973, 18 year old Helen Maxwell, who worked as a hairdresser in the city of Dundee, married James Wilkie, known as Baby Face Jimmy, who was 17 years old and worked as an apprentice fitter. Many at the wedding thought quietly to themselves that the pair were just kids still, but their friends and family were happy to celebrate the couple as they exited the village church in Longforgan, a village about seven miles or 11 kilometres west of Dundee, where Jimmy had lived with his mum. The real reason for the marriage was that Helen was a couple of months pregnant. She had been scared of bringing shame on herself and her family for having a baby out of wedlock, and refused to have a termination. She had reluctantly agreed that marrying Jimmy was the best option. Unfortunately, though, it turned out that marrying for this reason, and maybe marrying so young, wasn’t going to sustain this couple’s relationship, and it wasn’t long before the marriage was in trouble. Following the wedding, the couple resided at a flat in a tenement block at Hill Street in Dundee. According to Wikipedia, Dundee is situated on the east coast of Scotland, lying within the eastern central lowlands on the North Bank of the Firth of Tay, and is Scotland’s fourth largest city. Following the couple’s wedding in April, and before the birth of their child in November, neither Helen or Jimmy would be monogamous. Helen would first find Jimmy in bed with another woman. Apparently, when she had tried to talk to Jimmy about this he wasn’t having any of it and instead assaulted her, while she was still pregnant. Helen was a bit put out about finding Jimmy having sex with another woman.

Dawn:

I can’t imagine why.

Cole:

No. So, she decided to rekindle a previous relationship herself. This man was 19 years old and was also married.

Dawn:

Oh asking for trouble.

Cole:

Despite both Jimmy and Helen now engaging in extramarital affairs, and despite continuous fights between the pair, the couple continued to stay together. And then in November 1973 Helen gave birth to a baby boy. I do hope that the birth of their baby boy gave the couple some joy, even if only briefly. Whatever state the couple’s marriage was in, on the 3rd of February 1974 a christening for the wee baby boy took place. Although the day may have started with everyone in good spirits, during the subsequent hours, and after a good amount of alcohol had been drank, Helen and Jimmy began to irritate each other and began to quarrel, although Jimmy later said that he was the only sober one at the celebration and that he had been the designated driver for the evening. As it was a special day, despite their disagreement, once the christening celebrations were over and everybody had been driven to their homes by Jimmy, the couple took their baby to Jimmy’s mums in Longforgan, while the couple, trying again to reconcile, went out for a meal in Dundee. This attempt however failed and the couple started fighting almost as soon as they sat down, with Helen storming out of the restaurant before they could even order. Now, Jimmy said that Helen was so drunk that she had tripped down some stairs and had bashed her nose, causing it to bleed all over her clothes. At this point Jimmy apparently took Helen home so she could change her clothes, where she apparently put on a wine coloured dress. Jimmy then advised that the couple tried to go again for a sit down meal, which was a success this time. Jimmy then said they drove into Dundee town centre looking for his sister, but having not sighted her, the couple then decided to drive back to his mum’s house to pick up their baby boy and go home. As you could probably guess on their way to Jimmy’s mum’s house the couple started arguing again. At this point Jimmy said he stopped to use the public toilets on the road just outside of Dundee centre. Upon returning to the car, Jimmy said that Helen was nowhere to be seen. He said he hung around for about ten minutes and checked the female toilets but there was no sign of Helen. He then said he headed back into town looking for her and then onto his flat to check if she maybe got the bus home, then headed back into Dundee when she wasn’t at the flat, before eventually going to his mum’s house at Longforgan to see if Helen was there, but she wasn’t. So Jimmy collected his baby and all his belongings and headed home, assuming that Helen would turn up at some point. The next morning when Jimmy awoke to get ready for work, there was still no sign of Helen. Not seeming to be phased or particularly bothered, he got himself ready for work and he got his son ready to take to his mother’s house so that she could look after him, and then he went to work. After work he went to his mum’s house and had tea there, before heading home again without Helen. It wouldn’t be until two days after Helen vanished that it was reported to the police, who began to tentatively look into Helen’s disappearance. Helen’s parents hadn’t even been aware that Helen was missing until this time and only because Jimmy’s mum had phoned them asking if Helen was perhaps with them as she was growing concerned. Helen’s mum hadn’t spoken to her daughter since the day of the christening. She knew about the troubles with her daughter’s marriage but she also knew that Helen loved her wee boy and would never just disappear and leave him behind, or her family for that matter, Helen and her parents were very close. Helen’s Dad wasn’t satisfied with the police investigation as he felt that the police always thought Helen had just had enough with her life and simply walked away, and so he started looking for traces of where Helen might be himself. Due to his own inquiry, he found out that there had been possible sightings of Helen in Dundee, other parts of Scotland and even as far as London, but despite this Helen’s parents were still convinced that Helen had not just walked out of her life voluntarily and had started to think that Helen had been killed. Just before Christmas 1974, about ten months after Helen’s disappearance, Jimmy’s mum received a Christmas card, apparently from Helen, with a postmark from Dundee.

Dawn:

Oh, okay, so did that convince Helen’s parents that she was okay?

Cole:

No, it didn’t. It sounded like it was possibly a practical joke, as Mrs Wilkie said that she didn’t recognise the handwriting. Helen’s parents continued to believe that Helen had been killed, they just wanted to know where her body was. As the months passed life slipped back into some normality, Jimmy actually handed over his and Helen’s baby boy to Helen’s mum and dad, who later adopted him. Jimmy left Dundee, where he started another relationship. The couple briefly moved to Canada, before Jimmy eventually moved back to Scotland and lived and worked in Aberdeen. The years went by and Helen and Jimmy’s wee boy grew up without his mum or dad, but I’m sure he was very loved by Helen’s parents, it maybe filled a big hole in their lives too, and Helen’s strange disappearance just slipped from people’s minds. That was until March 1978, four years after Helen’s disappearance, when workmen at a quarry near Longforgan uncovered a skull and informed the police. Following further excavations of the area, a shallow grave was discovered containing a headless skeleton. Jimmy, who is now living just outside Aberdeen with his girlfriend, was escorted to Dundee by the police, where he was asked to identify the items found with the skeleton, to determine if the skeleton found was Helen. The items included the wine coloured dress Helen had changed into the night she disappeared.

Dawn:

So, if the dress she was wearing the night she went missing was found, does that mean that she died the night she disappeared?

Cole:

Yes, it must have. The only item of clothing found that wasn’t Helen’s was a blue tie, which had been wrapped around her neck three times and tied at the back.

Dawn:

Oh. So, Helen died from strangulation then?

Cole:

Yes. When Jimmy was shown the tie he confirmed that it was the tie that he had worn to the christening, which he told the police he had taken off sometime throughout the christening celebrations and put into his wife’s bag. Upon being told that it was actually found tied around Helen’s neck Jimmy apparently said “I hope you don’t think it was me.” But apparently that’s exactly what the police had thought, and within a few hours Jimmy was charged with Helen’s murder.

