Dundee Murders - 2 Roseangle
Dundee Murders
2 Roseangle
2 Roseangle
Roseangle murders: The 1980 killings that still haunt Dundee (googleusercontent.com)
Roseangle murders: Killer Henry Gallagher’s confession (thecourier.co.uk)
Crime Scene Real Estate: 15 Creepy Houses For Sale Today (theclever.com)
Dundee Matters: Buildings are key part of city’s narrative (thecourier.co.uk)
Revealed: Killer’s confession to double murder in Dundee 40 years ago
Crimes of the 80s: Carnage at Roseangle
Dundee ‘murder house’ to be auctioned off
Brian Kirk obituary: Superintendent who probed notorious Dundee murders
St Ethelbert’s Church, Ramsgate – Wikipedia
The gruesome double murder at Roseangle ‘house of horrors’ which still haunts Dundee after 40 years
Crime Scene Real Estate: 15 Creepy Houses For Sale Today
Dundee Matters: Buildings are key part of city’s narrative
Overview – Broadmoor Hospital – NHS
The Law Killers: True Crime from Dundee
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.
Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn
Hosted by Dawn
Researched and Written by Dawn Young
Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull
Voice Talent by Eleanor Morton
Production Company Name by Granny Robertson
Music:
Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter
Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter
Introduction by Eleanor Morton:
Welcome Wee Ones to Scottish Murders. Dawn will shortly be taking you through a solved or unsolved murder involving people from or living in Scotland. So get ready to hear about the darker side of Bonnie Scotland.
Dawn:
It was Sunday the 18th of May 1980 and the residents of Dundee had been enjoying a beautiful hot weekend. Many relaxed in their gardens enjoying the sunshine with a cold drink, while others were enjoying spending time in the parks, including four medical students from the University of Dundee, who, about 6.30pm, were on their way to have a game of football at a nearby park. While on their way they were having a kick about with the ball when one of them accidentally kicked their ball over the railings into the garden of a house in Roseangle. One of the students, Thomas, while being jokingly berated by his friends, made his way over the railings and into the garden to retrieve the ball. Thomas was just about to return with the ball when he happened to notice that a basement window of the property was broken, so, being curious, he decided to take a closer look.
Roseangle is a street in the west end of Dundee, which is known for its cobblestone roads, leafy green areas, older properties and beautiful views of the River Tay. And where Roseangle meets Perth Road is number 2 Roseangle, a magnificent detached home, which is directly across the street from the Dundee West Church of Scotland. 2 Roseangle was a large, grand property, and its occupants were that of Dr Alexander Wood and his wife, Dorothy, both 78 years old. Dr Wood had been a very popular GP in Dundee since 1930, however, due to his ailing health he had retired in 1975 at the age of 73. By 1980 Dr Wood and his wife’s health had deteriorated significantly, with Dr Wood only being able to get around with the aid of two sticks, in part due to him having an artificial leg. On Saturday the 17th of May 1980, Dr Alexander Wood had only been out of hospital for a few days and so the couple’s son, Nicholas, who was a dentist in Banchory, which was about 56 miles or 90 kilometres north of his parents home in Roseangle, had visited his parents to check they were both okay. Nicholas left his parents home on Saturday late afternoon, with the couple waving him off, before going back inside to prepare their tea. About an hour or so later, Dorothy heard the sound of breaking glass coming from their basement kitchen. Despite her frailty she went to investigate. Upon opening the door to the basement kitchen she came face to face with an intruder. She immediately shouted for her husband to phone the police, before pointing at the intruder and shouting at them to get out, at which point the intruder grabbed Dorothy by the arm. Dr Alexander Wood, having heard his wife’s distress and shouting, had also managed to make his way to her side, just in time to see the intruder put his hands on his wife, at which point Alexander began hitting the intruder with his cane. The intruder, shocked by the couple, immediately looked around for a weapon, with his eyes falling on a slater’s hammer lying nearby. He picked this up and began to strike the elderly couple repeatedly, again and again, until they both lay motionless on the floor of the basement kitchen. After the attack, Henry dropped the slater’s hammer and looked towards the couple who were now lying on the floor covered in blood, with their eyes open staring at nothing. At this point Henry began to laugh and cry at the same time, before being physically sick. He then slowly sunk to the floor and sat there in a daze.
29 year old Henry John Gallagher was born in Dundee on the 3rd of April 1951 as Henry John Reid, but had at some point changed his name to Gallagher. He was brought up in Dundee by his mother, but never knew his father. According to an article in The Courier newspaper on the 18th of May 2020, Henry Gallagher had a long record of burglary and assault, mainly directed towards clergyman, having assaulted a minister in Dundee in 1972, as well as a year later attacking a priest, and in 1979 he broke into a property to rob it and when he found they had a pet dog he cut its throat. Henry Gallagher had been on leave from Maidstone prison in England, which is about 531 miles or 854 kilometres from Dundee, where he was serving a three-year prison sentence for burglary. For whatever reason, during his leave Henry Gallagher returned to his hometown of Dundee, whereupon he approached a local club and asked a woman there for directions to the home of the Roman Catholic Bishop and the woman directed him towards Roseangle, where the Bishop’s residence was located. When Henry Gallagher arrived at Roseangle, he saw the grand house directly opposite the church and assumed that this was the residence he was looking for, which he planned to break into and rob. He then proceeded to make his way to the basement window of the property, which he broke and climbed through, where within minutes he would be carrying out his atrocious act on the helpless and frail Dr Alexander Wood and his wife, Dorothy.
Coming out of his daze, which Henry felt had been a long time, following his frenzied attack on Dr Wood and his wife, he got up from the floor and decided to carry out the very robbery he had intended to do in the first place. Going from room to room Henry Gallagher packed a suitcase belonging to the couple full of jewellery and silverware worth about £2,000, which in today’s money would be about £6,900 or $8,600. He then put on Dr Wood’s long raincoat to cover the blood on his clothes, picked up the suitcase and left the property. However, due to the hot weather that evening, Henry’s odd appearance of wearing a raincoat had been noticed.
Thomas, with his football in hand, had made his way to the broken basement window and was now scrambling back up the steps towards his three friends, to inform them of the horrendous sight he had just seen, before then also alerting the police. By 7.30pm, an hour after Thomas had made the gruesome discovery, 2 Roseangle had been declared a crime scene, and Detective Chief Superintendent Jim Cameron had arrived at the property to lead the inquiry into the murder of the “well nigh defenceless” Dr Alexander Wood and his wife Dorothy, both 78 years old. However, despite the lead detective being an experienced old-school detective, he was shocked by the level of violence that had been displayed towards the elderly couple, saying in the Courier newspaper on the 24th of September 2013 that it was “not normal.”. As Detective Jim Cameron surveyed the devastation inside 2 Roseangle, the street outside of the property was a flurry of activity, with a mobile incident van setting up nearby, 40 police officers beginning to canvas the area for witnesses, and an appeal being made for information, and it wasn’t long before a picture began to emerge.
Students from the nearby University of Dundee, who had been sunbathing on the grassy area adjacent to Dr and Mrs Wood’s property on Saturday, had said that they had seen a man leaving the property on late Saturday afternoon, with the couple waving him off from the doorway. It was established quickly that this was the couple’s son, Nicholas, that had been seen, and it was determined, following the post-mortem, that the couple had likely been murdered within an hour of their son leaving. According to the Law Killers book, another witness came forward, who worked at a nearby club, who said that on late Saturday afternoon a man, she estimated to be about 30 years old, had come to the club and asked her to give him directions to the Roman Catholic Bishop’s home, which was located on Roseangle. She went on to say that he was odd looking as he wore a dated style of shirt which had large floral patterns on it. Upon the police speaking to the Roman Catholic Bishop who resided in Roseangle, it was quickly established that the same male had shown up in the garden of the Bishop’s home, but that he’d scarpered pretty quickly when he was confronted by the Bishop’s housekeeper. As news of the atrocious and vicious attack got out, locals were disgusted by what had happened to the elderly couple and made sure to contact the police with any scrap of information they thought might be helpful to catch the murderer. Such information included witnesses coming forward to say they had seen a male on Saturday evening wearing a raincoat and a stained hat carrying a suitcase and hurriedly making his way along Perth Road, which particularly stood out due to the weather being so hot. As more and more witnesses came forward with sightings of this out of place man on the Saturday, it led the police directly to the railway station, although this man had at least a day’s head start so finding out where he went next wasn’t going to be easy.
While detectives were working hard to establish who the murderer was and where he had gone, a phone call that was received from a local GP sounded very promising. The female GP had eventually called the police, having wrestled with her conscience, to give them the name of one of her patients she felt strongly could have committed these murders. This line of inquiry was immediately followed up, however, it shortly fell flat when the GP’s patient had a solid alibi for the time of the murders. With this line of inquiry proving fruitless, the detectives were even more determined to find out who this brutal murderer was, and, so, they appealed for information again, this time though they appealed to the Dundee underworld for information, hoping that they too would be disgusted at the level of violence shown to the elderly couple, and they would be right. However, while they did receive information from the underworld, it also led nowhere. And then a few days after the discovery of the murders, the latest edition of the police Gazette landed on the desk of a detective working on the murder inquiry. While having a quick perusal of it he just happened to notice a short listing about how 29 year old Henry John Gallagher or Reid had not returned to Maidstone prison following his home leave on the 12th of May, and it just so happened that the detective reading this listing knew all about Henry John Gallagher and alarm bells started ringing.
Following Henry Gallagher arriving at the train station in Dundee on Saturday evening still wearing the raincoat and stained hat, he boarded a train to London, about 482 miles or 775 kilometres from Dundee, before boarding another train to Ramsgate, about 80 miles or 128 kilometres east of London located on the coast. He spent a few days hiding out and slowly getting rid of the jewellery and silverware he had stolen from the Woods’ home, before he then met a couple who said they could provide him with new identification in order for him to be able to travel onwards to France. The couple then told him to meet them later that night and they would provide him with the identification he needed, and in return Henry would pay them in jewellery. Henry then strolled away from the couple, before stopping a passer-by in the street to ask for directions to the home of the nearest Roman Catholic Priest, who was frail 88 year old Father Paul Hull who lived with his 73 year old housekeeper Maud Lelean. Upon arriving at the priest’s home Henry knocked on the door, which was answered by the welcoming priest who invited Henry into his home. In return for the kind priest welcoming Henry into his home, he sadly was beaten repeatedly and savagely with his own walking stick by Henry, before Henry also turned the priest’s walking stick onto his housekeeper. With Father Hull and Maud Lelean lying severely beaten and close to death on the floor of Father Hull’s study having sustained severe head injuries, Henry ransacked the house looking for jewellery, money and silverware, before about an hour later being seen leaving the home and walking away wearing a raincoat he had not been wearing when he entered. About 30 minutes later, Father Whealan arrived at the home of Father Hull and went inside. Upon calling out to Father Hull and his housekeeper Maud and receiving no reply, he opened the door to Father Hull’s study, where he faced the devastation that Henry Gallagher had left in his wake. Father Whealan immediately called an ambulance and the police, but sadly 88 year old Father Paul Hull was declared dead at the scene. However, 73 year old Maud Lelean was still alive, albeit barely, and she was rushed to hospital, but sadly she died three days later never having regained consciousness.