Dawn:

So, based on the tie?

Cole:

Yeah, it’s a start.

Dawn:

Yeah, it is. And I guess it’s unlikely that Helen would have wandered off and somebody else would have found her, gone through her bag, found Jimmy’s tie and decided to strangle her with it.

Cole:

It is a stretch. And, I mean, we only have Jimmy’s word that he put the tie in Helen’s bag in the first place.

Dawn:

Yeah, that’s true.

Cole:

So, in June 1978, three months after being arrested and charged with Helen’s murder, Jimmy found himself in Dundee High Court listening to witness after witness describing the young couple’s arguments, their heavy drinking, the fighting between them, which was both physical as well as verbal, and specifically of an occasion where Jimmy was seen to have kicked Helen while she was pregnant. The majority of witnesses deemed that this was a failing marriage and that neither party were particularly happy. Two other witnesses for the prosecution were called, one was a friend of Jimmy’s who said that after having a few drinks together and upon bringing up the subject of Helen, Jimmy had said “I don’t think they will find her, she’s well buried.” While the other witness, who knew both Helen and Jimmy as well as Helen’s parents, said that she had overheard Jimmy talking to a friend in a cafe and he said “My wife’s at Ninewells, six feet under.”

Dawn:

So, two separate people had heard Jimmy mention that either Helen was buried or six feet under and nobody thought to mention this to the police?

Cole:

Well, it’s not known exactly when these conversations took place, and the man he was having a drink with when he said “she’s well buried” said he did ask Jimmy the next day if he remembered the conversation and he said he didn’t. Plus, I think they’d both had a bit to drink, so maybe the man didn’t trust his own memory.

Dawn:

Okay. But what about the female witness who overheard him in a cafe?

Cole:

Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t want to get involved in case she was wrong. Anyway, lastly it was Jimmy’s turn to take the stand, and he basically repeated to the court what he had said to the police nearly four years earlier when Helen went missing. His memory was very good apparently, although he did counter some of the physical abuse allegations by saying that he might have slapped Helen but never with a clenched fist.

Dawn:

Oh right, well that’s okay then.

Cole:

I know, right.

Dawn:

Did he say anything in response to supposedly saying to the man he had been drinking with that Helen was well buried?

Cole:

Yeah, he did actually. He said that what he probably meant was that if Helen hadn’t been found by now she wasn’t going to be. After the closing statements and three days of witnesses being called to give evidence, the jury retired to make their decision. The police were a bit dubious if they would actually secure a guilty verdict, so too were the press that had attended the trial. However, after only an hour and ten minutes, everyone was back in the courtroom again, as the jury of nine men and six women came back with a verdict of guilty. Jimmy’s mum and girlfriend were visibly upset as Lord Robertson, the Judge residing over the case, said to Jimmy “You have been found guilty by the jury of what can only be described as a horrible crime, and there is only one sentence I can impose.” This was a life sentence. Jimmy was then taken away to begin his sentence, which wasn’t as long as you might think. In January 1979, seven months after Jimmy Wilkie had been sentenced to life, he found himself back in the courts again, this time in Edinburgh High Court as an appeal had been made as new evidence had been found, which Jimmy’s solicitor believed could set him free.

Dawn:

Oh wow, that appeal went through really quickly.

Cole:

Yeah, it did, but, according to the book The Law Killers by Alexander McGregor, this was the first time since 1927 that permission had actually been given for new evidence to be heard which could possibly result in a person being released.

Dawn:

Okay, it must be pretty good evidence then.

Cole:

Well, no, it’s not actually.

Dawn:

Oh okay.

Cole:

So, shortly after Jimmy had been convicted the lead investigator in the case, Chief Inspector Fotheringham was advised that a witness had come forward adamant that she had seen Helen after she was thought to have disappeared.

Dawn:

Who?

Cole:

A neighbour of the Wilkies at the time the couple had both lived in Hill Street, a Valerie McCabe. She said that she had seen and spoken to Helen three months after she disappeared. Valerie didn’t have a phone in her flat and would use the Wilkies phone now and again, and on the 18th of May 1974 she stated that Helen Wilkie came to Valerie’s flat to tell her that Valerie’s husband was on the phone in Helen’s flat wanting to speak to her. Valerie said she went to Helen’s flat where her husband was on the phone to tell her that his bus had broken down and he would be laid back. After finishing speaking to her husband Valerie McCabe popped her head round the living room door and said thanks to Helen for the use of her phone, which was located in the hall.

Dawn:

Oh, okay. Well, that sounds pretty credible to me. How old was Valerie?

Cole:

She was 27. Are you thinking that maybe she was older and her eyesight wasn’t too good?

Dawn:

Yeah, I was.

Cole:

Well, Valerie was asked this too and she said that she did wear glasses but her eyesight was quite good.

Dawn:

But I’m assuming that it wasn’t Helen, so how could she have made that mistake?

Cole:

Well, to try and determine that Valerie actually had the right date and wasn’t perhaps mixing it up with a time before Helen went missing, Chief Inspector Fotheringham asked Valerie how she could be sure of the date, to which Valerie replied that she knew for sure because there had been a football match on that day between Scotland and England playing at Hampton Park. She was also 100 percent sure she had seen Helen after she had gone missing.

Dawn:

Oh, well, that sounds pretty definite to me.

Cole:

That’s what Chief Inspector Fotheringham had began to think too. Until that is he went back to the police station and just happened to find out that apparently back in 1974, just after Helen went missing, a young police officer had separated from her husband and had started seeing Jimmy, who just so happened to look very similar to Helen.

Dawn:

He’d taken up with someone else three months after his wife disappeared?

Cole:

Yeah. So, Chief Inspector Fotheringham went back to speak to Valerie, this time with a photo of the young police officer to show her. While Valerie accepted that Helen and the young police officer did look very alike, she was adamant that it was Helen that she had seen and spoken to on the 18th of May.

Dawn:

But, did they not ask the young police officer if she’d been at the flat at the time?

Cole:

Presumably not, as seven months later Jimmy was back in court for the appeal. Lloyd Emslie, the judge residing over the appeal trial, went through the evidence given by Valerie McCabe and Chief Inspector Fortheringham and came to the conclusion that, even if Valerie’s evidence had been in the original trial, the jury would have still come to the same decision. He said that while Valerie McCabe had not come forward with this evidence maliciously, she was mistaken in her belief that she had seen Helen Wilkie on the 18th of May 1974. He further backed this up by saying that Jimmy Wilkie himself said in his statement two days after Helen’s disappearance, and in subsequent interviews he had with the police, that he never saw Helen and she’d never returned to their flat again after the night she went missing on the 3rd of February 1974. Lloyd Emslie did not believe that Helen would have come back the flat for one night only, unbeknownst to Jimmy, and then disappear again without a trace.

Dawn:

Plus, of course, there was the wine coloured dress she was found in that she was wearing the night she went missing.

Cole:

Yeah, I agree with that. And I do agree with the Judge, Helen wasn’t the person that Valerie saw in the flat on the 18th of May, Helen was murdered the night she disappeared. Having gone through all the evidence and pulling everything apart, Lloyd Emslie refused the appeal and Jimmy Wilkie was sent back to prison to carry out the rest of his sentence. Jimmy’s parents continued to appeal over the years, however, these never went anywhere, Jimmy was destined to do what little time he had been given for murdering Helen.

Dawn:

How long was he actually in prison for?

Cole:

So, I did say that he got life in prison, however, Jimmy Wilkie actually walked free from prison eight years later in 1986.

Dawn:

Eight years later?! That’s all he’d served?

Cole:

Yep, that was it.

Dawn:

That is crazy.

Cole:

So, upon leaving prison, Jimmy found work as a JCB driver and settled back into life. Until 1996, 10 years after being released for serving eight years for murdering the mother of his child, he was killed in a road traffic accident. He was 40 years old.

Dawn:

Oh God, I didn’t expect that.

Cole:

Yeah, it’s quite shocking.

Dawn:

I’ve just had a thought, you know the Christmas card that was sent to Jimmy’s mum the year Helen went missing?

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

Was it thought that Jimmy had maybe sent it to try to convince people Helen was still alive? We know it didn’t come from Helen that’s for sure.

Cole:

Actually, no, that wasn’t thought at all. Remember I said that Jimmy had moved to Canada briefly with his girlfriend? Well, when the Christmas card was sent he was safely in Canada. No, I think that was just someone being mean.

Dawn:

Ah okay.

Cole:

Good thought though.

Dawn:

So, Jimmy had already handed over his baby boy to Helen’s parents and moved to Canada before Christmas the same year Helen went missing?

Cole:

Yeah. Helen went missing in February and Jimmy was already in Canada by December with his new girlfriend.

Dawn:

Wow, that is quick.

Cole:

It really is.

Dawn:

A pretty tragic story.

Cole:

Yeah, there’s no winners here, least of all Helen and Jimmy’s child left behind. I mean, yes, he was adopted and no doubt given all the love he needed and wanted from his grandparents, but he wasn’t even a year old when his mum just disappeared and shortly after he was given away by his dad to his grandparents.  So much trauma and disruption in such a short time. At least he would have been young enough to maybe not understand that he’d been left by both his very young parents, but he’d one day find out that in actual fact his father killed his mum.

Dawn:

Yeah, that’s not gonna be nice finding that out.

Cole:

No, definitely too much heartache for everyone left behind. And that’s the end of my story. But you can find much more information in the Law Killers book by Alexander McGregor, available on Amazon.

Dawn:

And that’s the end. If you’ve enjoyed this episode and know just the person who’d also like it, please share it with them, don’t keep it to yourself.

Cole:

Please also get in touch on social media if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. All social media and contact details are on our website scottishmurders.com, as well as all the source material and photos related to this episode.

Dawn:

So that’s it for this week, come back next time for another episode of Scottish Murders.

Dawn and Cole:

Join us there. Bye.

Granny Robertson:

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn.

by dawnyoung

Assumptions Made

Assumptions Made

Episode Summary

Most of us have made assumptions about things sometimes, but when it comes to police making assumptions, it’s a whole different ball game.

Please Be Advised – This episode may contain content that some may find distressing. As always, we advise listener discretion. This episode it not suitable for anyone under the age of 13.

Listen on:

If you have any information relating to this case, contact;

101 (UK)

Crimestoppers UK anonymously on 0800 555 111 or crimestoppers-uk.org

If you have any information relating to this case, contact;

Police at Dumbarton on 101 (UK)

Dawn:

Most of us make assumptions about things in life sometimes, but when it comes to police making assumptions it’s a whole different ball game, and in Sandy and Nick’s case, things could have turned out a lot different.

Dawn and Cole:

Hi Wee Ones, I’m Dawn and I’m Cole, and this is Scottish Murders.

[THEME TUNE]

Dawn:

Alexander Drummond, or Sandy as he preferred to be known, had always wanted to be an engineer so he joined the army thinking that an army apprenticeship would be the best route to achieve this goal. When he was 18 years old he joined Blackwatch. For 18 months this decision appeared to have paid off, however, then things changed and Sandy was sent to Northern Ireland, where he spent the remainder of his time in the Army. Upon leaving the Army, after three years, Sandy went to stay with his parents, before moving into a cottage nearby in Boarhills with his brother James. Sandy had decided to stay in the area to be close to his mum and dad, Sandy’s dad had Alzheimer’s and Sandy would regularly stay at his parents home to help his mum and give her a break, he even paid for his mum to go on a wee holiday while he stayed and looked after his dad. That’s really nice. Yeah, that’s what everybody said, he was quiet but kind. So, having decided to stay in the Boarhills area, Sandy went about finding himself a job. He ended up finding work at Guardbridge Paper Mill located about 3.7 miles or 6 kilometres north west of St Andrews. St Andrews, known as the home of golf, is a town in Fife located on the east coast of Scotland, about 30 miles or 48 kilometres north east of Edinburgh. The small hamlet of Boarhills is also in Fife and located 4.6 miles or 7.4 kilometres south east of St Andrews. The Boarhills hamlet is completely surrounded by farmland, with only one single track road running through the hamlet. Back in 1991, it was thought to have about 80 residents living there. Sandy seemed to enjoy his job at the mill and he was known as a good worker. He generally seemed to be quite happy in life, enjoying going for rides on his motorbike or going for runs in the countryside. But then in about March 1991, when Sandy was 33, things started to change, Sandy started to change. Sandy’s mum said that he’d always been a carefree kind of man not letting things get him down, but she said he started to become troubled, worrying about something, and it all began around the time he was transferred to a new department at work. Sandy’s mum would ask him what the matter was, but he refused to tell her. Sandy’s mum was sure his change in behaviour was due to something at work. something had happened, going as far as saying she thought he might have been getting bullied or even blackmailed. Sandy was then transferred to another department where he was labouring, but Sandy’s change in behaviour continued for another couple of months, until finally on Thursday the 20th of June 1991 Sandy abruptly quit his job, walking out immediately and refusing to give notice. This decision surprised his employers as Sandy had always been reliable and a hard worker. Sandy didn’t tell his family that he had quit his job and walked out and appeared to carry on as if nothing had happened. He went to his parents home for Sunday lunch as normal that weekend and seemed quite happy. His family did notice a change in Sandy but this time for the better, with him apparently appearing to be back to his old self again. After lunch on Sunday with his parents, Sandy told his mum he would be back for his tea the following night before staying bye, giving her a big smile and waving to her as he left on his motorbike heading for St Andrews. Apparently, it was that night that Sandy told his brother James that he’d quit his job and that he planned to go traveling. James was surprised by what Sandy was telling him saying that it was definitely out of character for Sandy, who was described as being steadfast and dependable. James was obviously concerned but probably thought that he’d let Sandy sleep on it and speak to him the following evening and try to find out what was going on. James left for work on the Monday morning saying bye to Sandy and that he would see him later. Neither his mum nor brother realised that they wouldn’t be seeing Sandy alive again. At 8pm on Monday the 24th of June 1991, the body of Alexander Sandy Drummond was found by an elderly walker, lying face down with his arms underneath him and his legs straight out on an overgrown track about 200 yards from his cottage in Boarhills. The senior police officer from Fife constabulary who was first on the scene was initially suspicious due to the positioning of the body, and upon the doctor being called and also looking over the scene and checking Sandy’s body he too was also suspicious of its positioning, he also found superficial marks on Sandy’s forehead and elbows. Both men at this point thought it was a suspicious death and that possibly Sandy had collapsed holding his stomach, which explained why his arms were under his body. Due to this being determined by the police at an early stage as a suspicious death, only a rudimentary perusal of the scene would have taken place, recording the position and appearance of the body and perhaps taking some pictures. There would have been no need for a forensic team to attend the scene and search for any evidence, and Sandy’s body was taken from the scene pretty quickly for a post-mortem to be carried out, where it was discovered that there were additional bruises on his back and neck and the pathologist determined that Sandy had actually died from asphyxiation and may have been strangled to death. It later turned out that Sandy had been killed by a stranglehold. What? Yeah. So, when the police checked Sandy’s body at the scene they found no ligature marks and there was nothing to suggest that someone had applied pressure to his neck, and there was no obvious hand or fingerprints, which is why they initially thought it was just a suspicious death. Upon finding out that Sandy had actually been murdered you’d think the police would spring into action and start a murder inquiry, cordon off the crime scene in the hope of finding any evidence, you know, the usual stuff, but no. The police initially wouldn’t even admit that it was a murder!