With detectives now on the murder scene at Father Hull’s home, and having recovered from the bloodied brutality and violence that had met them, they began to call door-to-door to see if there were any witnesses to this horrific murder, which is when they discovered that a male had been seen arriving at the property and leaving about an hour later dressed in a raincoat, and about 30 minutes before Father Whealan arrived. Now detectives had a brief description of who they believed was their murderer, they just had to find out who and where he was.
Upon a detective working on the murder inquiry of Doctor and Mrs Wood in Dundee seeing a listing in the Police Gazette about Henry John Gallagher having not returned to prison following his leave, he immediately shared his belief with other detectives that Henry may have made his way back to his hometown of Dundee and had been involved in the horrific murder of Dr and Mrs Wood. If this were the case then more people, particularly clergyman, could be at risk of being attacked or worse by Henry too. And so the detectives sought a recent photo of Henry Gallagher from Maidstone prison, which they then showed along with nine other photos of similar looking men to the lady at the club near the Woods’ home who had given directions to the Roman Catholic Bishop’s home located on Roseangle to an odd looking man, as well as to the housekeeper of said home who had confronted a man who had appeared in the garden of the Bishop’s home on late Saturday afternoon. Both witnesses, having looked at all ten photos, picked out the man they had seen on Saturday afternoon, who was that of Henry John Gallagher. The detectives were pretty sure they had discovered the identity of the murderer of Dr and Mrs Wood, however, before any inquiry could be carried out to find Henry Gallagher, word reached the Dundee detectives that an attack and murder had taken place in Ramsgate in England of an elderly priest and his housekeeper. The police immediately contacted Ramsgate detectives and informed them that they believed they were now both looking for the same man, advising them who this man was and what his background was. The hunt was now on to find Henry John Gallagher, a man who had so savagely attacked and murdered four people in the space of seven days, before he was able to strike again.
Upon Henry Gallagher walking away from Father Hull’s home and carrying out the brutal murders, he returned to meet the couple who had promised him new identification and paid them with some of the jewellery he had not long ago stolen from Father Hull’s home after murdering him. Henry then spent the night at the couple’s home, who had no idea of the horrific murders their house guest had committed. But at first light Henry fled Ramsgate, knowing it wouldn’t be long before the news broke about the attack and murder of Father Hull and his housekeeper, Maud. With the Dundee detectives having alerted the Ramsgate detectives of the likely murderer being Henry John Gallagher, it was immediately arranged by the Ramsgate police for a photo of Henry to be distributed to every newspaper in the country, with headlines stating, according to the Law Killers book, ‘Catch this man’ and ‘Danger Man’. However, back in Scotland, according to the Law Killers book, the newspapers in Scotland were not allowed to publish Henry’s picture in their publications as his identification might infringe on him having a fair trial. Thankfully, Henry wasn’t making his way back to Dundee as had been thought, but instead decided to stay in England, and, due to newspapers there being allowed to publish his photograph at will, Henry would find it harder and harder to evade capture.
Henry made his way back to London again, before eventually ending up in Brighton, about 53 miles or 86 kilometres south of London on the south coast, and it just so happened that the particular weekend Henry found himself in Brighton was when the town was packed with visiting skinheads. Thinking that if he too shaved his head then he might not only blend in more but it also may aid him in remaining undetected by the ever-present police. However, he did such a bad job of shaving his head, which caused many sore, bloodied cuts to it, that it actually had the opposite effect to what he was looking for. Next he tried to pretend he was a tourist and donned a loud colourful shirt, sunglasses and a camera, but again he only seemed to draw more and more attention to himself. He eventually had to flee Brighton as he had overheard the landlady of the guest house he was spending a few days in telling a member of staff that she believed the man who was staying with them was the man the police were seeking. From here, Henry made his way from town to town, always trying to keep on the move, and in one town he broke into a Salvation Army hall and stole £400, which in today’s money is about £2,000 or about $2,500. On the 29th of May 1980, a few days after fleeing from Brighton, Henry eventually ended up in York in England, about 281 miles or 452 kilometres from Dundee and about 273 miles or 439 kilometres from Brighton, where he found himself at the home of local vicar, Derek Hall, and his wife Dorothy. Upon Dorothy answering the door to the knock, Henry, looking worse for wear, asked if he could wash their car. As Dorothy replied that her husband was away from their home with the car just now, she had a nagging feeling that she had seen this man somewhere before. Henry accepted Dorothy’s reply and turned to leave, before Dorothy closed the door and went to a window to watch the dishevelled man walk away. At that point she realised where she had seen the man before, in the morning newspaper, he was a wanted man for murder! Dorothy immediately called the police to advise them she had just had the country’s most wanted man at her door, before going on to ring round every minister or priest in the area to warn them of the dangerous man who may come calling. Upon having the door closed on him with no prospect of cleaning the family’s car, Henry walked slowly off down the street, where after walking for almost a mile or 1.6 kilometres he came upon the home of Father Curristan. He approached the front door and knocked on it, but he received no answer. Henry then sat down on the doorstep and lit up a cigarette. However, Father Curristan was inside the property and had seen from an upstairs window the dishevelled man approach his home and knock on the door. Father Curristan, not recognising this man, made the decision not to answer the door to him, and in essence likely saved his own life. As he continued to watch the man sitting on his doorstep, the phone beside him began to ring. Father Curristan answered the telephone and would have been pleased with his decision not to answer the door, as on the other end of the phone was Dorothy Hall, the wife of vicar, Derek Hall, who was phoning to let Father Curristan know that a murderer the police were seeking was in the area and had not long been at her door, and telling him to be careful about answering his door. As Father Curristan listened in disbelief and relief at what Dorothy was telling him, he noticed a police car passing his home and that the man on the doorstep had got up and was beginning to head in the opposite direction. From his position at the upstairs window, Father Curristan saw the police turn round, approach the dishevelled man and talk to him. However, without any warning the man took off at great speed, and the police officers gave chase. After leading the police on a chase over fences and through back gardens, Henry eventually stopped, turned round and declared “Okay, you’ve got me”, and he was promptly arrested, 12 days after he committed the brutal murder of Dr Alexander Wood and Dorothy Wood back in Dundee.
Both Ramsgate detectives and Detective Jim Cameron from Dundee travelled to York to question Henry Gallagher about the murders in their respective towns. When the Ramsgate detectives questioned him, Henry straight away told them, according to the Courier newspaper, that he was going to come clean and wanted to get it all off his chest, to which he proceeded to make a full confession regarding the murders of Father Hull and his housekeeper Maud Lelean in Ramsgate. Following Henry’s confession to the murders in Ramsgate, it was then Detective Jim Cameron’s turn to question him about the murders in Dundee and, as he had done with the previous detectives, Henry Gallagher made a full confession to the murders of Dr and Mrs Wood, stating that he had kept hitting them both like he had gone crazy. He went on to say that he didn’t think he was right in the head, that he had to be cured and that if he went to prison when he came out there would be more. He also apparently stated that he had told all of this to a psychiatrist ten years before, but they didn’t take any notice. Henry Gallagher was then charged with the four murders.
As Henry was arrested in England, had failed to return to Maidstone prison in England after his leave, as well as two of the murders he was charged with being committed in England, it was decided that he would appear in court for the murders he committed in Ramsgate first, before any further cases would be heard. And, so, in December 1980 Henry Gallagher appeared at Maidstone Crown Court in England where he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Father Hull and Maud LeLean in Ramsgate on the grounds of diminished responsibility. However, at this time, following assessments and reports being prepared and heard by the judge, the judge made the decision that Henry Gallagher be detained at Broadmoor Hospital with a restriction without limit on his discharge.
According to nhs.uk Broadmoor Hospital is one of three high security psychiatric hospitals that specialise in providing assessment, treatment and care for men from London and the south of England.
A few days after Henry Gallagher was detained in Broadmoor Hospital, the Lord Advocate in Scotland announced his decision that no further action would be taken against Henry Gallagher in Scotland regarding the murders of Dr Alexander Wood and Dorothy Wood.
It is believed that Henry Gallagher remains in Broadmoor Hospital to this day, and therefore has never been tried in Scotland for the murders he committed in Dundee, and this murder case still remains unsolved, despite the confession to the murders by Henry Gallagher.
In 1994 a 22-page book was published by Henry Gallagher while still in Broadmoor hospital, where he detailed his life and the crimes he committed, including the murders of Dr Alexander Wood and his wife Dorothy. When Detective Jim Cameron heard about the book he said in an article in The Courier newspaper that he was delighted to hear that Henry Gallagher had finally confessed to the Dundee murders publicly, going on to say it had finally closed the case for him, and in his eyes justice had been done as Henry Gallagher was placed where he should have been because he was beyond saving.
2 Roseangle, despite changing hands numerous times since the horrific murders that happened there, has stood empty ever since. Once such a magnificent home is now unrecognisable; being overgrown, all windows boarded up and having been vandalised inside and out.
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Granny Robertson:
Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn
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Dundee Murders - Gordon Dunbar
Dundee Murders
Gordon Dunbar
Gordon Dunbar
Episode Summary
James was disappointed that his brother Gordon didn’t turn up to spend Christmas Day with his family, but there was a very good reason for his absence.
ALASTAIR THOMPSON v. HER MAJESTY’S ADVOCATE
Gordon Dunbar, 1992 – DD Tours
Murderer who cut up his victim gets life | HeraldScotland
Brian Kirk obituary: Superintendent who probed notorious Dundee murders
Murderer who cut up his victim gets life | HeraldScotland
Montrose Visitor Guide – Accommodation, Things To Do & More | VisitScotland
Butterburn Court | UK Housing Wiki | Fandom
The Law Killers: True Crime from Dundee
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.
Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn
Hosted by Dawn
Researched and Written by Dawn Young
Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull
Voice Talent by Eleanor Morton
Production Company Name by Granny Robertson
Music:
Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter
Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter
Dawn:
Trigger warning. This episode contains gruesome details that some listeners may find disturbing, so listener discretion is advised.
Before I begin, a lot of the information for this story I got from The Law Killers by Alexander McGregor, which is a book all about murders that have happened in Dundee.
It was Christmas Eve 1992, some people were carrying out last minute preparations for the Christmas Day festivities the following day, while others had started the celebrations already and were enjoying a pint or two at their local pub. Also enjoying themselves that night were two women who had struck up a conversation with two men at Arthur’s Nightclub in St Andrew’s Lane in Dundee. The four had a great night at the nightclub drinking, dancing and laughing Christmas Eve away, and before they knew it it was well into Christmas Day. Wanting to keep the party going, at about 2.30am the women invited the men back to theirs to carry on drinking and partying and they both accepted. One of the men in particular was the life and soul of the small party, keeping the others entertained until about 5am when he finally left, and all would have agreed that they had a great night, and they wouldn’t have believed for one second that there had been a murderer in their midst.