Cole:

What?!

Dawn:

Yeah, they actually told newspapers and Sandy’s family for months that his death was simply suspicious. Why would they do that? Well, because the general consensus had been that Sandy had fallen whilst clutching his stomach and that he died from natural causes and they weren’t deviating from that. Despite Sandy’s mum Effie being told three days after Sandy’s death that he had been strangled to death, it would take the police four months after Sandy’s body was found to finally announce to his family that they would be treating Sandy’s death as murder, despite the early findings from the pathologist. It would take a further four months after that before the public was made aware of this fact, as well as the strange circumstances leading up to Sandy’s death, when a reconstruction was carried out on TV, which resulted in a few calls but unfortunately no leads. So, as you can imagine, Sandy’s family were pretty frustrated about this, but even more detrimental was the fact that while this tug of war was going on with the police taking the stance that Sandy’s death had only been suspicious, any vital forensic evidence that might have been at the scene had been destroyed by the weather and the passage of time. Also, due to the police’s reluctance to not admit this was a murder, the media was not used to appeal for information or witnesses immediately after his death. As this was a tourist area, by the time the police did appeal for witnesses, eight months later, some people might not have been in the area anymore or may have forgotten a vital piece of information. As Sandy’s death had only been treated as suspicious, the police carried out a basic investigation, but they did interview some local witnesses and what they found out through the investigation might just have finally led to them admitting that Sandy had been murdered, although I feel there was more than enough evidence given by the pathologist from the post-mortem to indicate this earlier. So, I’ll start with the day of Sandy’s death. It’s quite interesting in itself. So, you remember his brother James said bye to Sandy on Monday the 24th of June 1991 in the morning before going to work?

Cole:

Yes, a year before my birthday.

Dawn:

Exactly. So, from then it looked like Sandy had quite a busy day. Someone resembling Sandy was seen at 7:25am by two witnesses; one was driving in Boarhills who saw a man resembling Sandy leaving his cottage carrying a blue holdall bag under his arm, run across the road and jump over a hedge into a field, where he disappeared. Oh. A neighbour also said they saw someone who looked like Sandy leave his house with a blue holdall bag and go to the field across the road, and then return without the holdall bag, presumably leaving it in the field somewhere. But this blue holdall bag has never been found.

Cole:

That’s odd.

Dawn:

Oh it gets odder. Apparently, there was also a sighting of someone who was identified as Sandy by two witnesses at the same time on a motorcycle heading for St Andrews.

Cole:

So, were any of the sightings actually confirmed, because last time I checked you can’t be in two places at once.

Dawn:

That is true. It’s hard to say, I couldn’t find anything in my research. However, Sandy was seen in St Andrews on CCTV at 11am withdrawing his savings, which amounted to about £1,800 which is about $2,500 in today’s money, and putting it in a bag.

Cole:

Well that’s more money than I currently have.

Dawn:

It’s not a fortune but it’s probably enough for him to have gone traveling on his bike, if that’s what he wanted to do, which is what he told his brother the night before.

Cole:

So, do we think that the money was in the holdall that someone saw him taking into the field?

Dawn:

It’s a good thought but no, because he was seen going into the field at 7:30am, but Sandy didn’t actually withdraw the money from the bank until 11am, so he didn’t have the money at that time.

Cole:

Okay. So, maybe someone saw him withdraw the money and followed him and killed him for the money?

Dawn:

That’s a good thought actually, but no because the money was found in his house when the police searched it, so a robbery motive was ruled out.

Cole:

Okay, I’m out of ideas then.

Dawn:

Me too. So, it appears that Sandy then spent the next few hours in St Andrews, but it’s not clear what he was doing. The next time Sandy may have been sighted was by a witness at 2pm at a caravan holiday park, which is a five minute drive outside of St Andrews and located on the same road Sandy would have taken to go back to his cottage in Boarhills, which was another eight minute drive from the holiday park.

Cole:

What was he doing there?

Dawn:

Honestly, I don’t know. I couldn’t find this out at all. Maybe meeting somebody.

Cole:

Well do you know how long he was there for?

Dawn:

Again, I don’t know, I couldn’t find anything. However, a witness did place him there definitely at 2pm, and he wasn’t seen again until about 4pm.

Cole:

Alright. So, no more than a couple of hours?

Dawn:

Exactly. However, in the meantime, at about 2:30pm, a man was seen getting on a bus on the main road not far from Sandy’s cottage and getting off in St Andrews, and he was holding a blood-stained handkerchief. Now, police did ask for this man to come forward to be eliminated from their inquiries, once of course the police finally notified the public, but the fact that Sandy had been seen alive at 4pm and that there was no blood at the crime scene, the police weren’t even sure if this man had any connection to the murder or not. Either way, this man was never traced. The next time someone resembling Sandy was seen was at 4pm when they were witnessed “jogging along the road.”

Cole:

Which road?

Dawn:

It’s not clear exactly, it could be the road leading from the holiday park where he was seen at 2pm.  But why would he leave his motorbike there?

Cole:

I guess it could have broken down.

Dawn:

Maybe, but there’s no mention of that. Or it could mean he was jogging along the road near his cottage in Boarhills. It’s very sketchy to be honest. Then he was seen again by a witness, this time definitely in Boarhills about 7pm.

Cole:

Okay. And his body was found at 8pm?

Dawn:

Correct.

Cole:

So, whatever happened to him must have happened within that hour.