James was really looking forward to Christmas Day this year as his half-brother, Gordon, would be coming to spend the day with his family and have his Christmas meal with them. James knew that Gordon had not had it easy lately and that he’d been quite despondent, so he hoped that Gordon being around all of his family would cheer him up.
Gordon Dunbar had returned to Dundee recently having lived in France for a time with his French partner. Gordon and his male partner had opened up a café in Arras in France, which had proved very popular with the gay community. However, sadly, Gordon and his partner had split up and the business had failed, resulting in a heartbroken Gorden returning to Dundee. Gordon had lived in Scotland since the age of 11, having grown up in the Belgium Congo, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with his parents. It’s not known what happened to Gordon’s parents but at the age of 11 Gordon moved to Scotland and lived with his aunt in Montrose, which is about 38 miles or 61 kilometres north of Dundee. As a young man, Gordon had become an architect and worked for the city on some big local projects. Upon Gordon’s aunt dying he received an inheritance, which is when he moved to France to begin a new life.
However, that life was now well and truly behind Gordon, as in December 1992 he was living in a hostel in Dundee for the homeless and unemployed. According to The Law Killers book, Gordon’s fellow residents at the hostel said that he was colourful in appearance but responsible, quiet and friendly, and that he made no secret about the fact he was gay. Gordon was also said to like jewellery and wore a single earring and a nine carat gold bracelet, which had been made from his grandfather’s watch chain.
The last time Gordon had been seen was on Christmas Eve 1992. He had left the hostel where he was living in the late morning wearing his distinctive long coat and said he was going to visit at the town centre. He was next seen in a bar in Union Street where he spent some time having a festive drink or two with some of the residents from the hostel, before leaving here about 6.30pm and heading to another bar a few yards along the same street. He stayed here for about 15 minutes before leaving, and it was said that he had been alone. Gordon next attended a grocery shop in Hilltown, about a 19 minute walk from the pub, where he bought, according to The Law Killers book, cheese, garlic, granules and powdered soup. Gordon Dunbar wasn’t seen alive again. So where had Gordon gone after leaving the grocery shop?
On Christmas Day, James was disappointed that his half-brother Gordon didn’t turn up for the planned Christmas meal, but he wasn’t initially concerned, maybe Gordon was having a bad day and didn’t feel like spending his time celebrating with his family, maybe it just felt too much for him at this time. And so the family carried on without Gordon; they ate, opened presents and had a merry time. However, as the days went by and James didn’t hear from Gordon his annoyance at Gordon not even calling to apologise turned to worry, and then fear, when he phoned the hostel where Gordon was staying to be told by the landlord that Gordon hadn’t been seen since Christmas Eve, a week earlier. This was the point that James began to pray that the body parts that had been found on Dundee Law were not those of his brother, Gordon Dunbar.
Sergeant Ronald Fyffe had enjoyed having Christmas Day and a few days afterwards off to spend time with his wife and young daughter, but it was now the 30th of December and it was time to get back to some normality at the police station. Ronald was in charge of Tayside Police’s dog section and was in charge himself of two Alsatians, Dirk and Tyke, who he exercised up to five times a day on Dundee Law, which was close to his home.
According to Wikipedia, Dundee Law is a hill in the centre of Dundee. It has a war memorial at its summit, is the highest point in the city and is the most prominent feature on the local skyline. Apparently, The Law is what remains of a volcanic sill, which is the result of volcanic activity around 400 million years ago.
Ronald had been called to the police station to take care of other business and, so, on the 30th of December 1992 the morning exercise of the two dogs had fallen to Ronald’s young daughter. She didn’t mind though as Dirk and Tyke were part of the family. Ronald’s young daughter led Dirk and Tyke to Law Road at the bottom of Dundee Law before taking their leads off, expecting them to tear up The Law leaving her to chase after them. But they didn’t do this. Instead the two dogs went straight to three plastic bags that had been left in a grassy area at the bottom of The Law on Law Road. Ronald’s young daughter assumed this was just household rubbish that had been left there and went towards the dogs to shoo them away. However, by the time she reached the dogs and the plastic bags the two dogs had torn one of the bags open, revealing to Ronald’s daughter as she grew closer a severed human arm and hand. Ronald’s young daughter, in a state of fright, put the leads back on the two Alsatians and ran home, where she told her mother what she had seen. Her mother, Pamela, had no doubt her young daughter was telling the truth as she was clearly distressed, and so Pamela immediately called her husband, Ronald, at the police station.
Before long there was a large police presence at the bottom of Dundee Law on Law Road. The two other plastic bags that had been left at the bottom of The Law were opened and revealed, according to The Law Killers book, part of the upper portion of a human torso in one bag and the lower human torso section and upper arm in the other bag. As there was no head found at this time, it made identifying the victim tricky.
Before an appeal could be made to try and identify the killer, firstly the victim had to be identified, and so the parts of the body that had been found were forensically examined and tested until finally the police had a description of sorts to be able to appeal to the public for information on the 31st of December 1992. They advised that from examining the male body parts that had been found on the law on the 30th of December, it could be determined that the male had, according to The Law Killers book, at one time undergone surgery to his stomach and had suffered a fracture to four ribs. Marks on his left wrist also indicated that a thick bracelet of some kind had regularly been worn there. It was also stated that the male had well maintained hands with fairly long, well manicured fingernails, and was also suntanned. He was thought to be aged between 30 to 50 and be about 5 feet 10 inches or 1.5 metres tall. What wasn’t put in the appeal that had also been found out while examining the body parts was that there had been anal tearing identified, suggesting that the male victim could have been homosexual and that sex may have taken place shortly before his murder.
Keen to find the remaining body parts to be able to build a better picture of how the victim had died, the police, according to The Law Killers book, carried out extensive searches, including sifting through more than 100 tons of Dundee domestic rubbish due to being incinerated. However, despite the extensive searches and the appeal, no further body parts were found at this time.
The police at this point had done all they could, they now needed someone to come forward who recognised the description in the appeal, someone who could positively identify the victim.
James knew he had to phone the police upon hearing the appeal about the male body parts that had been found, but he was in complete shock. Not his brother. It couldn’t possibly be his lovely, kind, quiet brother who the police were describing. But he knew deep down that it was. He knew that his brother had had abdominal surgery, he knew that his brother had four ribs broken one time when he was mugged, he knew his brother took care of himself and had regular manicures, he knew it was him they were describing, he knew. James, with tears in his eyes, picked up the telephone and called the police to let them know that he believed the body parts they had found were his brother, 52 year old Gordon Dunbar.
Upon the police receiving the telephone call from James Dunbar, who confirmed that his brother Gordon had had stomach surgery and previously had four ribs broken, as well as confirming that his brother was homosexual, the police and forensics wasted no time in attending Anchor House, where James mentioned Gordon had been living. Gordon’s room was forensically examined and fingerprints and DNA were collected, which were positively matched to that of the body parts. Now the police had identified the victim as being Gordon Dunbar, they now just needed to identify his murderer. And so they issued another appeal asking for people to come forward if they had any information around Gordon Dunbar’s murder.
While the police waited for information to come in, they began to try and trace Gordon’s last known movements. They began by talking to his fellow residents at Anchor House Hostel, and a few of them said that they had had a drink with Gordon at a bar in Union Street, before he left about 6.30pm to head to another pub further along the street, confirming that he was wearing his distinctive long coat. They also confirmed that Gordon had left the pub alone and that he hadn’t said he was meeting anyone. The police also spoke to Gordon’s landlord at Anchor House, who said that Gordon had left early morning on Christmas Eve saying that he was heading into Dundee, and he said he had been wearing his distinctive long coat. The police were keen to find out Gordon’s movements while he was in Dundee that day, and the search of Gordon’s room at Anchor House would soon turn up some answers. Gordon’s bank had posted out a statement, and upon closer inspection it showed that Gordon had attended his bank on the morning of Christmas Eve, where he had deposited £60 or $75. However, another transaction on the bank statement that occurred on the evening of Christmas Eve caught the detectives eye. It appeared that Gordon had withdrawn £150 or $188 from a cash machine at 9.22pm on Christmas Eve in Commercial Street, which is a two-minute walk from where Gordon was last seen in Union Street and a 34-minute walk from where some of Gordon’s body parts were found at the bottom of Dundee Law. But why would Gordon deposit money on Christmas Eve morning and then withdraw over double the amount again that same evening? Was it perhaps the killer who had done this?
The police then began receiving information from the public which further helped them trace Gordon’s movements on Christmas Eve. A grocery shop owner told the police that he had served Gordon in his shop on Christmas Eve shortly after 7pm, where he had bought cheese, garlic granules and powdered soup. The bags that the body parts had been found in were also forensically examined and it was established that they had been from a particular batch that had been supplied to Spar shops in Dundee, and the closest Spar shop where the body parts had been found was in Hilltown, about a 19 minute walk from Dundee Law, and also the same area where Gordon had bought his groceries on Christmas Eve. So, the police were starting to build a picture of Gordon’s movements that fateful evening. However, his grocery purchases, speaking to the residents and landlord at Gordon’s hostel and from forensically examining Gordon’s room, wasn’t taking the police any closer to identifying a suspect.
That was until the 8th of January 1993 when police received a phone call from a male living in Perth, about 22 miles or 35 kilometres from Dundee, saying that a man called Alistair Thompson had spent the New Year weekend in Perth and that he’d talked in great detail about the Dundee Law murder.
Alistair Thompson was known to the police as in 1967, when he was 18 years old, he had been given a life sentence and ordered to spend at least 16 years in prison before being eligible for parole, having been found guilty of murdering his grandmother by stabbing her 16 times with a carving knife in a frenzied attack, before hitting her in the head twice with a hammer, smashing her skull. Alistair had spent his 16 year sentence in Perth prison, and upon being released in 1984 on license he married a social worker that he had met while in prison. The marriage didn’t last long though and Alistair had moved to England. However, he found himself back in prison again in 1989 having been charged with serious assault, for which he spent two years and six months in prison for. He was released in January 1992, where he returned to Dundee and secured a job working, according to The Law Killers book, as a resident caretaker at a home used by the Scottish Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders, whose aim, according to sacro.org.uk is to provide a wide range of direct, innovative services in community justice, public protection and care and housing, which are all designed to help build safe communities by reducing conflict and offending, and at the time of Gordon Dunbar’s murder 43 year old Alistair Thompson was still working as the caretaker for this organisation.
Upon receiving the phone call from the male from Perth who gave Alistair Thompson’s name as possibly being connected to Gordon Dunbar’s brutal murder and dismemberment, detectives headed to Perth to take a statement from the man, and any other potential witnesses they could trace. Following the visit to Perth, the police not only came away with statements from witnesses who had been in Alistair’s company on the New Year weekend in Perth, but also in possession of an antique gold chain that Alistair had given to a female he knew in Perth, which matched exactly the gold chain that Gordon wore on his left wrist. With the police feeling confident they had enough evidence to arrest Alistair Thompson for the murder of Gordon Dunbar, they arrived at the home where Alistair Thompson was a residential caretaker and had a room and arrested him and took him to the station for questioning.
While Alistair was at the police station, police and forensics officers were examining Alistair’s room, and what they found cemented their belief that Alistair Thompson was the man who had murdered Gordon Dunbar. Hidden in a suitcase under Alistair Thompson’s bed was a blood-stained shirt, trousers and a t-shirt. Also found in the room was a block of cheese, garlic granules and powdered soup, the exact items Gordon had bought at a local grocers before disappearing. A scrap of paper with four numbers written on it was also found in the room, as well as a distinctive long coat, which would later be identified as Gordon’s by his brother. But it was a set of keys found in Alistair Thompson’s room that was even more interesting. It was quickly established that none of the keys opened any door in the property he was living in. But the mystery surrounding where the keys did open would soon be solved, when an electricity bill with the address 91 Butterburn Court on it was also found in Alistair’s room. And it just so happened the Butterburn Court was located close to Dundee Law, and overlooked the exact place where the body parts in plastic bags had been found.
According to the website UK Housing, Butterburn Court was built in 1971, and, at 67 metres or 220 feet tall, it was one of Dundee’s tallest tower blocks, with flat 91 being on the ninth floor of the 22 floors.
After a few checks it was determined that the occupant of 91 Butterburn Court was that of a murderer who was out on license. Could this male also have been involved in the murder of Gordon Dunbar? No, he wasn’t, as it was quickly established that the man who had once occupied the flat at 91 Butterburn Court had left Dundee and moved to London two months prior. Just how Alistair Thompson had come to have the keys of 91 Butterburn Court was never determined, but it was likely that he and the occupant of the flat had been acquaintances in prison, or he and Alistair Thompson had become known to one another through the Scottish Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders Organisation, where Alistair was currently a residential caretaker for them, and perhaps the occupant had handed the keys to Alistair upon him leaving, assuming that Alistair would arrange for a new occupant to move into 91 Butterburn Court. Little did the previous occupant know that Alistair had other ideas of how the flat could be used.
Having discovered the Butterburn Court address and still having the set of keys that didn’t fit in any of the locks at Alistair’s lodgings, the police set off to Butterburn Court, and soon discovered that this indeed was the property where the keys fitted. Upon unlocking the door, the police opened the door of the flat and entered.
Back at the premises where Alistair was residing, while his room was being forensically examined, his fellow residents were being questioned to see if they could remember anything odd about Alistair on Christmas Eve 1992, and the police wouldn’t be disappointed. According to a couple of residents, on Christmas Eve Alistair had returned to the premises shortly before 10.30pm. They said he had been very jovial, flashing cash that he said he had won on the races and wearing a distinctive long coat that he said had been given to him by a female friend as an early Christmas present. They said he had then washed, changed his clothes and headed back out again to enjoy the rest of the Christmas Eve celebrations. Armed with this information, and the evidence that had been found in his room, detectives returned to the police station to question Alistair Thompson about his involvement in Gordon Dunbar’s murder. They started by asking what his relationship to Gordon Dunbar was, how did he know him, and had he had sex with him, to which Alistair stated that he had never been in the company of Gordon Dunbar, he didn’t know him and denied having sex with him. The police then asked how he had come to be in possession of Gordon’s gold chain, as well as a key fob of Gordon’s, which had also been given to another acquaintance of Alistair’s in Perth, to which Alistair stated that he had found both items on the street in Dundee and he had just picked them up, going on to say that, yes, he had given them to acquaintances of his. The detectives followed up by asking how Gordon’s exact shopping purchases had come to be in Alistair’s room, to which Alistair just shrugged. They asked about the blood-soaked clothing under his bed, but again he just shrugged. Detectives realised they wouldn’t be getting a confession from Alistair, but they were still confident they had more than enough evidence to prove that Alistair had been involved in Gordon’s murder, which was just about to be compounded when police officers opened the door to 91 Butterburn Court.
Upon officers opening the flat door of 91 Butterburn court and walking into the living area, they saw plastic bags similar to the ones that the body parts had been found in. They also found a roll of tape similar to what had been used to seal the plastic bags the body parts had been in. Officers were already feeling pretty sure that this is where the body of Gordon Dunbar had been dismembered, however, their suspicions were confirmed when they walked into the bathroom and found it splattered with blood and body tissue, and on the bathroom floor lay two hacksaws; one broken but both covered in blood. The whole flat was subsequently forensically examined, which only further confirmed Alistair Thompson’s involvement in the murder and dismemberment of Gordon Dunbar. However, back at the police station, upon these latest developments being passed onto the detectives questioning Alistair, he was told he was going to be charged with the murder and dismemberment of Gordon Dunbar, but firstly he was asked, according to the Aberdeen Press and Journal on the 12th of May 1993, if he could help with the recovery of the missing pieces of Gordon’s body, for the sake of Gordon’s family, to which Alistair replied that he knew nothing whatsoever about the murder of Gordon Dunbar. He was then taken away to be held in custody until his trial, while the police continued to take statements from witnesses who called in with information, as well as the results becoming available from the forensic examination of Alistair’s room and 91 Butterburn Court, which all pointed to Alistair Thompson being Gordon’s murderer.
As word spread around Dundee about Gordon’s murder and dismemberment, more and more people came forward with information. One of which was a male who had apparently been the one to lend Alistair the hacksaws, and he had a very interesting story to tell. According to The Law Killers book, this male said that Alistair had asked him on Christmas Day if he could borrow a hacksaw so he could cut up some pipes. However, the very next day Alistair approached his friend again saying that the hacksaw had broken and could he borrow another one, and at which point he admitted his friend that he was using the hacksaws to try and cut up a body, which apparently he was doing for two hitmen from Glasgow who had actually killed the man he was trying to dispose of. Apparently Alistair continued by saying that he’d already disposed of some of the body parts having placed them in plastic bags and taken them to Dudhope Park, an 18-minute walk from Dundee Law and Butterburn Court. He went on to say that he had also disposed of the head of Gordon already by putting it in a skip. He also said that he would be dumping the rest of the body parts at Dundee Law as it was closer. Apparently Alistair also asked the same man if he had an open fire in his home as he wanted to get rid of Gordon Dunbar’s bank card, with the man confirming to the police that Alistair did actually use Gordon Dunbar’s name when referring to the man he was dismembering. The man he had told this to, who was now recounting the conversation to the police, said that he thought Alistair was just joking. However, the police took this very seriously and a team of officers went to Dudhope Park to carry out a search of the area, where they did in fact uncover more of the same plastic bags that had been dumped at the bottom of Dundee Law. Upon forensics being called to the scene, the bags were opened and revealed a lower leg, feet, one of which was in a lady’s stocking, and the remaining arm. Sadly, Gordon’s head and the rest of his upper torso were never found. The police already had so much evidence against Alistair, as well as numerous witnesses coming forward, but the icing on the cake came from forensics.
According to the Press and Journal on the 12th of May 1993, DNA profiling had been carried out on samples taken from a shirt found at the hostel where Alistair Thompson lived and a rug from the Butterburn Court flat, and were found to match those taken from the body parts, with an estimated probability of the DNA profile from the shirt and rug samples matching someone other than the deceased being less than one in 57 million. Also, according to the Press and Journal on the 7th of May 1993, fingerprints matching Alistair Thompson were found on a glass that had been in the flat at 91 Butterburn Court. So, now Alistair Thompson could categorically be placed in the flat where Gordon Dunbar had been murdered and dismembered. The police now believed they had a good idea of the events that had taken place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, they just needed the results of the post-mortem to confirm exactly how Gordon had died.
On Christmas Eve morning Gordon had gone into Dundee town centre and had deposited some money at his bank, before spending some time around Dundee. He then attended a pub on Union Street, where he spent some time in the company of fellow residents of Anchor House. About 6.30pm he left this pub and went to another one a few yards along the same street, where he had one drink then left about 6.45pm. He then made his way to the Hilltown area, about a 19 minute walk from Union Street, where he stopped at the grocery shop and bought cheese, garlic granules and powdered soup, before leaving the shop. It is believed that he met Alistair Thompson upon leaving this shop to walk home. Upon meeting Alistair Thompson, Gordon must have been persuaded somehow to accompany Alistair to the flat at Butterburn Court, which is a 19 minute walk from the Hilltown area, presumably to have sex. Upon entering the Butterburn Court flat, it appears things carried on in that vein as the post-mortem showed that Gordon did have sex, it just wasn’t clear if this happened before or after his death. However, at some point things turned sinister when Alistair is presumed to have threatened Gordon and robbed him, taking his gold chain from his wrist, his bank card, his long distinctive coat, and a key fob, before making Gordon write down his bank card code, which was later found on a scrap bit of paper in his room. The results of the post-mortem showed that Alistair had then proceeded to brutally punch and kick Gordon before stabbing him repeatedly, with a stab to Gordon’s heart being the cause of death. Alistair then put on Gordon’s distinctive long coat, presumably to hide the blood that would have been on him, then picked up Gordon’s bag with the groceries in it and left the flat. Alistair then walked to a cash machine and used Gordon’s bank card to withdraw £150 or $188 from his account using the four-digit bank code he had forced Gordon to give him, before he returned to his residence where he chatted with his fellow residents who asked him where he had got his distinctive long coat,
with Alistair saying it was an early Christmas present from a female friend. He then headed to his room where he washed and changed his clothes, before he left his room and Gordon’s groceries behind. He then headed to Arthur’s Nightclub in St Andrew’s Lane where he drank, danced, laughed and saw in Christmas Day, before accompanying two women and a male he had met that night to the female’s home, where he continued to party until 5am before leaving. Later on Christmas Day, he then asked his friend for a hacksaw, before returning to Butterburn Court flat where he carried Gordon’s body into the bathroom and placed it in the bath before beginning to dismember his body. He then placed the body parts in plastic bags, which he dumped at Dudhope Park and at the base of Dundee Law. After carrying out this atrocious act, he then travelled the 22 miles or 35 kilometres to Perth where he spent it with friends seeing in the New Year, and giving two of the friends Gordon’s wrist chain and key fob.
The trial began on the 5th of May 1993 at the High Court in Edinburgh, where Alistair Thompson faced the charge of murdering Gordon Dunbar and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by dismembering his body. At the trial all the evidence, including photographs of the scene of the crime and the post-mortem, were presented and witnesses gave their testimony. Alistair Thompson did not take to the stand, but his defence was that he had no part in the murder of Gordon Dunbar and that he had merely helped the two hitmen who had murdered Gordon by getting rid of Gordon’s body for them. No, the members of the jury didn’t believe that story either and on the 13th of May 1993, after an hour and ten minutes of deliberating, the jury returned with a unanimous verdict of guilty. Before Judge Lord Weir gave Alistair Thompson his sentence he addressed the jury, telling them that “I would not have wished your task on my worst enemy. You have had to listen to sordid, distasteful and horrendous evidence.” He then turned his attention to 43 year old Alistair Thompson, where he gave him a life sentence and to spend at least 20 years in prison before being eligible for parole for his “nauseating and barbaric crimes”. Alistair was then led away.