Dawn:

Exactly. When Sandy’s neighbours were questioned by the police around if they saw anything suspicious that day, something of interest was revealed. Apparently about 5pm, an hour after Sandy was seen jogging along the road, an orange or red car was seen parked outside Sandy’s bungalow and two men were seen in his living room. From witness statements, it was identified that the same orange or red car had been spotted outside Sandy’s cottage on numerous occasions on the days before his death. Another witness reported seeing a red car reversing near where Sandy lived at 7:15pm on the day of his death, but then another witness reported that also at 7:15pm they saw two men get out of a silver Renault or Vauxhall car and run in the direction of where Sandy was found.

Cole:

And Sandy’s body was found 45 minutes later?

Dawn:

Yeah. So, the red or orange car seen outside Sandy’s cottage was later identified as being a red or orange Morris Marina. We’ll put a picture of it on our website. Again, despite appeals for information about the owner of this car or the owner of the silver car seen in the vicinity, just like the man on the bus with a bloodied handkerchief, nobody ever came forward to say they owned either car or had visited Sandy that day or on the days leading up to his death. Although, of course, again, this appeal wouldn’t be made until much later.

Cole:

The man with the bloodied handkerchief not coming forward I kind of understand, maybe he just didn’t want to be involved in the whole thing, but this distinct orange car parked outside Sandy’s house on numerous occasions and the owner had most likely been inside his cottage, so they must know that the police were looking for them, and why would they not just come forward and say, “yeah, that was me”, unless you had something to hide.

Dawn:

Yeah, I totally agree. And the other thing that’s strange to me is the fact that Sandy appeared to enjoy his own company and have a few close friends, who were the two men sitting in his living room in the day of his murder. As well as obviously the same car being seen numerous times outside his house before the day of his murder, who were these men? Were they friends or foe? What were they there for? It couldn’t have been blackmail because they had the opportunity to take the money he had withdrawn from the bank, but they didn’t. What were they doing there? To me it seemed suspicious.

Cole:

Yeah, I agree.

Dawn:

So, the police, even though they wouldn’t admit for some strange reason that Sandy had in fact been murdered, did actually carry out interviews with his work colleagues.

Cole:

Oh that’s interesting. Maybe we’ll find out why he changed departments twice and maybe why his mum thought he was worried about something.

Dawn:

Well, from interviewing every one of his work colleagues they found out exactly nothing.

Cole:

Oh! What?!

Dawn:

Yeah. Apparently, all his former colleagues at the paper mill said Sandy was a quiet man, a hard worker and he appeared to be well liked by everybody.

Cole:

So, why did he have to change departments then?

Dawn:

No idea. It’s not detailed anywhere. It’s just another question that’s not answered.

Cole:

So did any of his work colleagues have an orange or red… what did you say it was? Morris Marina?

Dawn:

Yeah. That would have been my first question too, but again it’s not reported anywhere. But I have to guess that they didn’t as the car was never traced. However, as the police were still adamant at this time that it was simply a suspicious death, maybe they didn’t ask the right questions, didn’t put two and two together, didn’t dig deep enough, as maybe it was just being treated as a cursory inquiry at this time. Had they treated it as it should have been treated, as a murder inquiry, than perhaps any evidence, such as the orange Morris Marina, could have been found quickly instead of giving the killer or Killers time to dispose of this, which police later stated they felt the car was likely to have been disposed of. Now, Sandy’s army colleagues were also interviewed too, but again nothing of note came from this, and nobody had a bad word to say about Sandy. Sandy was, as far as could be made out, a likable, kind, caring, quiet guy who appeared to have no enemies.

Cole:

I feel as if it’s something to do with his work, because everything seemed to be fine in his life until he moved departments and then his behaviour changed.

Dawn:

I think that’s what the police thought too as he had been at the paper mill for seven years and his behaviour only started to change a few months before his death. It had to be connected somehow.

Cole:

Yeah. And he quit his job a few days before his murder.

Dawn:

Exactly! The timing fits. Anyway, following the police interviewing everyone and making their appeals and getting absolutely nowhere, they were able to determine that there was definitely something strange going on in Sandy’s life, what with quitting his job and withdrawing all his savings, but they just didn’t know what, and their investigation turned up nothing. The police did state later that they felt that Sandy may have been getting blackmailed or bullied, but that was as much as the investigation could tell them, other than that they were baffled.

Cole:

So, that’s where it ended?

Dawn:

No! Sandy’s mum, Effie, wouldn’t accept that her son’s killer couldn’t be found, she was determined to get answers. She campaigned relentlessly until she finally succeeded in getting a Fatal Accident Inquiry into her son’s death.

Cole:

Is that the Scottish term for inquest?

Dawn:

Yeah, it is. And it was held in September 1992, but Effie didn’t get the outcome she wanted. There was still no explanation for her son’s murder, and she now had more questions than answers.

Cole:

How so?

Dawn:

Well, for example, in an article by the Mirror Newspaper it was noted that not only had Sandy’s last few months been made a misery by certain men at his work at the paper mill, but that apparently the night before he was murdered he had actually written down these men’s names.

Cole:

Okay. That’s new. I feel like you wouldn’t murder someone you’d been bullying in your workplace.

Dawn:

Yeah, that seems pretty drastic.

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

And especially now that he’d left as well. I mean, maybe they thought Sandy was going to tell on them do something. I don’t know, had to get rid of him. So, while Effie’s suspicions that her son was being bullied at work, which had affected his behaviour, had been right, but why was she only being told this now, at the inquiry? And why was it reported that nobody at Sandy’s work had a bad word to say about him if in fact they had been bullying him? Surely somebody had been aware of it. If the police had this information that he’d written down these men’s names, what had they done about it? Had they investigated these men? What was he actually being bullied for? Were they trying to blackmail him? It just leads to more questions and no answers.

Cole:

Yeah. I can see that. What else?

Dawn:

Well, also during the inquiry a second pathologist criticised the police for not realising that Sandy had been murdered and therefore treating the crime scene appropriately. This was countered by the police who said that due to the fact Sandy’s body had been found outside, they weren’t able to control the environment, limiting any evidence that could be found.

Cole:

That’s rubbish! So, they’re just saying that everybody that’s found outside it’s just kind of tough and they’re not going to find out who the murderer was? I know it’s not a controlled environment, but there’s tents that can be placed over the body and the surrounding area can be looked at for further evidence.

Dawn:

I know. The pathologist also said that had an experienced doctor dealing with murders been there, they would have discovered tiny haemorrhages in Sandy’s eyes that are caused by increased blood pressure that rupture capillaries and are caused by strangulation or suffocation. The police also stated that because Sandy was a loner and effectively had no friends, this made it really difficult for them to establish any leads.

Cole:

Was he a loner with no friends?

Dawn:

Well, the police tried to imply this, but Sandy’s family say that he just chose his friends carefully, so they may have been few and far between.

Cole:

Wow! That really does sound like victim blaming.

Dawn:

Yeah. Remember, always have plenty friends. it’s important.

Cole:

But I don’t like people.

Dawn:

That’s a problem.