One reporter who was present at the trial as the guilty verdict was read out stated in The Courier newspaper on the 30th of December 2017 that he would never forget Alistair’s chilling stare in court that he directed to anyone who looked at him after the guilty verdict was returned, and he called them his evil eyes.
And that should have been the end of Alistair Thompson, and Gordon Dunbar’s family should have been able to grieve in peace, but Alistair Thompson had other ideas. Firstly, there were the appeals. One appeal, which was issued shortly after Alistair’s conviction, was subsequently withdrawn, however, in 1994 a second appeal was issued which alleged a miscarriage of justice due to the fact that there was apparently insufficient evidence for the jury to return a guilty verdict on the murder charge, however, as expected, this appeal was duly refused. Then in 2002 a third appeal was issued, which Alistair Thompson conducted himself, this time on the grounds of Judge Lord Weir fixing Alistair Thompson’s punishment part of his sentence to a minimum of 20 years, which Alistair felt was excessive. However, following the appeal judges going through the trial documentation and taking note not only of the barbaric murder but also the act of dismembering Gordon’s body to avoid detection, the trial judges were not persuaded that the punishment period selected by Judge Lord Weir was, excessive, and therefore the appeal was refused. But still Gordon’s family couldn’t grieve in peace. What could only be described as a final act of malice, Alistair Thompson then wrote a letter to Gordon Dunbar’s family offering to tell them where he had hidden the remaining parts of Gordon’s body. According to the Courier newspaper on the 30th of December 2017, in the same letter Alistair also expressed regret over the murder of Gordon and for the pain and anguish it had caused, before going on to offer Gordon’s family a full account of exactly what had taken place on Christmas Eve 1992. Disgusted by this and simply wanting to be left alone to try and go on with their lives, Gordon’s family took legal action to ensure they did not receive any further correspondence from Alistair Thompson.
Alistair died behind bars in 2010 from a heart attack.
Gordon’s brother, James, who lives in Carnoustie, said in an article in The Courier newspaper on the 30th of December 2017, 25 years after his brothers brutal murder, that he still hasn’t come to terms with the events that happened in Butterburn Court. He went on to say that “When I cross the Tay Road Bridge and see the profile of Dundee and the Law, I can’t help but think of my brother. Once it is out of view, it goes to the back of my mind again, but it doesn’t go away.”
On the 30th of June 2013 Butterburn Court was demolished by a controlled explosion.
So that’s it. Come back next time for another episode of Scottish Murders.
Granny Robertson:
Scottish Murder is a production of Cluarantonn.
Dundee Murders - Lynda Hunter
Dundee Murders
Lynda Hunter
Lynda Hunter
Episode Summary
What began as an investigation into the disappearance of a 30 year old social worker, ultimately unveiled the truth and unravelled the intricate deceit and exploitation carried out by someone close to them.
Andrew Hunter – murder – 1989 – murder Dundee Street, Carnoustie
Husband loses murder appeal | HeraldScotland
PressReader.com – Did Crimewatch unmask a Scottish Serial Killer
Wife-killer Hunter matched photo-fit of Templeton Woods murderer
Husband loses murder appeal | HeraldScotland
A sex-mad killer in the Salvation Army – Daily Record
Landmark dog lead strangler ‘Crimewatch’ murder trial remembered 30 years on by community
Templeton Woods: Did Angus Sinclair’s brother-in-law murder two Dundee women?
Dundee: The Good Samaritan | Crime+Investigation UK
The law killers: True Crime from Dundee: Amazon.co.uk: Alexander McGregor: 9781845027247: Books
Carnoustie Visitor Guide – Accommodation, Things To Do & More | VisitScotland
New website will celebrate Dundee Law (thecourier.co.uk)
The Law Killers: True Crime from Dundee
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.
Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn
Hosted by Dawn
Researched and Written by Dawn Young
Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull
Voice Talent by Eleanor Morton
Production Company Name by Granny Robertson
Music:
Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter
Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter
Dawn:
Trigger warning – This episode covers the topic of suicide.
Introduction by Eleanor Morton
Welcome Wee Ones to Scottish Murders. Dawn will shortly be taking you through a solved or unsolved murder involving people from or living in Scotland. So get ready to hear about the darker side of Bonnie Scotland.
Dawn:
This episode is part of the Dundee themed month which was suggested by Mhairi from New Zealand, who gave Scottish Murders a wonderful review on Apple podcasts. Thank you Mhairi, I hope I do the Dundee murders I’ve chosen to cover justice.
On Saturday the 22nd of August 1987 about 7pm, the police received a phone call from Andrew Hunter who was reporting his 30 year old wife Lynda missing, after she had left the family home on Friday the 21st of August about 10.30am with her beloved 14 year old cross collie dog Shep, in their white Cavalier Anteeb car. When police officers went out to take more information from Andrew, he reported that Lynda had recently discovered she was pregnant, about six weeks, and had been suffering awful morning sickness. He said that on Friday the 21st of August both he and Lynda had the day off from work. Lynda was the second in charge at a residential care home for the elderly and worked mainly night shifts. Andrew said about 10am on Friday he had driven Lynda to a local chemist where she had tried to buy something to help with her nausea, but had no luck and so she tried her doctor’s surgery which was just around the corner, but there had been no GP available and she was to call back later. Andrew said he had then driven an irritated a nauseous Lynda back home, where she went upstairs and proceeded to pack her bag for work, although she wasn’t due at work until 3pm the following day, and then she left the house.
*Crimewatch programme audio reconstruction clip starts*
Crimewatch Host:
For some reason she began to pack the bag she used for her night shift, though she wasn’t due at work until the following afternoon. Maybe she was going to her parents.
Lynda from reconstruction:
I’m going out. You can pick up the car from work tomorrow at 3pm.
Lynda’s husband from reconstruction:
Well I did need the car Lynda. But if you’re going to Dundee you could give me a lift.
Lynda from reconstruction:
If you’re ready now then come, if not you can get the bus. Come on Shep.
Lynda’s husband from reconstruction:
Well just give us a minute and I’ll go get my files.
Crimewatch Host:
Neither Lynda nor Shep have been seen since.
*Crimewatch programme audio reconstruction clip ends*
Dawn:
That was part of a reconstruction from the BBC program Crimewatch, which was broadcast in December 1987, and Lynda’s case was the first Scottish case to appear on the programme. Before Andrew could collect his things together Lynda had left the home and driven off. Andrew said he presumed that Lynda had gone to her parents house who lived in Glenrothes, which is about 36 miles or 58 kilometres south of where Lynda lived in Carnoustie, as she was very close to her parents, calling them every other day and often staying with them.
According to Visit Scotland, Carnoustie is a small town situated on the east coast of Scotland about 12 miles or 19 kilometres north east of Dundee, and is famed for its championship golf course, as well as swimming, sailing, windsurfing and fishing being enjoyed at the bay.
Andrew went on to tell the police that he was surprised when Lynda’s sister, Sandra, turned up at their door on the Friday afternoon for a pre-arranged meeting with Lynda, as he thought Sandra would have seen Lynda in Glenrothes where Sandra and her parents both lived, but he thought Lynda had maybe just forgotten Sandra was coming to their home. It wasn’t until the Saturday when he had gone to Lynda’s work at 3pm, Lynda’s start time, to pick up the car to discover that neither Lynda nor their car were there. Police did feel that Lynda’s disappearance was strange and so a description of both Lynda and their distinctive white Cavalier Anteeb car was circulated. However, when Lynda’s car was discovered a day later, what the police had deemed as Lynda’s strange disappearance changed to them becoming concerned for her welfare.
About 10 past 9 on Saturday the 22nd of August in the morning, before Lynda was even reported missing, Lynda’s car had been given a parking ticket having been found double parked behind a railway station in Manchester, England, about 297 miles or 478 kilometres away from her home in Carnoustie. However, it wasn’t until the following evening, Sunday the 23rd of August, when about 6.15pm a passing policeman noticed that the same car had been broken into and the radio cassette had been taken. When the police officer radioed for the car registration number to be checked, it only then was discovered that the white Cavalier Anteeb car belonged to a Lynda Hunter, and that she had been reported missing. The police who had issued the missing person report were immediately notified about Lynda’s car being found and it was arranged for the car to be transported back to Scotland to be forensically examined. But now the police had a mystery on their hands. Where was Lynda? And why would she have driven to Manchester, abandoned her car and then disappeared? The police needed to build a picture of Lynda’s life and her mental state on the lead up to her disappearance and so, knowing how close Lynda was with her sister, Sandra, they started by paying her a visit.
Sandra was asked when she had last seen her sister and she replied that it had been Thursday the 13th of August, eight days before Lynda disappeared. She said Lynda had driven to her home in Glenrothes and the pair had spent the afternoon talking. When asked what the pair had spoken about Sandra had said that Lynda had told her she was pregnant, going on to say that Lynda was overjoyed, although it was slightly marred as Lynda had been suffering terrible morning sickness. When asked if the pair had spoken about Andrew or Lynda’s relationship with him, Sandra mentioned that, yes, Lynda had said that they had been having some marital problems and they had been arguing, but Sandra stated that she didn’t think it was anything serious and she thought it would likely blow over. I mean, Lynda had been pregnant, which she had always wanted and was delighted about, she had married the man she loved, she lived in a nice house, had a great job and was earning good money. What more could she want? Sandra said the last time she had seen or spoken to Lynda was as she watched her drive away from her home after the visit on the 13th of August, after Sandra had agreed to come to Lynda’s home on the afternoon of the 21st of August so they could spend the afternoon together, a meeting that Lynda never showed up for. Sandra did mention that she had been concerned about Lynda not showing up and she had called her parents and Lynda’s friend and ex-partner, Ian Glover, but they hadn’t seen Lynda. Concerned for her sister but thinking that she may simply have forgotten, Sandra said she spent the afternoon and early evening with Lynda’s husband, Andrew, until finally heading back to her home in Glenrothes about 6.30pm.