Cole:

I like to be inside my house at all times.

Dawn:

You’re a bit of a recluse aren’t you? Let’s face it.

Cole:

I just need to get some cats now.

Dawn:

Oh no, crazy cat lady.

Cole:

Yay!

Dawn:
The police were also criticised for the delay in announcing Sandy’s death as murder, however, Sheriff Smith, presiding over the inquiry, blocked any further discussion about this saying that the police’s handling of the investigation was not within the remit of the inquiry. So, the only, and I’m reluctant to say it, good thing that came from the inquiry, was that Sandy’s case would be reviewed again, but this time by different officers within Fife police. However, despite the fresh eyes working on Sandy’s case, they still were no further forward in finding Sandy’s killer. Shortly after the inquiry, Sandy’s mum Effie said “My life is now in agony. The strain makes me feel a thousand years old. Sandy was the best son a mother could have.” She was also quoted as saying “I was afraid for his life when he went to Northern Ireland with the Army, but I never imagined that he would be in danger at home.” She was devastated by Sandy’s death and was constantly haunted by the knowledge that her son had been murdered and that the murderer had not been caught. Effie passed away at the age of 67 in 1996. So, despite 16,000 hours worked on the case and about 600 statements being taken, many appeals made over the years, as well as a reconstruction of the events leading up to Sandy’s death being shown on TV in February 1992 where finally the public were made aware of the events leading up to his death, as well as that it was a murder and not a suspicious death, Sandy’s killer wasn’t identified, and the case remained Fife’s only unsolved case. In 2016 Sandy’s murder was back in the spotlight again. In February 2016, Police Scotland released an appeal due to the 25th anniversary of Sandy’s murder approaching. In this appeal, Detective Chief Inspector Maxine Martin stated that Sandy’s murder is periodically reviewed to determine if any advances in forensic techniques could lead to further lines of inquiry.

Cole:

Isn’t it crazy how fast the science can change? I mean we think that we’re pretty advanced at the moment in time, wouldn’t you say?

Dawn:

Yeah.

Cole:

But think about how far we’ve come in the last 20 or 30 years. Like, what’s the world going to look like in 20 or 30 more years time?

Dawn:

Yeah. I wonder what technology we haven’t discovered yet, that’s more interesting.

Cole:

Maybe you could scan the body and get an image of the human.

Dawn:

You’re getting very technical now.

Cole:

Do you know that they can take your hair from your body off your head, wherever, and they can find out where you came from based on the like the minerals that are left in your hair?

Dawn:

Hmm.

Cole:

Did you know that?

Dawn:

No, I didn’t know that. That’s interesting.

Cole:

Yeah. So, people can find out where you lived.

Dawn:

That’s really cool. Isn’t it?

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

She went on to see that the passage of time is no barrier to providing answers for the families of murder victims in Scotland and she hoped that Sandy’s killer could be brought to justice, before she appealed for anyone with new information that could assist in the investigation into Sandy’s murder to contact the police. This appeal was quite successful as in an article in The Courier Newspaper in March 2016, the police thanked the public for new information that was provided in relation to Sandy’s murder. Detective Chief Inspector Maxine Martin said that the new evidence was being reviewed, but she believed that the answers to Sandy’s death lie in the local community. However, since this time no new developments, if any, have been reported. We can only hope this doesn’t mean the case has gone cold again. Then three months later in June 2016, exactly 25 years after Sandy was killed, an article appeared in the Courier Newspaper saying the investigative journalist Mr Mulford had apparently laid eyes on paperwork suggesting that police had identified Sandy’s killer.

Cole:

Okay. So, was this on the back of the information the police had received following their appeal in February 2016?

Dawn:

Well, I don’t think it was. From what I’ve read it appears that this may have been from several years prior.

Cole:

They had identified Sandy’s killer a few years prior to the appeal but nobody had ever been arrested?

Dawn:

Well, that’s what it looked like. The investigative journalist told The Courier Newspaper in 2016 he had unearthed evidence that the police had identified a serious suspect following a previous cold case review years earlier, but then when police had gone to question the suspect it turned out they were already dead.

Cole:

Oh

Dawn:

I’ve actually read some reports that the suspect may have been murdered himself.

Cole:

So, the police have identified a suspect and that suspect’s dead, but the case is still open?

Dawn:

Yes. Apparently, Mr Mulford believes the case has been kept open and is still being reviewed by the cold case team as there may have been others involved. Remember that there were two men seen in Sandy’s living room on the day he was murdered, maybe they suspect the dead man carried out the murder but there may have been others around or others who knew what had happened. Maybe they were behind Sandy’s change in behaviour, or that the dead suspect didn’t actually murder Sandy but was involved somehow, and maybe he was killed to shut him up. There’s just so many questions about this case, so much speculation about what is going on, and what did go on back in 1991.

Cole:

So, did the police ever say anything about what the investigative journalist said or has there ever been any new leads?

Dawn:

Well, at the time of the newspaper report coming out from the investigative journalist, Police Scotland were pretty tight lipped. They refused to discuss if what Mr Mulford said about them having a suspect in the murder dead or otherwise was correct or not. All Police Scotland would say, and all they have said since, is that the case remains open and is undergoing constant review.

Cole:

This is such a frustrating case, so many unanswered questions. And the fact that it was ruled initially as a suspicious death, it just doesn’t seem right.

Dawn:

I agree. It’s just really frustrating this case. If you have any information on the murder of Sandy Drummond, please contact 101 or Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111 if you live in the UK.

So, my story was from 1991, surely in the intervening years lessons would have been learnt and assumptions wouldn’t have been made so hastily, am I right with your story Cole?

Cole:

Wrong!

Dawn:

Oh no. Go on then.

Cole:

In April 2005 Nicholas Randall, who preferred to be called Nick, was 30 years old. He had been suffering with mental health issues and had recently been signed off work sick. Nick had moved to the north east of Scotland to Aberdeen from Edinburgh, where he had a job as a town planner. Nick had suffered with depression on and off for years, but in early 2005 he had been signed off work due to stress-related depression and he had decided to go and stay with his parents, who lived a few miles west of Edinburgh. Nick had been diagnosed with a form of dyslexia, affecting in the left side of his brain governing comprehension. Nick was apparently happy with this diagnosis as it helped explain some of the causes for him feeling low. At this time he was said to be in good spirits, so much so that he had attended a wedding with his parents where he had appeared brighter and engaged with others better than his parents had expected. However, just a few days later on the 25th of April 2005 something apparently changed, as just after breakfast Nick left his parents home, drove to Edinburgh City Centre in his silver Audi A2, where he bought a sleeping bag and withdrew £500 or just under $700, before simply vanishing. This was the last time his bank account had been touched. Meanwhile, back at his parents house, his mum had thought it was a good sign that Nick had gone out, thinking that he’d probably head for the city centre for a bit of shopping, which he did of course. She wasn’t to know that she had seen her son for the last time. So, Nick’s parents weren’t initially concerned when Nick didn’t appear back for tea, but as the night grew dark they started to fear the worst. They began to ring round all his friends asking if they had heard from him, but no one had. One of Nick friends, Liz, said that she was completely surprised by his disappearance, saying he was a really nice guy with everything going for him. Time passed without any sighting or word from Nick. His 31st birthday came and went in May and still there was no word about his whereabouts. It wouldn’t be until July, three months after Nick vanished, that finally there was a breakthrough. Nick’s silver Audi car was found in a car park near the town of Fort William, which is located on the eastern shore of Loch Linnhe in the Scottish Highlands, this is also about a three-hour drive north west of Edinburgh. Fort William is best known for hill walking and climbing due to it being close to the mountains of Glencoe and Aonach Mor, as well as Ben Nevis, which is the highest of the famous Munro mountains. It just so happened that Nick had been a member of a hill walking group and was experienced in climbing and hiking, he had in fact climbed many of the Munro mountains. When his car was found in July, the police concluded that Nick had been living off rough in the hills of the surrounding area. Also, over the summer of 2005 there were other sporadic sightings of Nick in this area, as well as being spotted in an area two hours away from where his car was found. A worker at caravan park advised that Nick had asked if he could pitch a tent. It was thought that he was just walking and climbing and roaming about aimlessly, living rough. However, then the sightings just stopped and his family and friends started to fear the worst.