Lynda Cairns had grown up in Glenrothes, which according to Wikipedia is a town situated in east central Scotland approximately 30 miles or 48 kilometres south of Dundee, with her parents and younger sister Sandra. According to the Law Killers book by Alexander McGregor, Lynda had led a life devoted to helping others. As a youngster, Lynda had such a caring nature and she just wanted to help people, and so she became a girl guide and then a girl guide leader. As an adult, she then moved to Aberdeen, in the northeast of Scotland, to gain teacher training experience, where she worked with children with mental disabilities, and she also became a Samaritan. Following completing her teacher training, Lynda moved to London and continued to work with children with mental disabilities. She really did have such a caring nature, which again was evident when she left London and moved to Dundee, where she worked as a social worker so she could be nearer her parents, who she adored, who lived in nearby Glenrothes as their health had deteriorated significantly. Lynda then met Dr Ian Glover in December 1980 when they both lived in Dundee, and the pair had quickly fallen in love. When Lynda’s parents health improved slightly, she then decided to move to Edinburgh for a training course, and Ian agreed to move there with her too, and by April 1982 they were living happily together in Edinburgh. Upon Lynda’s course finishing, the pair then decided to move back to Dundee, buying a house together in Broadford Terrace in Broughty Ferry, which is about a 10 minute drive east of Dundee. Initially the couple had a loving sexual relationship, however, around about July 1983 their relationship became platonic, with the pair agreeing to be just friends, but they continued to live together, sleeping in separate bedrooms. Lynda then met Andrew Hunter sometime in late 1984, when Lynda would have been 27 years old and Andrew would have been 33 years old. They both had moved to Broughty Ferry and lived across the street from each other on Broadford Terrace; Andrew with his wife, Christine, whom he had married in 1974, and their nine-year-old son Colin, and Lynda with her ex-partner Dr Ian Glover. By this time Lynda, who had such a caring and giving nature, had been working for the Samaritans for many years and was a fully qualified social worker, and so when her neighbour, Andrew Hunter, approached Lynda to ask if she would help him to gain a qualification in social work too, Lynda was only too happy to help him study. The two grew closer, found that they had lots in common, including wild uninhibited sex, and eventually they embarked on an affair. When Ian found out about Andrew and Lynda’s affair in December 1984 he wasn’t surprised, having suspected earlier that something was going on between them. Andrew’s wife, Christine, however had not suspected anything, and when she also found out in December 1984 about her husband’s affair she was distraught and pleaded that the pair ended their affair immediately, which Andrew agreed to. However, his affair with Lynda began again within weeks, with Lynda finally moving out of the house she shared with Ian Glover in July 1985 and moving to a new house she bought in Carnoustie, and she expected Andrew to join her there. However, for a time Andrew was happy to have the best of both worlds, going between his wife and lover, but he soon did leave his wife and son and move in with Lynda, but he still maintained contact with his son. While Lynda moving out of the home she shared with Ian Glover didn’t affect Ian too much and the pair continued to remain close friends, the same could not be said for Christine, she was distraught by the ending of her marriage and became depressed.
On the 14th of December 1985, about three months after Andrew had finally left his wife, Christine dropped her and Andrew’s son at the children’s home where Andrew worked so Andrew could spend some time with his son. Andrew took his son, Colin, to the cinema and then they had their tea together, before Andrew returned his son to the family home as planned. Despite Andrew’s persistent knocking on the door and shouting through the letterbox, Christine did not answer the door. He became worried as he knew Christine was home as her car was in the drive and the lights were on in the home, so Andrew went across the street to Ian Glover’s home, as both he and Lynda were still friendly with him but mainly Lynda, to ask if he could use his phone to try to get an answer from Christine, but there was still no reply. Beginning to panic Andrew then went to a neighbour who had a spare key to the property, before running back to the family home and opening the door. It appeared that Christine had been unable to cope with the ending of her marriage, unable to cope with the betrayal of her husband, and sadly she had ended her life, a fact that Andrew took very hard, and took out on someone close to him.
While the police were trying to gain a better picture of Lynda, her mental state and her marriage to Andrew, forensic teams were working on Lynda’s car, and what they found only further deepened the mysterious disappearance of Lynda. Firstly, it was noted that the driver’s seat had been set for someone much taller than Lynda. So, if Lynda hadn’t driven the car to Manchester then who had? Also, the two grey front seat covers had been removed, as well as the passenger floor mat. This strongly indicated to the police that someone was trying to hide forensic evidence. But stranger still, the spare wheel from the back of the car had been fitted to the front offside, suggesting the driver had had a flat tyre that needed changing somewhere on the journey from Carnoustie to Manchester. However, the damaged wheel and tyre, along with the tools to replace a tyre, were all missing. What was found in the boot space was Lynda’s handbag and the bag she had packed for work. Lynda’s three credit cards and £30 or $38 in cash was missing, but medication Lynda’s dog Shep needed for a heart and bladder condition were still there in Lynda’s bag. Also found in the boot space of the car was a single earring that belonged to Lynda. While the police had initially believed that there would be an explanation for Lynda’s disappearance, that perhaps she just needed some time to herself, the more days that went by and the more they found out about Lynda and her relationship with Andrew, and now the car having been examined, the more they began to be very concerned for Lynda’s welfare. And so it was time to try and find out more about Andrew and Lynda’s relationship, which included speaking to Lynda’s ex-partner and friend, Dr Ian Glover. And soon a more detailed picture emerged.
Following Christine’s sad death, Andrew appeared to blame Lynda for what had happened, and when a fight broke out between them in public two days after Christine’s death when Linda suggested that Andrew didn’t need to go to Christine’s funeral, Andrew pushed her violently against a car. This wouldn’t be the last spout of violence in their relationship. During one argument at their home, Andrew hit Lynda in the face with an umbrella. On another occasion Andrew had twisted Lynda’s arm so severely that she’d gone to hospital, but no treatment was needed. Ian Glover also reported that when he came home one night he’d found Lynda in his home, explaining that they had keys for each other’s houses. Lynda told him that Andrew had hit her and placed his hands around her neck. Lynda had reported this incident to the police, but no further action was taken. It was reported that in January 1986, a month after Christine had ended her life, Andrew Hunter had become suicidal and had received treatment in hospital for about four months. Following being discharged from hospital in June 1986, with Andrew and Lynda’s wedding imminent, Andrew postponed the wedding as he wasn’t sure how he felt about Lynda. Following this, Lynda, worried about her future with Andrew, took an accidental overdose of her sleeping medication and was treated in hospital for a week. However, on the 1st of November 1986 the pair married. Andrew and Lynda had a church wedding and Lynda’s younger sister, Sandra, was her bridesmaid. From the photos Lynda and Andrew appeared to be so happy; Lynda smiling and looking beautiful and Andrew looking proud in his full Highland dress. The pair spent their first married night together in the 480 year old Grand Fernie Castle in Fife, before heading on to Israel for the remainder of their honeymoon. Upon their return the pair seemed really happy, content, and life got back to normal. Ian Glover also attended the wedding and confirmed that after the marriage there appeared to have been no further violence. Until that is six weeks before Lynda disappeared. Ian received a phone call from Lynda where she said that Andrew was showing signs of aggression again, no physical violence, but that his demeanour had changed.
The last time Ian Glover had seen Lynda was on Thursday the 20th of August as Lynda had been looking after his dog Jimmy from the 18th of August while he had been away on business. Ian came back on Wednesday the 19th of August but Lynda had said there was no rush to pick up his dog. However, he had then received a phone call from Lynda on Thursday the 20th of August to ask him to pick up his dog as she wasn’t feeling too well, and if he could also pick up Andrew and Colin from Dundee that evening as they were going to a football match for Colin’s birthday, which Ian did. Ian then stayed at Lynda’s and Andrew’s chatting until about 10pm, and he felt that there was some kind of tension between the pair. He said he then received a phone call on Friday the 21st of August from Sandra, Lynda’s sister, wondering if he had seen Lynda, which he hadn’t. He found out Lynda had been reported missing on the Saturday by Andrew.
While the police were building a much better picture of the relationship between Andrew and Linda, there still was far more to find out. With the police now very concerned for Lynda’s welfare and beginning to focus on the possibility her husband Andrew may be involved, they once again arrived at his home to ask him to make a statement describing in detail his movements on the lead up to and the day after Lynda’s disappearance, and it is as follows. Andrew had gone to work as normal on Thursday the 20th of August, arriving home at about 3pm. Lynda had been off sick on Thursday as she’d been feeling unwell and had spent the day in bed. Upon Andrew arriving back home though Lynda got up and helped him get some food ready for Andrew’s son, Colin’s 11th birthday celebration that evening. Lynda then returned to bed and Andrew took Lynda’s dog, Shep, and their friend Ian’s dog, Jimmy, out for a walk, arriving back home again about 4.20pm. Shortly afterwards, Andrew and Colin left the home in the minibus of the children’s home where Andrew worked, which he had borrowed for the evening. He then drove around picking up Colin’s friends to take them to a local football match scheduled for 5pm, which Andrew was refereeing at. After the football match, Andrew dropped all but one of Colin’s friends back at their homes, before returning the minibus to his workplace. Andrew, Colin and Colin’s friend, Grant, were then picked up by Dr Ian Glover and taken back to Carnoustie. Andrew, Lynda, Ian, Colin and his friend, Grant, all enjoyed a birthday tea, before Grant and Colin went to bed, as Grant was allowed to stay over as a birthday treat. Ian Glover stayed and chatted with Lynda and Andrew until about 10pm, before he and his dog Jimmy left and headed home. On Friday the 21st of August, Andrew got up about 7.20am to prepare breakfast for his son and his friend and to pack Colin’s bag, as he was staying at Grant’s house that evening, before Colin and Grant then left the house about 8.20am to catch the school bus. Lynda was still not feeling well and so she stayed in bed until just before 10am, when she asked Andrew if he would take her to the local chemist. Andrew had driven Lynda to the nearby chemist about 10am, before she went to the doctors, and then drove Lynda back home, arriving home about 10.20am. Lynda then apparently proceeded to go upstairs, pack her bag and leave, despite Andrew asking her for a lift into Dundee. Andrew did get a bus into Dundee, where he went to his work to hand in an essay that had been due as part of his training, and chatted briefly with his colleagues, before saying he would see them that night for the work party, and then left. Then about 1pm he was at a building society withdrawing money, before catching a bus home to Carnoustie, arriving back home about 2pm. He then did some tidying up, some washing, and then worked in the back garden. Then, as arranged, Lynda’s sister, Sandra, arrived at 3pm, which was a surprise to Andrew as Lynda hadn’t mentioned it. After waiting all afternoon to see if Lynda showed up, Sandra called her parents and Lynda’s friend, Ian Glover, to see if Lynda was with them, only to find out she wasn’t. About 6pm Sandra and Andrew left the house and went to a local hotel for some tea, then Sandra left to drive home between 6.30 and 6.45pm. Andrew then got himself ready to attend his works party. He said he was picked up and driven to the night out by his next-door neighbour about 8pm, and then proceeded to have a good night out. His neighbour kindly then came and picked him up again and dropped him off at his home shortly before midnight, before Andrew headed straight to bed. On Saturday the 22nd of August, Andrew left his home about 11am and went to a local shop to buy a newspaper. He then got a bus into Dundee where he had a haircut, went to a bar where he had a pint and something to eat, then he purchased a pair of trainers for his son, which he still had the receipt for and showed the purchase had taken place at 1.06pm. He spent some time just wandering around Dundee, before about 3pm heading to Lynda’s work at the elderly people’s home in Dundee to pick up the car and Shep, only to find no Lynda, no car and no Shep. He then called Ian Glover to see if he had heard from Lynda but he hadn’t, before then getting a taxi to Grant’s parents home in Broughty Ferry, where Colin had stayed the previous night, where he mentioned to Grant’s parents about Lynda not being at work, before asking if Colin could stay another night with them, which they agreed to. Andrew then went back home to Carnoustie and spoke to his neighbours about Lynda’s disappearance, before eventually calling the police to report her missing about 7pm that evening.