Dawn:

Was there any reason why Nick had just left his parents so abruptly and headed to the highlands?

Cole:

Well, remember he did have depression and having depression can sometimes make you unpredictable, so that could be a reason.

Dawn:

Yeah, that is true.

Cole:

His friend, Martin, also gave a wee insight into what Nick might have been thinking. He said that Nick hated being on his own, but because of his depression he also felt he was a burden to everyone, especially his parents.

Dawn:

Oh, that’s sad, but that might have explained why he disappeared, he might have thought that him disappearing might make life easier for his parents.

Cole:

It was a theory, yeah.

Dawn:

Obviously that wasn’t the case.

Cole:

Of course not, his parents were heartbroken by his disappearance. In April 2006, a year after Nick left his parents home for the last time, his parents made an appeal for any information about Nick’s whereabouts. His dad, Bill, said “My worst fear is that he turned his back on life, not eating, and his body went downhill, and he might be lying somewhere in a wood.” He went on to say that he would love to see Nick again, to hug and to kiss him. His parents both remembered Nick as being a happy person, smiling and had a sensitive nature. Nick’s mum, Esme, did insist that Nick wasn’t suicidal when he left. The appeal generated no new information, no more sightings of Nick were reported, and the case went cold. Bill and Esme would have to wait a further two years of not knowing what happened to their son before their worst fears would finally be realised. On the 14th of March 2008, badly decomposed remains of a body were said to have been found in a pitched tent by forestry workers near Bridge of Orchy, about 43 miles or 69 kilometres from where Nick’s car had been found. It would be confirmed on the 26th of March, after forensic tests were carried out, that the remains were in fact that of Nicholas Randall. There is a famous walk called the West Highland Way that runs from Fort William to Milngavie, which is just north of Glasgow, and Bridge of Orchy is on this walking route. It is thought that Nick had been walking along this route, but had deviated off into a nearby forest in order to set up his tent. When the remains were found the area was cordoned off, a forensics team was called in and evidence was collected and photographs of the scene were taken. Upon Nick’s remains being found, it was quickly assumed by investigators that Nick had probably died of hypothermia. This assumption wasn’t deviated from following the post-mortem being carried out as, due to the advanced stage of decomposition, the cause of death could only be determined as unascertained. Due to this belief, after six days of Nick’s remains being found, the police ruled that there were no suspicious circumstances in the death, making an official statement on the 26th of March confirming these details and stating the case would now be closed. The statement was followed by one from the family which read; “We would like to thank the missing persons unit of Lothian and Borders police for all their assistance and kind support over the last three years. We also thank the press for publicising our son’s disappearance. Now that his body has been found and recovered, we ask that the media leave us to grieve in peace.” Okay. So, yes, there were still assumptions being made at the beginning, but at least the police treated the scene as if it were a crime scene and collected evidence and photographs were taken, so lessons had been learnt. They were, but the story doesn’t end there unfortunately. In March 2008, Mr and Mrs Randall finally had some closure, although sadly their son Nick had died they found out what had become of him, knowing that he had died from natural causes and could finally grieve for their son. That was until July 2017, almost nine years after they found out their son had died, when their new life without Nick was shattered.

Dawn:

Oh my God, what happened?

Cole:

Okay. Back in 2008, PC Kenny McKechnie had been a police officer since 1993 and he was working as a family liaison officer, however, due to local detectives being under pressure to investigate a baby food contamination scare that was happening at the time, he found himself at the scene where Nicholas Randall’s remains were found and had been briefly involved in the investigation, and he was telling a very different story to the official one. Kenny was present when Nick’s remains were found, and when the police photographer turned up to take the photographs of the scene. The photographer initially refused to go into the tent as it was a crime scene. Kenny was there when two young detective constables eventually showed up who took a cursory look around the scene, but left pretty quickly when it was ruled by their bosses that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Nick, something Kenny was extremely surprised about at the time due to what he had seen in and around the tent, which had also been captured by the photographer. Let’s go through what was found in the tent by Kenny and a colleague that led to the police ruling that there was no suspicious circumstances surrounding Nick’s death. Okay. Firstly, there were two sleeping bags, a holdall, different sized boots, two sets of clothes in the rucksack, one set of high quality outdoor wear and the other one looked like hiking clothes of someone less experienced, a black handled kitchen knife and a used condom found in Nick’s sleeping bag.

Dawn:

So, that suggests to me straight away that there were two people staying in that tent.

Cole:

Yes, that’s what it says to me too. Also, apparently a shallow grave was found a year before by an off-duty police officer near to where Nick’s tent was pitched.

Dawn:

Oh, was anybody found in there?

Cole:

No, and it might not have even been anything to do with Nick, it’s just another strange thing surrounding the case. Due to the decomposition of the body, it was impossible for the date of death to be determined, so Nick could have been there when the shallow grave was dug, but equally it could have had absolutely nothing to do with him, but it is still strange. The fact that these items were found in the tent and yet Nick’s death was ruled as not suspicious and the case was closed is mystifying to me.

Dawn:

Well, yeah. There clearly was somebody else in the tent with Nick. Did they have something to do with Nick’s death? Where had they gone? And why hadn’t they taken all their things with them?

Cole:

 There were just so many unanswered questions at this stage. I can’t understand what police were thinking. How could they possibly think that Nick would have random sizes and types of clothes and boots with him? It makes no sense. Plus, he’d not have been able to carry all the equipment, shoes and clothes that were inside the tent by himself, as well as the tent itself by himself from where his car had been found 43 miles or 69 kilometres away. Surely the rationale was that he had met someone and that they’d been walking together and decided to pitch the tent and stay together there too?

Dawn:

Yeah, that sounds logical to me.