While Andrew was giving a detailed account of his movements on the run-up two and after his wife Lynda’s disappearance, the detectives noticed that he had shown no emotion while talking about the last time he’d seen his pregnant wife alive, and so asked him why this might be, to which he replied that this was just his way, he had trained himself to show no emotion. They also asked Andrew again about the state of his marriage and if he had been seeing anyone else, to which he replied that his marriage was okay, he said that he and Lynda did have arguments and that Lynda had been especially irritable lately due to the morning sickness, but that he had not been with anyone else since he married Lynda. The detectives also asked Andrew on numerous occasions why he thought Lynda might have disappeared, and the only explanation Andrew could come up with was to think that she just wanted space, although Andrew seemed able to have come up with other reasons when he was talking to Dr Ian Glover, which Ian had told the police about when they spoke to him. Ian said that Andrew had told him that there had been tension between himself and Lynda and that Andrew felt Lynda was behaving irrationally, believing that Lynda had disappeared in order to try and change Andrew’s behaviour towards her. While the police were beginning to suspect Andrew had been involved in Lynda’s disappearance, he appeared to have a cast iron alibi, but their instincts were telling them a different story. They were sure he was involved somehow, but how?
As sure as the police fell that Andrew had some involvement in Lynda’s disappearance and presumed death, without any witnesses, evidence, Lynda’s body, and Andrew’s cast iron alibi, there was absolutely nothing they could do. The police had gone as far as driving to Manchester from Carnoustie and taking the train back to Dundee to see if the trip could be done, between Andrew getting dropped off at home on Friday just before midnight and him purchasing trainers for his son at 1.06pm, which was the only definitive evidence of where he was. And it turned out that this could be done, as the train from Manchester to Dundee on Saturday the 22nd of August left Manchester at 7.35am and arrived in Dundee at 12.49pm, giving Andrew about 15 minutes to spare before buying his son’s trainers, assuming that is that his trip to the newsagent at 11am, his trip to the pub and the hairdressers didn’t actually happen. The police did speak to the guard who would have been on the train from Manchester to Dundee, however, when the police showed the guard Andrew’s photo he was unable to identify Andrew as being a passenger on that train. The police had the same results when showing Andrew’s picture to his local newsagent, where he supposedly bought a newspaper about 11am on the Saturday morning, when they showed his picture to the hairdressers he said he had attended, and when asking the barmaid if she could say for sure that Andrew had been in the pub at the time he said on the Saturday. Not one person could categorically say that he had attended their premises on the day and time in question. Although even the assistant in the shoe shop where Andrew had bought his son a pair of trainers on Saturday the 22nd of August at 1.06pm, for which he had a receipt for, couldn’t identify Andrew either. So, again the police were no further forward, there was no proof either way. Although the police did learn something interesting.
When speaking to the barmaid, Carol, who had been working on the 22nd of August. She told the police that she felt Andrew had been trying to coerce her to give false information. Apparently he had talked about his wife’s disappearance before it had even been in the newspapers. He had told Carol that he’d been in her pub that day having a pint asking if she remembered him being there, but she told him she didn’t, at which point Andrew told Carol that the police would be coming to speak to her and he was there so when they did if she could just tell them that he was there.
The police did interview Andrew numerous times following Lynda’s disappearance and each time he appeared less and less interested in his missing pregnant wife. The police continued to appeal for witnesses to come forward, but with nothing to work with and such a large search area, spanning from Scotland to England, the case was going nowhere. This is when the police approached the producers of the British program Crimewatch UK. Crimewatch UK, according to Wikipedia, is a British television program produced by the BBC that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case, and back in the 1980s it was broadcast once a month. A reconstruction of Lynda’s final known movements appeared in the December 1987 Crimewatch broadcast. Following the reconstruction, Detective Inspector Leslie Liney, who was working on Lynda’s case, discussed some of the details of the case with the presenter, such as describing Lynda’s distinctive car and the fact it had been found in Manchester, what had been found in the car, and what had been removed, and asked for any witnesses to come forward if anyone had seen this car or indeed Lynda since her disappearance on Friday the 21st of August. He also asked anyone to come forward if they’d seen Lynda’s beloved dog Shep, who had still not been found either and who Lynda adored and took absolutely everywhere with her, since she had saved him from being put to sleep at a rescue centre seven years prior. Shep had some distinctive markings, such as all of his paws were white, he had a small surgical scar on his right back leg, and he had been neutered. When Detective Liney was asked by the presenter what his thoughts were on finding Lynda alive he said
*Crimewatch programme audio reconstruction clip starts*
Detective Liney on Crimewatch:
We’re very concerned for Lynda’s safety and I would certainly appeal to Lynda, if she should be watching this program, to please contact us.
Host of Crimewatch:
Do you think there is a faint possibility she might still be alive?
Detective Liney on Crimewatch:
A remote possibility I think.”
*Crimewatch programme audio reconstruction clip ends*
Dawn:
However, what was actually believed by the detectives at this stage was that Lynda was dead, and that she had been killed by her husband Andrew, they just needed to find evidence of this or hope that a witness came forward. And following the reconstruction and appeal for information on Crimewatch, that was exactly what happened, when two separate witnesses, who had been traveling through the area on Friday the 21st of August, reported citing a car that looked very much like Lynda’s white Cavalier Anteeb. Both witnesses said the car had been driven by a male, and a female had been in the passenger seat. Both witnesses believed that this was the Hunters’ they had seen, with one of the witnesses picking out Andrew Hunter and another man in an identification parade as being similar to the driver of the car, and that the female in the passenger seat looked very similar to Lynda Hunter, and that she seemed in a distressed state. One area where this sighting had taken place was near Fernie Castle, where Andrew and Lynda spent their first night as a married couple, which is 26 miles or 42 kilometres south west of Carnoustie, which is where the couple lived, and a 14-minute drive away from Glenrothes were Lynda’s parents and sister lived. Things weren’t looking too good for Andrew, but the police still needed to find Lynda’s body. And, so, when another witness came forward saying that they had seen a male carrying a bundle from a light-coloured car into St Michael’s Woods, even though these woods were located 12 miles and 19 kilometres north east of Fernie Castle and nearer to Carnoustie, the police believed this was where Lynda had been buried. And so a massive search began in December 1987 at St Michael’s Woods, with Andrew even lending a hand. However, following an extensive search lasting three days, Lynda’s body was not found. Desperate to keep the case moving forward, the police tried a different tack. On the 5th of January 1988, detectives spoke to Andrew again, this time wanting more information about Shep’s lead and collar. Andrew again advised that Shep’s lead and collar were missing from the house, which wasn’t unusual as Lynda loved Shep so much and worried all the time about losing him that she had attached two separate tags to his collar; one with her address on it and one with her parents address on. Andrew confirmed that Shep never left the house without his collar and lead. This line of questioning might have seemed odd at the time, but it would later prove vital.
In the meantime though, again, the police had no leads and the case was in danger of becoming cold. Until that is the 11th of February 1988, almost six months after Lynda had disappeared, when Lynda’s body was found in Melville Lower Wood, Ladybank, by a dog walker. These woods are a six minute drive away from where a witness claimed to have seen who they believed were the Hunters’, and who picked out Andrew and another man from a line-up, as well as reporting that the female passenger appeared to be distressed. Incidentally, the woods where the initial search and sighting of a male carrying a bundle into the woods was about 13 miles or 21 kilometres away. So, if Andrew did have something to do with Lynda’s murder, then he helped the police search in these woods safe in the knowledge that Lynda’s body would not be found, as he had dumped her body miles away.
Having found Lynda’s body, and following the post-mortem, it was discovered that Lynda had been murdered by strangulation, and she actually had been found with her dog Shep’s lead still around her neck. The police attended Andrew’s home to tell him the news and to see his reaction to Lynda’s body being found, and it wasn’t quite what they expected to find. Upon attending Andrew’s home they discovered that he had company, namely a sex worker. Upon Andrew being told that his wife’s body had been found, detectives were surprised that he didn’t appear to be overly concerned or upset, preferring to talk about football instead. However, following the revelation that Andrew enjoyed the company of sex workers, he certainly would have reason to be concerned when detectives began to pursue this line of inquiry, and it wouldn’t be long before the real Andrew Hunter would finally be revealed.
Andrew didn’t have a great start in life as his mum had died three weeks after giving birth to him, and shortly afterwards his dad abandoned him, leaving him to be brought up by his aunt. Andrew craved family and, so, as a young man he joined the Salvation Army in Glasgow, where he met and fell in love with Christine, who was 11 years older than him. Andrew received the love, care and encouragement from Christine that he had lacked as a child, and, so, when Andrew brought up that he would like to become a social worker, Christine encouraged him all the way. Andrew and Christine married in 1973, when Andrew would have been 22 and Christine would have been 33, and in 1976 they had a son who they named Colin. While Christine was in married bliss with her wonderful husband and beautiful new baby boy, little did she know that her husband had begun having an extramarital relationship with a male he had met at a sauna. In 1977 Andrew had gained employment in Dundee at a children’s home as an unqualified social worker and so the family relocated to Dundee. The pair continued to work at the Salvation Army, but Andrew wanted to help more, and so he also began working closely with vulnerable young women who had addiction problems, whilst he also worked towards becoming a qualified social worker. However, Andrew was not there to help these vulnerable people, he was there to exploit and seduce them. This continued throughout his relationship with Christine, as well as him often turning to sex workers to satisfy his sexual appetite. Following Christine finding out about his affair with Lynda, and before going to live with Lynda, Andrew started seeing the male he had met at the sauna years before again, unbeknownst to Christine or Lynda. This affair also began again in early 1987 before Andrew married Lynda. It also emerged that before Andrew finally agreed to marry Lynda he had an affair with a female colleague, all the while still visiting the sex workers of Dundee, with many believing he had spent time with most of them. And he continued to have sex with sex workers throughout Lynda’s disappearance, finally being caught out when police arrived at his home to tell him that they had found Lynda’s body when he’d been found in the company of a 22 year old sex worker, who also was one of his vulnerable clients who was addicted to drugs. Detectives were keen to speak to the vulnerable client of Andrew’s, however, sadly, she died shortly afterwards from what was believed to have been an overdose, although some friends of the female speculated that Andrew could have possibly given her the fatal dose, while others believed that she may have felt guilty, as apparently Andrew had been complaining to her about how annoying his wife was and so the sex worker had suggested that he “bump her off.”, according to the Scottish Daily Mail on the 4th of August 2018. And, so, police were very keen to speak to friends of the vulnerable female, as well as sex workers that Andrew spent the most time with, which they did.
And then finally on the 9th of April 1988, just short of eight months since Lynda had gone missing, after police had interviewed more than 5,000 people and taken about 1,200 witness statements, Andrew Hunter was arrested. It was at this point that a search was carried out of Andrew’s home, and what this revealed was felt to be conclusive evidence that Andrew had been involved in Lynda’s disappearance and murder.