Cole:

Anyway, having found these items, Kenny and his colleagues became very conscious that they might contaminate a crime scene and so they left the tent. He did say that an email had been sent to a senior police officer about them finding the condom, but he never heard any more about it as a senior detective took over the case at this time and Kenny went back to his usual job. While he did have questions about the scene and what was found, he assumed that the detectives would look into things and come up with satisfactory answers, it just wasn’t in his best interest to step on their toes. So, he carried on with his job thinking nothing more of it. Kenny then changed jobs a few years later and became a police recruit trainer, and this is when Nick’s case and all of the questions he had at the time came back to his mind again. Kenny remembered this case and thought it would be an ideal case to use for training purposes of the right way to carry out an investigation. He went to collect the photographs and any additional investigation paperwork into the case, only to be shocked by what he actually discovered. None of the loose ends that he thought needed answering back in 2008 had been investigated. He also found that the items that had been discovered in the tent and what was captured in the photographs taken didn’t actually tie up with what had been logged; two sleeping bags were clearly seen in the photographs taken by the police photographer, however only one sleeping bag was apparently recorded as evidence. While it had been recorded that the rucksacks did have different sizes and styles of clothing in them, it had not been recorded that there had been different sizes of boots in the tent too. Worse was yet to be discovered by Kenny. Shortly after the case had been deemed as not suspicious in any way, despite the findings in the tent, the decision had been made to incinerate the evidence, deciding it was no longer needed, the case had been solved and closed in the police’s opinion. So, now there would be no way, even if the investigation could be reopened, to test any of the clothing, boots, knife or sleeping bag for DNA to try and find out who might have been the last person in the tent with Nick or who may have killed him, if he had indeed been murdered. All the evidence was gone. Apparently the condom had been logged separately so there might be a chance that it was still being kept in an evidence room somewhere, but let’s face it, it’s doubtful. Kenny could not believe what he’d stumbled upon. Why on earth had there not been an investigation into Nicks’s death? How could this have been deemed non-suspicious if there had not been an investigation or testing for DNA? He was dumbfounded and angry, didn’t this man deserve to have his death investigated? Didn’t he deserve justice if he had been murdered? And, how could this be justified? Having served as a respected police officer for 21 years, in 2014 Kenny McKechnie left the police force as he’d become disillusioned by it. Finding out how Nick’s death had been investigated, or not fully investigated as the case may be, was just one in a long line of things that led to Kenny leaving the police, a bit acrimoniously it might be said. It would be a further three years before Kenny finally went public and made the allegations into the standard of policing in the case of Nicholas Randall’s death and called for an investigation to be carried out. He also stated that he felt Nick’s death had been deemed not suspicious as there was not enough money or resources to launch a murder investigation. Following the allegations by Kenny, Detective Superintendent Callum Young made a statement saying that “A thorough investigation was carried out by a team led by a detective inspector and included forensic specialists and a post-mortem examination.” He went on to say that “There was no information at the time to suggest the death was suspicious. Should anyone have any information about the death, I would ask them to call the police at Dumbarton on 101 and it will be followed up.” It was stated that the evidence found in the tent did not suggest a suspicious death. The police’s internal professional standards department were asked to look into how the officers back in 2008 dealt with the findings inside the tent, however, upon the conclusion of the investigation the findings were that they agreed with the detectives from 2008 and their conclusion was that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Nick’s death.

Dawn:

What?! Well that is so frustrating.

Cole:

Yeah. Kenny felt the same when he found out. However, Kenny wasn’t alone in his thinking by this time. A member of the Scottish Parliament, Liam Kerr, said that he too felt the death seemed highly suspicious, agreeing that the findings after the new internal investigation were startling. His thoughts seemed to be with the Randall family who continued to be at the centre of this and who only ever wanted to know the truth about what happened to their son. So much so that in 2018 Liam Kerr had asked Lord Advocate James Wolfe QC to review the case notes in relation to Nicholas Randall’s case, as he felt strongly that most people reading reports on this case would agree that there appears to be more to it. According to Wikipedia the Lord Advocate is the chief legal officer of the Scottish government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters.

Dawn:

Okay, so one of the top guys?

Cole:

Yeah, definitely. Unfortunately though, that was in 2018 and there’s been no further information about the outcome or the progress of the investigation, but if anything is found out we will update you.

Dawn:

Okay. Well, at least we know it’s being looked into and that it’s not just been brushed under the carpet again.

Cole:

Yeah, that’s true. Although Kenny did leave the force under a cloud and clearly there had been some bad blood, but he said his feelings towards the police had nothing to do with him coming forward now and telling his side of the story. He said he did it because he thinks Nick’s parents deserve to know the truth. Regardless of Kenny’s motivations, it is clear from the photos taken by the police photographer that there is more to this story than was initially told. Mr and Mrs Randall had no idea of the circumstances Nick was found in, no idea that there was ever a suggestion that there might have been a companion in the tent with him, possibly involved in his death, and had no idea that his death was anything other than not suspicious. Upon Kenny McKechnie opening up about the findings in the tent and the supposed subsequent lack of investigation into Nick’s death, Mr and Mrs Randall met with the police and were apparently told that the allegations would be looked into thoroughly. Since then there has been nothing from Mr and Mrs Randall either and I cannot imagine what they are going through. It must be absolute torture having to have this all dragged back up again. So, did Kenny do the right thing? I mean obviously if the investigation wasn’t done correctly or at all and Nick’s death was suspicious then of course it should have been brought up and investigated. Kenny is right that Mr and Mrs Randall do deserve to know the truth, but after nine years of having had time to grieve and try to come to terms with what had happened, is it fair to have opened up a wound again? I don’t know what I would prefer, not knowing or having to relive all the pain again.

Dawn:

Personally, I would want to know and I think Kenny did do the right thing, I just wish it’d all come to light a bit sooner.

Cole:

So, why don’t you contact us on social media and tell us what your thoughts are, as well as what your take is on what happened, what version are you leaning towards? Was Nick murdered by a person he met while walking on the West Highland Way and it wasn’t investigated properly by the police, or did he die tragically, non-suspiciously, from natural causes and the police knew something or had a vital piece of information that proved this? I hope we can bring you a definitive answer to this one day, but with all the evidence and the DNA now having been incinerated, it’s pretty doubtful.

Dawn:

So, two truly awful stories today, and we might never fully know what happened to Sandy and Nick, but hopefully these stories help in highlighting lessons that could and should be learned, especially when it comes to making assumptions when somebody is found dead.

And that’s the end. If you’ve enjoyed this episode and know just the person who’d also like it, please share it with them, don’t keep it to yourself.

Cole:

Please also get in touch on social media if you have any questions, comments or suggestions and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. All social media and contact details are on our website scottishmurders.com, as well as all the source material and photos related to this episode.

Dawn:

So, that’s it for this week. Come back next time for another episode of Scottish Murders.

Dawn and Cole:

Join us there! Bye!

Granny Robertson:

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn.

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn

Hosted by Dawn and Cole

Researched and Written by Dawn Young

Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull

Production Company Name by Granny Robertson

Music:

Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

by dawnyoung