While being questioned, Andrew allegedly told detectives “I would like to tell you, but it is past that now and I still have Colin to think of.” He went on to say that “I keep wanting to get it over with. It has been a long time, but I can’t. And who would believe me now?” Following these comments though, Andrew then stuck with no comment. The murder trial began at the High Court in Dundee on Tuesday the 19th of July 1988. Due to Lynda’s disappearance appearing on Crimewatch, it had thrown the case into the spotlight, which in turn brought vast numbers of people to the High Court every day in the hope of getting a seat in the courtroom. The accused, Andrew Hunter, faced the charge of murdering Lynda Hunter by strangling her with a ligature on the 21st of August 1987. Andrew issued a special defense of alibi saying that on Friday the 21st of August he had been in the company of various people between the hours of 7.30am and midnight on that day. After the formalities the trial began.
Witness after witness stood in the dock for the prosecution; the barmaid, the shoe shop assistant, the train guard, the hairdressers, and all when asked were unable to say whether they had seen Andrew Hunter on Saturday the 22nd of August, as Andrew was stating. Next in the dock was Lynda’s ex-lover, Dr Ian Glover. Ian reiterated what he had told the police, including him being aware of the violence directed at Lynda from Andrew before their wedding, and the fact that Lynda had told him that Andrew’s behaviour had changed to aggression again six weeks before Lynda’s disappearance. He also mentioned that in the months between Lynda going missing and her body being found, Andrew Hunter had said to him on at least four separate occasions that “I’m not going to feel guilty this time.” Dr Ian Glover went on to say, according to The Courier and Advertiser Newspaper on the 22nd of July 1988, that he assumed Andrew was referring to the death of his first wife and that he felt guilty because it might have been something to do with his behaviour leading to her death. Dr Glover went on to say “I did however, prior to the discovery of the body, feel that Hunter thought Lynda was already dead.” Next in the dock was one of the detectives working on Lynda’s case, Detective Sergeant Snedden, who stated what the those working on the case believed to have happened on the fateful day Lynda went missing. They believed that when Andrew and Lynda returned from the chemist on the morning of Friday the 21st of August an argument between the two had broken out and Lynda had stated that she wanted to go to her parents in Glenrothes, she often stayed overnight with her parents to care for them, and Andrew had offered to drive her and Shep there, as Shep went absolutely everywhere with Lynda. It was believed that the pair had continued to argue in the car, leading to Andrew to pull over into a lay-by by woods in a quiet bit of road, grabbing Shep’s lead from the back seat, placing it around Lynda’s neck and strangling her. Quickly, before anyone happened upon them, he got out of the car, went to the passenger side and picked Lynda’s lifeless body up and carried her about 100 feet or 30 metres into the woods and just left her there, before quickly returning to his car and driving off. It is then believed he stopped a few miles along the road, removed Shep’s collar and put him out of the car, before driving off and leaving him there. He then is believed to have parked his car a few miles away from his home, got a bus to Dundee and gone to his place of work to hand in an essay, get money from the building society and return home, where Lynda’s sister, Sandra, would shortly be turning up. After attending his works night out and being dropped off at home shortly before midnight, it is then believed he walked to where he had parked the white Cavalier Anteeb car and drove it the 297 miles or 478 kilometres to Manchester, stopping briefly to repair the puncture, before abandoning the car on double yellow lines at the back of the train station, before getting on the 7.35am train, which would take him back to Dundee arriving at 12.49pm, just in time for him to go to the shoe shop and purchase trainers for his son. When cross examined by the defence, it was put to Detective Sergeant Snedden that this would have been a very elaborate and risky plan, and Andrew had done this apparently with not one single person having seen him, with the detective agreeing that there was no evidence of this, but equally that there was no evidence to confirm where Andrew was from about midnight on Friday the 21st of August to 1.06pm on Saturday the 22nd of August, and that he could very well have been in his home overnight. However, before Detective Snedden stepped down from the witness box he advised of the search that had been carried out on the Hunters’ home at Carnoustie after Andrew had been arrested, and of the fact that Shep’s dog collar had been found behind a laundry basket. He went on to say that Lynda would never leave the home without Shep having his dog collar on, and she would never leave without Shep, which suggested to him that Andrew had to have been with Lynda and Shep before their disappearance, and had made the ultimate mistake of taking the collar back home with him, only for the police to find it months later. Detective Snedden then stepped down from the dock pleased with himself and safe in the knowledge that Andrew would have no explanation for the dog collar being found at his home.
Next in the witness stand was a sex worker who Andrew had been having a regular relationship with, and she instantly contradicted a statement Andrew had made to the police about not having been with anyone since his marriage to Lynda by stating that he had paid for her services on numerous occasions since his marriage to Lynda, going on to say that when she had been with him in August 1987 he had told her that he had been looking for a job in Manchester, the very place where Lynda’s car had been found. Coincidence? According to The Courier and Advertiser on the 2nd of August 1988, Pauline, another of Andrew’s regular sex workers, advised that she had been with Andrew at his home in his marital bed in December 1987 after Linda had gone missing, and on one occasion she had noticed ladies shoes in the wardrobe and asked Andrew about them, to which Andrew apparently answered that they were his wife’s but that she was dead, two months before Lynda’s body had been found.
The two witnesses who had been driving separately through Fife also took to the stand, and told the court that they had firmly believed they had seen the white Cavalier Anteeb car, with Andrew driving and Lynda in the passenger seat looking distressed, near to where Lynda’s body had been found.
Next in the dock was a Salvation Army officer who had worked with and was friends with Andrew, and he told of how upset and concerned Andrew had been at the disappearance of his wife, despite Andrew showing no emotion to the police. He went on to say that Andrew must have been the best actor he had seen if he was not genuinely upset about his missing wife, although Andrew had hidden quite well the fact that he was having sex with vulnerable people he was supposed to be there to protect, so it’s possible he was a great actor.
Lynda’s sister, Sandra, also took to the stand and, although she may have told the police at the time of her sister’s disappearance though while her sister and Andrew may have been having marital problems she believed it would blow over, she was saying something entirely different now. She told the court that apparently Lynda had been quite upset by something Andrew had repeatedly said to her following his wife Christine’s death, which she repeated to Sandra. Andrew had apparently told Lynda that “It is you who should be dead and not Christine.” This could just have been Sandra trying to ensure her sister’s alleged killer didn’t get away with it, there is no way to know for sure if Andrew did in fact say this to Lynda.
However, after the next witness took to the stand, it certainly became more likely that he had. Gillian Pelc, who had been quite a close colleague of Andrew’s, told the court that on an occasion before Andrew and Lynda married, Andrew said to her that he was only marrying Lynda to screw up her life the way she had screwed up his. She went on to say that following Lynda’s case being shown on Crimewatch, the pair had been out for lunch and she said that, as Andrew was describing the details of the program to her, he seemed amused by it.
Andrew Hunter also took to the stand and did a good job in answering all the questions put to him and had an answer for most of them, all except how Shep’s collar had been found in his home, for that he had no answer.
On the 2nd of August 1988, after a two-week trial, the summing up by the prosecution began. They reminded the jury of all the witness statements made throughout the trial, but crucially it was hammered home about finding Shep’s dog collar behind a laundry basket at the couple’s home in Carnoustie, saying that there were only two possible explanations for this; either Shep had left the home without his collar, which Lynda would never do as she was terrified of losing him, or, as usual, when leaving the home, Lynda had put Shep’s collar on, but then Andrew had brought it back to the home after killing Lynda and abandoning Shep in the middle of nowhere. This would point directly to Andrew being Lynda’s murderer. It was then time for the defence to sum up. The court was told there were absolutely no witnesses to Andrew either abducting, strangling or carrying Lynda’s body into the woods, that there was not one shred of evidence to suggest Andrew had caused any harm to Lynda, going on to ridicule the prosecution’s suggestion that Andrew had travelled the 297 miles or 478 kilometres to Manchester and returned to his home in Carnoustie without one single person seeing him, but had overlooked one vital piece of evidence by bringing Shep’s dog collar home and leaving it behind a laundry basket, and going on to suggest that the dog collar had never left the home in the first place. He ended up by saying that the prosecution had failed dismally to prove that Andrew had committed the murder of his wife and that the jury should pass a verdict of not guilty, or at the very least not proven. Judge Lord Brand then directed the jury to a number of other statements made throughout the trial by witnesses, before asking the jury to retire to determine a verdict, which they did by majority less than two hours later.
37 year old Andrew Hunter was found guilty of the murder of his 30 year old wife Lynda Hunter. Following the verdict, Andrew was told by Judge Lord Brand “You are an evil man of exceptional depravity”, before he gave Andrew a life sentence. Andrew was then taken away.
While Lynda’s family were relieved at the outcome and had justice for Lynda, the pain of losing a daughter, a sister, and the added grief for Lynda’s unborn child, was still desperately raw. According to the Scottish Daily Mail on the 4th of August 2018, Lynda’s sister, Sandra, spoke outside her home at Glenrothes saying “It doesn’t go away.”
Andrew Hunter lodged an appeal citing that Judge Lord Brand had misdirected the jury and that the prosecution’s evidence fell far short of proving that Andrew committed the murder beyond a reasonable doubt. However, an article in The Herald newspaper on the 30th of June 1989 stated that the appeal had been rejected by three judges who stated that “This was not a narrow case”, and that the judges were “Certainly persuaded that the evidence before the jury was not only sufficient but ample and eloquent of the guilt of the appellant.” Andrew returned to Perth prison to serve out his sentence. However, on the 19th of July 1993, five years after being convicted of the murder of his wife Lynda, 42 year old Andrew died from a heart attack. The death of Andrew Hunter also put an end to the possibility of a case being built against him for the murder of Dundee’s sex worker Carol Lannen in 1979. Andrew was well known to have visited sex workers regularly, having thought to have used the services of all of the sex workers in Dundee at some point, and his aggressive behaviour had been evident in his treatment of Lynda. This, coupled with the fact that a photofit of a male last seen with Carol was deemed to look very much like Andrew, could have led to him also being convicted of Carol’s murder, and for Carol’s family finally to have justice. However, if he was the murderer then this opportunity has now gone. I’ll be covering Carol Lannen’s case, along with another female found murdered very close to where Carol was found, in an episode for the Dundee murders theme, if you’d like to know more.
And finally, now, I’m giving a wee trigger warning here as it’s about what happened to Lynda’s dog Shep. Shep had been found wandering near St Michael’s Woods, the same area a witness had seen a man carrying a bundle from a light-coloured car into the woods, and he had been taken to a rescue centre. However, sadly for Shep, it wasn’t until Lynda’s case appeared on Crimewatch that someone working at the rescue centre recognised the description of Lynda’s dog’s Shep to be the same dog that had been brought to them, having been found wandering near St Michael’s Woods. However, by the time Lynda’s case appeared on Crimewatch in December, four months after Lynda and Shep had gone missing, Shep had already been put to sleep, as it had been determined after one week that, as no one had come looking for Shep, he must be a stray, as he was without his collar.
I’m sorry to leave it on such a sad note, but that’s the end. Come back next time for another episode of Scottish Murders.
Granny Robertson:
Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn.