Left Behind

Left Behind

Episode Summary

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

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

Listen on:

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

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

Galloway Police Dedicated Phone Line on 01387 242355 (UK)

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

The Law Killers

by Alexander McGregor

Synopsis

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

Our Review

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn

Hosted by Dawn and Cole

Researched and Written by Dawn Young

Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull

Production Company Name by Granny Robertson

Music:

Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Dawn:

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

Dawn and Cole:

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

[THEME TUNE]

Dawn:

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

Cole:

So, what’s a Gala Queen?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Alright, that sounds like a really nice day out.

Dawn:

It does doesn’t it?

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

(laugh) You didn’t laugh.

Cole:

It’s not a laughing matter.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Did she did live in Lockerbie?

Dawn:

She did live in Lockerbie.

Cole:

Oh.

Dawn:

That’s why she was the Lockerbie Gala Queen.

Cole:

Lockerbie.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

A lot, a lot seems to happen in Lockerbie.

Dawn:

Hmm really?

Cole:

Well, let me tell you a story.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Okay.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

You told me that already.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Is that someone who sells farm animals and equipment?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Prominent teeth? Was she a vampire?  

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Well maybe we’ll just never know.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Yeah, he did.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Oh that’s strange.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

All right then, well, fine.(laughs)

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Oh, that’s nice.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

I can’t imagine why.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Oh asking for trouble.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Oh. So, Helen died from strangulation then?

Cole:

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

Dawn:

So, based on the tie?

Cole:

Yeah, it’s a start.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Yeah, that’s true.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Oh right, well that’s okay then.

Cole:

I know, right.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Oh wow, that appeal went through really quickly.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Okay, it must be pretty good evidence then.

Cole:

Well, no, it’s not actually.

Dawn:

Oh okay.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Who?

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Yeah, I was.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Oh, well, that sounds pretty definite to me.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

How long was he actually in prison for?

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Yep, that was it.

Dawn:

That is crazy.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Oh God, I didn’t expect that.

Cole:

Yeah, it’s quite shocking.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Ah okay.

Cole:

Good thought though.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Wow, that is quick.

Cole:

It really is.

Dawn:

A pretty tragic story.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Dawn and Cole:

Join us there. Bye.

Granny Robertson:

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn.

by dawnyoung

Assumptions Made

Assumptions Made

Episode Summary

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

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

Listen on:

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

101 (UK)

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

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

Police at Dumbarton on 101 (UK)

Dawn:

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

Dawn and Cole:

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

[THEME TUNE]

Dawn:

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

Cole:

What?!

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Yes, a year before my birthday.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

That’s odd.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Well that’s more money than I currently have.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Okay, I’m out of ideas then.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

What was he doing there?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Well do you know how long he was there for?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Which road?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

I guess it could have broken down.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Okay. And his body was found at 8pm?

Dawn:

Correct.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

And Sandy’s body was found 45 minutes later?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Yeah, I agree.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Oh! What?!

Dawn:

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

Cole:

So, why did he have to change departments then?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

So, that’s where it ended?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Is that the Scottish term for inquest?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

How so?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Yeah, that seems pretty drastic.

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Yeah. I can see that. What else?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Was he a loner with no friends?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Wow! That really does sound like victim blaming.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

But I don’t like people.

Dawn:

That’s a problem.

Cole:

I like to be inside my house at all times.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

I just need to get some cats now.

Dawn:

Oh no, crazy cat lady.

Cole:

Yay!

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Yeah.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

You’re getting very technical now.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Hmm.

Cole:

Did you know that?

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

That’s really cool. Isn’t it?

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

Oh

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

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

Cole:

Wrong!

Dawn:

Oh no. Go on then.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Yeah, that is true.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

It was a theory, yeah.

Dawn:

Obviously that wasn’t the case.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Oh my God, what happened?

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Oh, was anybody found in there?

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Yeah, that sounds logical to me.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

What?! Well that is so frustrating.

Cole:

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

Dawn:

Okay, so one of the top guys?

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Dawn and Cole:

Join us there! Bye!

Granny Robertson:

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn.

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn

Hosted by Dawn and Cole

Researched and Written by Dawn Young

Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull

Production Company Name by Granny Robertson

Music:

Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

by dawnyoung

The George Murdoch Murder

The George Murdoch Murder

UPDATE October 2022:

The murder of Aberdeen Taxi Driver George Murdoch took place on 29thof September 1983, with the 39th anniversary having just passed. While George Murdoch’s murderer has still not been brought to justice, there have been a number of developments in the case.

Reward Increase:

The reward for information on who killed George has now been further increased and now stands at £50,000.

New Information Received:

Following information being received through social media, DI James Callander, the lead detective working on George Murdoch’s murder case, released fresh and potentially significant information to the papers and media. He was for anyone who knows of a male, likely now in his 60s, or 70s, who is small and of stocky build, with a local accent, who frequented Wilson’s Sports Bar, on Market St, Aberdeen in 2015, perhaps still does, and is known to wear or have worn an Iron Maiden T Shirt, to  please contact Police on 101, or send a private message on the FB page Appeal for Information Aberdeen Taxi Driver Murder 1983 – George Murdoch. Alternatively, an email can be sent to jdhallfield@mail.co.uk

Also, on the 11th October, the lead detective on George’s murder case, lead, DI James Callander, appeared again on the programme CrimeWatch to give an update on George’s case.

If you know of an individual, in his 60s or 70s, matching this description, who has been known to wear such a T-Shirt, George Murdoch’s family and the police urge you to come forward if you can help at all.

UPDATE 19.08.2022:

REWARD FOR INFORMATION INCREASED TO £25,000
An amazingly generous gesture from Russell McLeod, managing director of Aberdeen’s Rainbow City Taxis means that the Reward for Information in this case now stands at £25,000.
See the full Facebook post below

UPDATE:

It was recently the 38th anniversary of George Murdoch’s murder and his family have renewed their appeal for information regarding the murder. There is a reward which has been recently doubled and now stands at £20,000. So, if you were in the Aberdeen area in 1983 or knew anyone who was in the area during this time who might remember something about this horrific murder, then the family would really like to hear from you with any information you may have, however small or insignificant you think it might be, as anything you might know could really help this investigation. One particular detail is regarding cheese wire usage in the area at the time.  Uses for cheesewire may have been dehorning cattle, cutting large blocks of ice in the fishing industry, cutting clay in sculpting or cutting cores in the offshore industry. But do you know of any other uses or professions that haven’t been mentioned, and if so, this would also be valuable information that the police and George Murdoch’s family would love to know about.

Please, if you know anything at all, contact either the Police on 101 in the UK or contact the family directly on their Facebook page at Appeal for Information Aberdeen Taxi Driver Murder 1983 – George Murdoch

If there is anything you or anyone you know remembers from September 1983 in Aberdeen, then this could be invaluable in finding out who murdered George Murdoch, and finally give his family the closure they have been waiting for.

Episode Summary

A taxi driver working in Aberdeen on the night of 29 September 1983 picked up a seemingly harmless fare, but two miles into the journey things took a deadly turn. 

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

Listen on:

The Last Fare eBook: McKay, Robina S.: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

World Population Review – Aberdeen Population

Wikipedia- Aberdeen

Who was Scotland’s cheese wire killer? The brutal murder of an Aberdeen taxi driver – Daily Record

George Murdoch murder: Dozens of calls about 1983 Aberdeen killing – BBC News

George Murdoch murder: Police remain optimistic about finding 1983 killer – BBC News

George Murdoch – True Crime Library

George Murdoch: Family’s emotional appeal to help trace Aberdeen taxi driver’s killer – Evening Express

Family of murdered Aberdeen taxi driver hope new book will bring ‘cheese wire killer’ to justice 36 years later – Daily Record

Family of ‘Cheese Wire Killer’ victim still seek justice 35 years on | Press and Journal

Cheesewire Killer: Anguished relatives of murdered man in 1980s extend time on their £10,000 reward – Daily Record

Renewed bid to find Aberdeen cheese wire killer 35 years on – BBC News

Nephew of Scots cabbie brutally battered and choked to death in 1983 offers £10,000 to snare ‘Cheesewire Killer’ and solve uncle’s mystery killing

Reward for information about murdered Aberdeen taxi driver extended | Press and Journal

Family of murdered taxi driver George Murdoch publishes book about unsolved case | Press and Journal

Family hopes new book on George Murdoch’s murder will help finally close 36-year-old cold case | Press and Journal

‘Police chiefs to blame for “cheese wire killer” getting away’ | Press and Journal

Blood and Granite: True crime from Aberdeen eBook: Adams, Norman: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

10,000 reward to catch murderer who killed taxi driver 31 years ago – Evening Express

 

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

101 (UK).

Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 (UK),

Email dedicated inbox at SCDHOLMESAberdeen@scotland.pnn.police.uk.

The Last Fare

by Robina S McKay

Synopsis

Thursday 29th Sept 1983. It had been a miserable, dreich day in Aberdeen and rain was still falling, as taxi driver, George Murdoch, made his way along Queens Rd. Up ahead, he spotted a young guy attempting to flag down a cab. Pulling in for him, he stopped and his passenger climbed into the seat behind him. As he indicated to pull out, George glanced at the clock dial. This would be his last fare of the night. Soon, he’d be heading home to his wife and the warm meal she’d have waiting for him. But George would not make it home that night, nor any other.

His nightmare was only just beginning…………

Our Review

Dawn:

A taxi driver working in Aberdeen on the night of the 29th of September 1983 picked up a seemingly harmless fare, but a few minutes into the journey things took a deadly turn.

Dawn and Cole:

Hi wee ones. I’m Dawn and I’m Cole, and this is Scottish Murders.

Dawn:

George Murdoch, known to his friends and family as Dod, was made redundant in his mid-50s.It was a bit difficult for George to secure another job at this time due to his age and job prospects at the time, but he was determined to find employment. Eventually he decided to give taxi driving a go, it was a good easy way of making some money to pay the bills and take care of himself and his wife Jesse. He and Jesse had been happily married for 37 years, having married when George was 21 years old. George and Jesse sadly never had any children of their own, but they had lots of nieces and nephews who they doted on. They also had become best friends with their neighbours who also had children and they saw them as their grandchildren. George and Jesse had so much love to give. George and Jesse also loved animals and had a dog named Patch, who they adored and spoilt rotten. George also tried his hand at keeping pigeons, but unfortunately his pigeons just weren’t that keen on returning home. This was all well known and often caused a laugh or two. George was described by everyone he knew as being a kind, gentle and friendly man who always had a smile on his face, and himself and Jesse liked nothing more than spending a weekly night out at a local pub with friends and family, laughing and playing bingo. They had a quiet, simple life, but they were very content and happy with each other and looked forward to growing old together. Now when George decided he would start taxi driving, Jesse wasn’t too pleased about this as she was worried for his safety. George however, always the optimist, assured her that it would be okay and that he would never resist a robber, it just wasn’t worth it. George started taxi driving around 1980. He would often be seen in his sky blue Ford Cortina happily driving the locals around, sharing a story or two with them on their journey, and George was very well liked and respected in the local community. On Thursday the 29th of September 1983, George’s taxi shift would have gone as normal, ferrying locals to and from Aberdeen. Aberdeen is a city in the northeast of Scotland and is the third largest city in Scotland, with a population of over 241,000. It is known for its strong ties with the north sea boasting notable fishing and shipping industries, as well as being known as the offshore oil capital of Europe since the 1970s. Aberdeen is also known as the Granite City due to many of the buildings in the city being made from the local grey granite, which sparkles like silver in the sunlight. Thursdays in Aberdeen were late night shopping so it would have been busy. This particular Thursday was cold and the rain was falling heavily. George had been busy all evening and he was at last nearing the end of his shift. About 8.25pm as George was driving along Queens Road, up ahead he would have seen a young man standing on the pavement waving him down. The young man got into the taxi behind George and George pulled away. At 8.28 pm, George radioed the control room and said that he had picked up a fare for Peterculter, which was about six miles or about nine kilometres away. Then, for some reason, about two miles or about three kilometres into the journey, George turned his taxi into Pitfodels Station Road, which was about four miles or six kilometres short of the supposed destination. This street is about four miles west of Aberdeen city centre, it is quiet and dimly lit and runs all the way down to Garthdee Road, starting on a steep slope and going downwards as you turn into it. It would have been at this point that his passenger, who had been quietly sitting behind George, placed a steel cheese wire around his neck. It cut deeply into George’s neck and he would have panicked and probably initially froze in shock. However, this didn’t last long and he started fighting for his life, somehow managing to get the cheese wire away from his neck and get out of the taxi. However, the attacker was on top of him straight away and was stronger than him, younger than him, and before George could do anything else the attacker’s hands were around his neck and squeezing… hard. George would have fought hard but inevitably there was nothing he could do. With George slowly slipping into unconsciousness, the attacker grabbed his wallet and what little money George had in his taxi and fled the scene, leaving George fatally wounded and dying. God that’s awful. He must have been terrified. The first officers on the scene were dog handler PC Alan Hendry and a young officer who had been doing dog training exercises nearby that night, and so arrived on the scene quickly. George was lying in a pool of blood with severe injuries to his head, face and neck, and was barely alive when the first police officers arrived. After calling for backup PC Hendry stayed with George until the paramedics arrived, who then lifted George into the ambulance. Even though the paramedics did their best to save George, he died at the scene shortly after their arrival. He was 58 years old.

Cole:

He really didn’t deserve that.

Dawn:

Nobody would have deserved that. Following the murder the street was quickly cordoned off by the police and a murder investigation was launched. Over the next week or so extensive searches of the area were carried out, as well as police visiting 10,000 homes and 8,000 statements being taken, however, after all of this the only thing found connected to the murder and murderer was a cheese wire or a garrotte wire, which had been found near the scene. Now, there had been witnesses to the attack on George, two teenage cyclists were on their way home and were cycling up the slope and spotted George’s taxi facing down the hill with the lights on. As they’d passed they had seen George being pinned down by the murderer on the ground outside of his taxi and being strangled.

Cole:

Did they not do anything?

Dawn:

Well they were just teenagers so they were probably terrified, but they did cycle immediately to the nearest phone box and they called the police. The police had received this call just after 9pm and had radioed for a police officer to attend, with PC Alan Hendry being the nearest and showing attending. The two boys told the police that the attacker was thin built, in his late 20s to early 30s, with very dark hair. A couple out for a walk that evening in the area also reported to the police that they had seen a man running 200 yards from the scene. Apparently this was just moments after the teenagers had witnessed the fight. They gave a description of the man as being a thin man, roughly five foot seven inches, aged late twenties to early thirties, with short, dark, well-groomed hair that sat over his ears. Another witness had apparently seen a man matching this description running towards Aberdeen about five minutes later. Now about three weeks after the murder the staff in a chip shop in Great Western Road in Mannofield, which was about a mile and just under two kilometres from the murder scene, came forward and said that about 15 minutes after the murder a man matching the description came into the chip shop and ordered a fish supper.

Cole:

Did you say it took them three weeks to come forward?

Dawn:

Yeah, I did. Apparently, at the time, they had not connected the murder that had happened just along the road from them to this man being in their chip shop.

Cole:

You would think that they would be able to connect the two a little bit quicker as it was a local murder.

Dawn:

Yeah, exactly. They also said that this man had blood dripping from a hand injury and scratches on his cheek and nose, and a bruise was developing on one of his eyes, and that he spoke with a local accent.

Cole:

If I owned a chip shop and a man came in with blood dripping from his hands, scratches on his cheek and nose and a bruise on his face, I think I’d call the police regardless.

Dawn:

Apparently, as well there was actually six customers in the chip shop that night, but only one man was ever traced.

Cole:

Six people and only one person came forward? That’s crazy.

Dawn:

Yeah, exactly. And it was a popular theory by the locals that this man was the actual killer, but the police didn’t believe that.

Cole:

Yeah, I guess I can understand that. I mean, I doubt that you’re committing a horrible murder and then going to pick up a bag of chips.

Dawn:

I think the staff in the chip shop had probably just thought that this man had been in a fight or that had been drinking and had fallen over and he was just getting his fish supper and then heading home.

Cole:

Yeah. I mean, I can understand that, but it is a bit of a coincidence isn’t it?

Dawn:

It is a bit, and I do wish that they’d come forwards a bit sooner. However, the man in the chip shop has never been found and the theory’s just been ruled out. Shortly after the murder, the police also carried out a high-profile inquiry where they attended Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen when Aberdeen was playing Celtic, where they checked the hands of every male aged between 16 and 30 for damage, which would indicate this may be the killer. Apparently they saw this as an ideal opportunity where they could check a large number of males hands for any wounds. If the killer was going to a game and saw the police wouldn’t he just turn around and go home? Well, no, because the large police presence was only obvious once the supporters reached the turnstiles, by which time it would be too late to turn around and leave for fear of drawing attention to yourself. The police reported that everyone attending the game was extremely cooperative, however, the police had not anticipated that so many people would attend the game with cuts on their hands. After checking out all the people that had cuts on their hands and their stories, unfortunately no further leads were generated. Now, the cheese wire found at the scene was a potential clue to the identity of the killer, due to being able to narrow down the search possibly depending on the work a person did, however, cheese wire was used for a variety of things at the time, such as obviously cutting cheese, it was also used by oil workers for cutting core samples, by pottery makers, those in the fish industry, also used for removing windscreens from vehicles, and even apparently used for cutting through the horns on cattle, so there were quite a few uses for cheese wire. So, do you know anyone back in September 1983 working in any of these industries who perhaps had cuts and bruises on their face and hands? Or were you expecting anyone to come to your home that night that worked in any of these industries that didn’t turn up? Over the years the police have carried on following different lines of inquiry and there have been appeals from the family, but there just hasn’t been enough information or leads to track down this evil killer. Now, while it has never been determined exactly why George was killed, his wallet and money were stolen, the murderer could have been someone addicted to drink or drugs looking for easy money. If this was a robbery gone seriously wrong it is poignant to note that if the killer had just asked then George would have handed over the money no questions, as he always told his wife Jesse that he would do this. However, this was an extreme and excessively violent attack just to have been a robbery gone terribly wrong. Why was this man carrying a cheese wire with him in the first place? Did he use this for work? George was a very mild-mannered, gentle man who most certainly would not have antagonised the killer in any way for him to have attacked George so savagely. Did this man have anger problems? Or did this man simply decide that this was the night when he would cruelly take an innocent taxi driver’s life, and it didn’t matter who it was. This evil man would be approaching his seventies now and has enjoyed a life, which has been denied to George and his family. Now, when someone is murdered so horrifically you sometimes focus on the awful murder and forget about the family left behind having to find a way through. One person left behind after George’s murder was his wife Jesse. Jesse never recovered from the horrific murder of her beloved husband, her world had been turned upside down on the evening the police had come to her home to tell her the news about George’s murder. She loved George, they had plans for when George retired, but more than that they just looked forward to spending more time together. It was not just George’s life that had been taken that night. Jesse was a slight figure and after the murder she lost weight leading to her becoming frail. Over the years Jesse suffered many strokes and her legs started to get weak, which led to weakness and frailty. So much so that she eventually wasn’t able to go out on her own. Jesse did have huge support from her sisters, brother, nieces and nephews and the wonderful neighbours who lived next door, who she and George had become so close with. Jesse lived for another 21 years, dying in 2004 at the age of 76. In early 2015, George’s family issued another appeal and this time offered a £10,000, just under $14,000,

reward for any information that could lead to the conviction of George’s murderer. Again, some information was given to the police, but still not the lead or information that they would need to find the killer that had thus far evaded justice. Now, the investigation so far sounded like the police had been doing everything they could to try and find George’s killer via appeals, inquiries, witness statements etc, however, on the 17th of April 2017, 33 years after the murder, former police officer and the first police officer on the horrific scene in 1983 Alan Hendry, who went on to become an Aberdeenshire councillor, came forward to claim that he felt his superiors missed the opportunity to catch the killer quickly, close the case and give the family closure. The former police officer has always questioned just how well the searches were conducted at the time. He felt that he had been sent on a wild goose chase at the time while the killer was nearby watching the investigation unfold. He explains that after his superiors arrived he was told to take his German Shepherd to Peterculter, which is approximately 10 miles or 16 kilometres away, and to walk back along the old railway line, through the pouring rain back towards the scene of the killing. However, PC Hendry believed that the killer was actually hiding in a nearby field watching what was unfolding. By going through this field it would eventually take you out at the railway line. PC Henry believed if he had been allowed to do his job and search the immediate area he would have found the killer that night. PC Hendry was so convinced of the failings of the officer in charge on that night that the next day, once it had stopped raining, he took his German Shepherd back to the crime scene and let him loose in the field. Apparently, the dog indicated an area of ground in the field behind an embankment right on the edge of the Pidfodels Station road where somebody had been lying.

Cole:

Yeah, but that could have just been someone having a nosy at what was going on, unrelated to the attack at all.

Dawn:

Exactly. But as it’s been quite a number of years ago now we’ll never know for sure. Police Scotland didn’t comment specifically on these allegations, but they did say that they remain committed to solving unsolved murders, they are regularly reviewed and any forensic techniques are used to assist in this. On the 27th of September 2018, which would have been the 35th anniversary of George’s death, Detective Inspector Gary Winter from the Major Investigation Team organised a major media appeal in the hope that it might reach someone that had information about this case that hadn’t come forward yet. He advised that the team would be reviewing the case, reinterviewing the witnesses who saw the assault, and that the most advanced forensic techniques available would be used. He informed that the killer would be approaching his late 60s or early 70s by now. Detective Inspector Winter also stated that the cheese wire found at the scene had been used in the attack and a photograph of an identical cheese wire was also released at this time. Also at this appeal, a photograph was released that showed George and Jesse at their nephew’s wedding in 1977, and I have put both of these photos on the website. George’s nephew, Alex 61, who was 26 years old when his uncle was murdered, also spoke on behalf of the family at this appeal. Alex reiterated that the £10,000 or just under $14,000 reward was still being made available by the family for any information that resulted in the arrest of the person responsible. He spoke of memories he had of George, talked about George’s wife Jesse, and asked that people think back to 1983 and come forward with any information they might remember to the police. And what followed from the public was incredible, the police received over 100 calls and emails, and they were still being contacted by individuals in the following months. It just goes to show that despite the passage of time people still remember the tragic night George was murdered and desperately want to help give the family the closure they deserve. However promising it is that the police have received such a response to the appeal in 2018 and the advanced techniques that can be used, George’s murderer has still not been identified. Following this appeal, Alex, George and Jesse’s nephew, continued to speak out about the couple in the hopes of raising awareness and triggering a memory in somebody that could possibly lead to the arrest of George’s killer. Alex still remembers receiving the call from his mother at 11pm on the night of George’s murder breaking the news to him. He was badly shaken, and recalls that for many weeks after the murder the whole family was in turmoil and shock over the horrific senseless killing of their kind, gentle, always smiling Dod. He went on to say that Jesse had the kindest soul and she was deeply affected by the murder. She was scared being in her own home as the murderer had taken George’s wallet and she was afraid that this evil man would know her address and come to her home. She had thought about moving maybe to somewhere smaller, but this thought quickly was dismissed as she had so many memories of George in the house, there was no way she could leave. Alex said that apparently Jesse never really talked about what happened that night, possibly she was trying to protect her family from the horror and pain but they all felt it nonetheless. In April 2020, it was revealed that Robina McKay, who is the wife of George and Jesse’s nephew Alex, was in the process of writing a book as she wanted to tell Jesse’s story following the murder to hopefully strike a chord in people and allow insight into exactly what this heinous crime had done to George’s wife. This book is called The Last Fare and can be bought on paperback or Kindle from Amazon. I’ve actually read this book and it was told beautifully, it really made Jesse and George into real people and told of their time together, giving an insight into their thoughts. You were able to see them as a loving couple and not just victims of something absolutely horrendous. I’d really recommend this book. Alex has said that now all of George’s closest relatives have passed away, it is really down to Alex and his family to try to keep George’s story in the limelight and catch George’s killer, before Alex passes too. Hopefully one day soon someone will come forward with that one missing piece of information, who killed George Murdoch. As of this episode being released, there have still been no further developments, despite the many appeals for information over the years. If you’re listening to this episode and you think you might have information about this case that you haven’t shared with the police, no matter how small, please contact 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Or alternatively you can email a dedicated inbox at SCDHOLMESAberdeen@scotland.pnn.police.uk. And hopefully George Murdoch’s killer can finally be brought to justice. All of these contact details will be put on our website.

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

Cole:

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

Dawn:

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

Dawn and Cole:

Join us there, Bye!

Granny Robertson:

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn.

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn

Hosted by Dawn and Cole

Researched and Written by Dawn Young

Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull

Production Company Name by Granny Robertson

Music:

Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

by dawnyoung

The Karen Buckley Murder

The Karen Buckley Murder

Episode Summary

In April 2015, Irish nurse Karen had arrived in Glasgow a few months earlier to study at Caledonia University.  Taking some time out from studying, Karen was on a night out at a nightclub with her university friends.  Just before 1am she said goodnight to her friends and left the nightclub, she was never seen alive again.

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

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Google Maps – Glasgow

Glasgow Tourism and Visitor Plan

Judge calls Karen Buckley’s murder a ‘brutal, motiveless attack on a defenceless young woman’

Timeline Of Karen Buckley’s Murder | News – Clyde 2

Karen Buckley: Man arrested over student’s death – BBC News

Karen Buckley death: Man, 21, charged with murder of trainee nurse – Daily Star

Karen Buckley murder: Alexander Pacteau jailed for life – BBC News

Karen Buckley murder: Watch killer reveal moment he first laid eyes on student nurse – Mirror Online

Karen Buckley murder: Alexander Pacteau jailed for at least 23 years | UK news | The Guardian

Karen Buckley: One year on, what we know about her brutal murder in Glasgow and the questions that were never answered | The Irish Post

Karen Buckley murder: Alexander Pacteau admits murdering student who disappeared from Glasgow club in savage spanner attack – Daily Record

Karen Buckley murder – Mirror Online

Karen Buckley killer Alexander Pacteau’s mum says apology to victim’s family ‘would not be enough’ – Mirror Online

Karen Buckley killer Alexander Pacteau’s mother told him to drop life sentence appeal ‘out of respect’ – Daily Record

Karen Buckley murder: Police release chilling images which helped catch evil killer Alexander Pacteau – Daily Record

Karen Buckley murder: Timeline of events | The Scotsman

Karen Buckley: Timeline of disappearance and death

Timeline: The Karen Buckley murder case

Karen Buckley murder: Alexander Pacteau pleads guilty to killing Irish student in Glasgow | UK | News | Express.co.uk

Karen Buckley murder: Man admits ‘evil’ killing of Irish student in Glasgow – BBC News

Karen Buckley murder: Alexander Pacteau admits killing Glasgow student with spanner | The Independent

Karen Buckley murder: Alexander Pacteau admits brutal killing of Irish student nurse in Glasgow – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Family of murdered Karen Buckley thank ‘˜very many people’ for support | Belfast News Letter

Police fear Karen Buckley’s evil murderer Pacteau had ‘stalked other women’ – Herald.ie

Karen Buckley murderer Pacteau gets life, with a minimum sentence of 23 years

Memorial mass to mark one year since murder of Karen Buckley – STV News

Twisted killer jailed for life for ‘motiveless’ murder of student Karen Buckley – Daily Star

Karen Buckley murder: what we know now – Independent.ie

Man pleads guilty to Karen Buckley murder | UK news | The Guardian

Alexander Pacteau admits brutal murder of student Karen Buckley | ITV News

Man Admits Murder Of Karen Buckley – Heart Scotland

Karen was ‘our little angel’ – BBC News

Karen Buckley missing: Fears grow for student nurse who vanished after night out with pals – Mirror Online

Karen Buckley killer Alexander Pacteau’s mum says family are “devastated” by his crime – Mirror Online

Karen Buckley: How Alexander Pacteau killed her and tried to destroy her body

Alexander Pacteau family friend reveals details of Karen Buckley’s depraved killer’s childhood | Glasgow Times

Alex Pacteau: The making of the evil monster who murdered Karen Buckley – Irish Mirror Online

‘My son is innocent’, says mother whose son was seen talking to Karen on CCTV

Karen Buckley: More than £50,000 raised in 24 hours to support family of tragic student – Daily Record

Karen Buckley funeral: Hundreds mourn “utterly inappropriate” death | UK | News | Express.co.uk

Monster Alexander Pacteau who killed Karen Buckley flogs painkillers to drug-dealing lags for bottles of COKE at HMP Kilmarnock

Monster killer Alexander Pacteau moved jail after riot over drug checks

Monster Alexander Pacteau who killed student nurse Karen Buckley in Glasgow guzzles protein shakes and pumps iron in jail in a bid to get fit – The Scottish Sun

Cork nurse murderer Alexander Pacteau moved to new jail for being ringleader in prison riot

Alexander Pacteau: What drove the middle-class public schoolboy to kill Karen Buckley | Express.co.uk

24 year old Irish nurse Karen Buckley had moved to Glasgow in February 2015 to study occupational therapy. She had been on a night out in Glasgow with her friends, but was later seen on CCTV walking along the street with a man. Karen’s body was found four days later.

 

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

 

Cole: There are a few French names coming up, I’ve tried to look at how to pronounce them, but if I do get them wrong I do apologise. Alexander Benjamin Pacteau was born in 1994 to well off parents, Noreen and Guillaume Pacteau. His French father owned a successful courier business, while his Scottish mother stayed at home and raised Pacteau and his young sister and two younger brothers. From as early as four or five, a family friend revealed that Pacteau came across as a troubled child. He was very obnoxious, threw tantrums and constantly sought attention with his non-stop bad behaviour. He was apparently often referred to as trouble. The family were said to have lived in a plush house in the wealthy Bearsden area, which is 5.7 miles and about 9 kilometres northwest of Glasgow. Pacteau initially attended Balljaffray primary school located north of Bearsden, before later attending Kelvinside Academy, which is a private school in the west end of Glasgow. He attended this school as a teenager. The fees at this school were up to £12,000 a year, which is about $16,500. It was said that this move to a private school was in a bid to keep Pacteau on the straight and narrow. Unfortunately, before he could finish his schooling at Kelvinside Academy, his father’s business went bust and Pacteau ended up attending Bearsden Academy, which was a state school. Due to his private schooling his teachers expected him to be a bright student, however, he was described as an unremarkable student. He apparently had only a small circle of friends, was socially awkward and unpopular with girls. Despite his good start in life and his private education in 2011, he ended up dropping out of school when he was 17 years old so he could start his own courier firm. He attended a business course in Anniesland College, but within months he had dropped out of this too. It was shortly after he had dropped out of college that Pacteau began to show signs of what was lurking beneath. In November 2011, Pacteau was accused of attacking a 24 year old woman. After a night out in Glasgow, he allegedly approached a woman outside of a nightclub and gained her trust into sharing a taxi with him. As the two started walking to try and get a taxi, he had allegedly pushed her into an alley, forced her to the ground, put his hand over her mouth and carried out a sexual act on her, before trying to get her to carry out a sexual act on him. It was alleged at this point when he took his hand away from her mouth that she was able to scream, which alerted two men nearby who were on a balcony, and they rushed to her aid. Pacteau denied the charges of attempted rape and sexual assault, and at Paisley Court in 2013 he was cleared by a majority verdict. While the woman was devastated that he had been found not guilty, she felt strongly that she would be hearing his name again. Also in 2013, Pacteau’s parents split up and Pacteau went to live with his mother in Drymen, which is about 12 miles or 19 kilometres from where Pacteau grew up. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out and he eventually went to live with his father and his father’s new partner. Apparently he didn’t get on with his father’s new partner and there was some tension, so much so that his father grew tired of it and kicked Pacteau out. Pacteau then found himself a flat share in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow, which is about two miles, which is about three kilometres, away from where he grew up in Bearsden, with two other women. During this time he stopped socialising and fell into a pit of despair at his failure to get a girlfriend. He would frequently talk about sex in front of his female flatmates and talk about having heard them having sex. It got to a point where they didn’t want to be in the flat alone with him. He also struggled to find work, and when he did he rarely lasted long in the job.  However, he frequently stated that he was going to be a millionaire, and in 2014 he had clearly been giving it a good go when he was charged with forging around £6,000, which is about $8,000, in fake banknotes. The fake notes were seized and in May 2014 he was sentenced to carry out 225 hours of community service. Pacteau had been relieved to have dodged a prison sentence and was determined to turn his life around, and so went on a crash diet and joined a gym in a bid to get in shape, lose weight and change his fortunes. In February 2015 he found himself a new flat share in the Kelvinside area of Glasgow, again with a woman, and in April, a mere three months later, his life did take a dramatic turn, but not in the way anyone would have expected. Karen Buckley lived in Mourneabbey, Country Cork, Ireland, which has a population of approximately 1,000 people. Karen lived on a farm with her dad John, her mum Marian and her three older brothers; Brendan, Damian and Kieran. On finishing her final year of secondary school, Karen then attended University of Limerick, where she graduated with a nursing degree. As much as Karen loved her parish and missed her family and friends terribly, Karen felt that there were more opportunities for her over the water in the United Kingdom, and so following graduating, Karen secured a nursing placement at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex where she worked for a couple of years. However, as much as Karen loved her nursing job and worked hard, she also thoroughly enjoyed life and wanted to travel the world. Karen was fortunate enough to have visited both Thailand and South Africa and she loved the experience. She had the travel bug and had decided that she wanted to see more of the world. Like any mum and dad, her parents were concerned about Karen being abroad as a single woman, but they knew she was such a sensible girl and knew how to keep herself safe. Karen was so outgoing and fun-loving and everybody wanted to be around her, she made plenty of friends wherever she went. As well as traveling, Karen also loved to learn and develop new skills, so in February 2015 Karen moved to Glasgow where she was a first-year student studying occupational therapy at Glasgow Caledonia University. A few of Karen’s friends had student flats in Garnethill Street in Glasgow, which was about a 14-minute walk from the university she was attending, and so Karen also acquired a flat in Garnethill Street to be close to her friends. Karen loved Glasgow and was welcomed there as one of their own. Glasgow is situated in Scotland’s western lowlands and, according to Glasgow Tourism and Visitor Plan website, it is one of the world’s top five cities for hosting sporting events, the world’s leading festival and event destination and Scotland’s cultural and sporting centre, home to the largest annual cultural offering and largest sporting infrastructure outside of London. The people of Glasgow are well known for being extremely friendly, kind, warm, welcoming and having a great sense of humour. This might have been one of the many reasons Karen decided to attend Glasgow Caledonia University to continue her studies. Karen had a pretty uneventful couple of months after starting at university; attending lectures and enjoying spending her down time with her friends, that was until a chance meeting on a night out with friends in April.

Dawn: It was Saturday the 11th of April 2015 and in Garnethill Street 24 year old Karen and three friends, who also lived in flats in Garnethill Street, were in Karen’s flat listening to music, having a few drinks and getting ready to head to the Sanctuary Nightclub in Dumbarton Road, Glasgow. A taxi arrived at Garnethill Street to take the girls to the nightclub at about 11:30pm that evening, and Karen and her friends were seen arriving at the nightclub about 11:45pm, queuing for 20 minutes outside before finally getting let in. They then headed to the bar to get drinks and continue enjoying their night. Also getting ready for a night out at the popular Sanctuary Nightclub that night were 21 year old Pacteau and seven of his friends. Pacteau and his friends had arranged to meet at Pacteau’s flat in Dorchester Avenue for some drinks, before heading out. Two taxis were booked to take Pacteau and his friends to the Sanctuary, however only one turned up. Therefore Pacteau decided to drive himself and two of his friends to the nightclub in his Ford Focus and he parked it about 100 meters away, which is roughly 300 feet, from the nightclub. CCTV shows that Pacteau and his friends enter the Sanctuary Nightclub at 11:38pm, and head to a booth that the party had booked. This was six minutes before Karen would arrive with her friends. Karen and Pacteau didn’t know each other, they’d never met, were not acquaintances, were not friends online and didn’t have any mutual friends. They were complete strangers. It is also believed that neither Karen or Pacteau came into contact with each other at all while inside the Sanctuary. They both just separately seemed to be enjoying their nights out. However, about an hour later that would all change as their fates were intertwined. Karen had been having a good night, but just before 1am she said to her friends that she was going to head home and that she’d see them later that day for a catch-up. The friends were a bit concerned about Karen walking home alone, but she told them she would be fine, she’d get a taxi and for them not to worry. Karen had had a few drinks but she was by no means drunk, so they agreed for her to make her way home alone. She then said bye and headed for the exit of the Sanctuary Nightclub. A few minutes earlier, Pacteau was seen on CCTV leaving the nightclub briefly, before going back inside for a few minutes. And then just before 1am he left the nightclub again and this time crossed the road and was seen on CCTV walking up and down the pavement opposite the nightclub. Then at 1am, Karen is seen on CCTV leaving the nightclub, crossing the road and walking straight into Pacteau’s path, where he is still walking up and down on the opposite side of the road. Karen and Pacteau are seen on CCTV having a brief conversation, before the pair walk off in the direction of where Pacteau’s car is parked not far away. It is thought that perhaps he had offered her a lift home. This was the last time Karen was seen alive. Karen’s flatmates had had a good time while at the nightclub and were probably a bit worse for ware, and so it wasn’t until between 12noon and 1pm on the Sunday afternoon, after they had tried repeatedly to get an answer at Karen’s flat as her mobile phone was either switched off or had run out of charge, that they finally raised the alarm and contacted Police Scotland to report Karen missing, as they had a feeling by this time that something was terribly wrong. Karen was usually so reliable and would never just disappear without a word, if she had been going anywhere she would have either called or text to let her friends know where she was. Upon Police Scotland receiving the phone call reporting Karen Buckley missing, detectives immediately treated her disappearance as a high-risk missing person inquiry. Following speaking with her friends, who told them Karen had left the Sanctuary Nightclub alone, detectives were quick to request CCTV footage from the nightclub from the night before and early hours of the morning, to see if it could provide any insight into Karen’s movements. And they were quick to learn that it very well could. The CCTV footage showed Karen and her friends arriving at the Sanctuary Nightclub and then Karen leaving the club at about 1am, and having an interaction with a man she then walked off with. Unfortunately, there was no footage of where the two had gone, but the CCTV footage was clear enough so this was a good start. Police Scotland made an appeal asking for anyone who had seen Karen in the early hours of Sunday morning to come forward, asking for information on who the man with Karen was from the footage, as well as any information on a grey Ford Focus car that had been seen traveling in the Milngavie or Drymen areas between 11am and 3pm on Monday the 13th of April. Detectives described Karen at this time as being white, between five foot to five foot two inches, with dark hair and brown eyes. She had been wearing an all-in-one black jumpsuit with red high heels, and a black handbag, and she spoke in an Irish accent. By Monday, while there had been information on sightings of Karen, detectives had a name to go with the face of the man Karen was seen last talking to, Alexander Pacteau. Detectives also established that Pacteau was the owner of a grey Ford Focus. Detectives visited Pacteau’s flat in Dorchester Avenue to attempt to speak to him, but on their first visit there was no one at home. However, upon calling at his flat again about 6pm, he opened the door and said “I was just coming to see you.”

Cole: Oh I wonder what he was going to say.

Dawn: Well, he invites the detectives into his flat, where a strong smell of bleach is immediately noticed.

Cole:  Oh that’s not a good sign.

Dawn: The detectives take a look through the flat and notice a few other odd things in his bedroom, such as a toolbox, a roll of parcel tape, nail brushes, and also that the mattress doesn’t fit his bed.

Cole: I maybe could understand a toolbox, the parcel tape, maybe nail brushes, are these things odd to have in your flat? He shares his flat, right?

Dawn: Yeah, he does share a flat.

Cole: So, he could be just worried about things going missing. But the mattress doesn’t fit his bed? That’s just really odd, isn’t it?

Dawn: Yeah, that is a bit strange.

Cole: How often do you see someone with a bed that they’ve got the wrong sized mattress?

Cole: Yeah, I agree it is a bit strange, and I guess the detectives thought that as well. Anyway. So, the detectives asked Pacteau about his movements the night before and the early hours of the morning, and this is when he tells them what he was coming to see them about. He says that, yes, he had met Karen outside the Sanctuary Nightclub, purely by chance, and they had come back to his flat, but that she’d left around 4am. The detectives then asked Pacteau if he would come to the station to give them a statement, which he agreed to do. Once at the police station Pacteau’s earlier statement to detectives began to change, and not for the last time. He stated again how, yes, Karen had returned to his flat, that they had had a couple of drinks and had consensual sex, however, this time he states that Karen had hit her head on the bed frame, before leaving his flat at 4am. He said that he hadn’t realised she was bleeding until he saw the blood on the bedsheets earlier in the morning, after she had gone. Pacteau continues by saying that once he saw the missing person appeal for information about Karen’s whereabouts, and saw he was the man that was shown on the CCTV outside the Sanctuary Nightclub talking to Karen, he said he panicked because he knew he was probably the last person to have seen her alive, and so he had taken the blood stained mattress and some of his clothes to High Craigton Farm and burned them, and he purchased a new ill-fitting mattress. As you do. Yeah. So, you were right, there was something wrong, there was something sinister about the mattress being the wrong size. If I walk into a gentleman’s home and the mattress doesn’t fit the bed, I’m walking straight back out. (laughs) Anyway, while Pacteau was at the police station he agreed to have his clothes searched, and what the police found in his trouser pocket made the detectives even more suspicious of Pacteau. He had a receipt for drain unblocker and sodium hydroxide.

Cole: Sodium hydroxide, that is also known as lye, isn’t it? Or caustic soda? It breaks down proteins at room temperature and it can cause severe burns, is that right?

Dawn: Yeah, that’s right. You wouldn’t want that spilt on you that’s for sure.

Cole: Definitely not.

Dawn: So, following Pacteau’s statement being taken, and given what was found in his trouser pockets, the police were deeply suspicious of his version of events, and so they cordoned his flat off and began to forensically search and examine it. Pacteau was free to go at this time but, due to his flat now being forensically searched, he advised detectives that he would be spending the night at a Holiday Inn hotel in Glasgow. Forensic teams worked through the night and about 4aam Pacteau’s grey Ford Focus was removed from outside his flat and taken to be forensically searched also. When Karen was first reported missing, Police Scotland had contacted her parents in County Cork to advise them that Karen was missing, and her parents made the decision to fly to Glasgow to try and find out what had happened to their daughter. Back in Ireland, Karen’s former classmates at Limerick University set up a fundraising page to help support the family with their travel and expenses while in Glasgow, as well as to help support the upkeep of their farm in Cork. The page was only open for 24 hours and in that time they had raised £50,000, which is about $69,000.

Cole: That’s amazing!

Dawn: That’s a lot of money. Some people called for it to be reopened again as they too wanted to donate.

Cole: A press conference was held at the police station on Tuesday the 14th of April at about 2pm. Karen’s parents, John and Marian, made an appeal asking for any information on their daughter’s whereabouts saying that they were desperate for her to come home safely. During this appeal police revealed that they had traced the man seen talking to Karen on CCTV and he was helping them with their inquiries, but Detective Superintendent Jim Kerr stressed that he was not a suspect. They also revealed that Karen’s handbag had been discovered in Dawsholm Park, which is around a three minute drive from Pacteau’s flat at Dorchester Avenue. Apparently Karen’s handbag had been found at 7am on Sunday the 12th of April by a member of the public, but they had not actually handed the bag into the police until 1:40pm on Tuesday, after hearing the appeal for information on Karen’s whereabouts. That took them a long time, no rush. I don’t actually know why it took so long, but it was probably just a case that they hadn’t had a chance to take it to the police station yet, but they did it as soon as they heard about the appeal. Karen’s handbag had been found near a rubbish bin in Dawsholm Park. along with her mobile phone and a passport. Following this discovery being reported, a huge police search was mounted at the park, which included search helicopters and sniffer dogs. The search in Dawsholm Park and at Pacteau’s flat continued until Wednesday. The location where Karen’s handbag had been found further raised suspicion about Pacteau’s story of Karen leaving his flat at 4am. If Karen was heading back to her own flat in Garnethill Street, she would have walked in the opposite direction of Dawsholm Park. So another thing that detectives had to think about. And then on Wednesday the 15th of April, police released a statement saying that through the evidence that they had been able to collect, a 21 year old man had been detained for questioning in connection with Karen’s disappearance, and that man was Alexander Pacteau. Apparently the police had found Pacteau at a Starbucks at 1:55pm in Glasgow City Centre and had brought him to Helen Street police station for questioning. This came after swabs taken from Pacteau’s flat confirmed traces of Karen’s blood within the property and police feeling confident that they had enough evidence to treat Pacteau as a suspect. When Pacteau was searched in the police station this time police found a handwritten note on Holiday Inn notepaper which outlined what he’d said to the police when he had made a witness statement on the 13th of April. Clearly he was trying to remember what he had originally said. Following the police releasing the statement that Pacteau had been detained in connection with Karen’s disappearance, just over an hour later, a former colleague of Pacteau’s rang the police station and reported that Pacteau had previously used storage units at High Craigton Farm, which is just outside Milngavie, and that he also drove a grey car, which the police had previously put out an appeal for any information about, but at this point they already knew about the car. This information was gold for the detectives working on the case and they immediately headed to High Craigton Farm, arriving there about 3:30pm, within 30 minutes of receiving the tip. So, remembering that they had found a receipt in Pacteau’s trouser pocket showing that he’d bought padlocks recently, the officers began by searching sheds or units that had new padlocks on them, until they finally found the right one.

Dawn: While police continued to treat Karen as a missing person, they did have deep suspicions that there was foul play, especially after they had finally spoken to Pacteau and taken his initial witness statement, things just weren’t adding up. So, they had begun the huge task of tracking Pacteau’s movements from the point when he walked out of the CCTV footage with Karen still very much alive. They collected and analysed a massive amount of CCTV footage, and finally a clear picture started to emerge. The police also requested records of his mobile phone usage as well as his bank records, and following viewing these records their suspicions were further aroused, because it showed that on Sunday morning not only did Pacteau search on his phone to find out the chemical properties of sodium hydroxide but he also made some rather odd purchases, such as buying over six litres of caustic soda from different shops, drain unblocker, a mask and gloves. And then on Monday he bought a lighter, lighter fluid, white spirits and two padlocks. Further to this, also on Monday the 13th of April at 8:34am, Pacteau rang a storage equipment supplier and ordered a 220 litre blue barrel, which he promptly collected.

Cole: Back at High Craigtonn Farm on Wednesday the 15th of April, armed with all of this information, when police opened a storage unit and find a blue barrel hidden under a sheet, a paper shredder and a bicycle wheel, they stopped dead in their tracks. Could Karen be inside the barrel? As they knew that Pacteau had bought sodium hydroxide, they had waited for a fire service to deem the barrel safe to be examined. Finally, at 8pm on Wednesday the 15th of April, the police were able to open the barrel, and sadly need not search any further. They had found Karen’s body, naked and partially submerged in sodium hydroxide. The barrel with Karen’s body inside was removed and taken to Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, where a post-mortem examination was carried out. It was revealed that Karen had suffered a number of soft tissue injuries to her neck and had received a series of heavy blows to her head, later revealed to have been about 12 or 13, which had fractured her skull and led to a subdural haemorrhage. She also had defensive wounds on her arms and hands. At 3:40am on Thursday the 16th of April 2015, just over four days after Karen was last seen, Alexander Pacteau was arrested by police for the murder of Karen Buckley. With evidence mounting against Pacteau, and Karen’s body now having been found, when police questioned him, his story changed yet again. Of course it did. He now said that they had gone back to his flat and during consensual sex she had hit her head on the bed frame. She had then became angry and had slapped him, and so he had reached for the nearest item to hand, which had been a spanner, and began hitting her over the head. How, who, how many people are keeping spanners in their bedroom do you think?

Dawn: (laughs)

Cole: Do you want to know something though?

Dawn: What?

Cole: I’ve got a high heel under my bed.

Dawn: (laughs) Aye, of course you have Cole. (laughs) That’s almost worse than a spanner.

Cole: Well, it’s not actually. Do you want to know why?

Dawn: (laughs) Uh-huh.

Cole: Because if someone was to attack you in your own home, and you hit them with something like a spanner, that’s going to be seen as, um, premeditated, cause you’ve put that spanner under your bed to attack someone if they’ve come to your home. Whereas if you have a high heel under your bed, something that could be in your bedroom…

Dawn: Only you would think like that Cole.

Cole: It’s not just me, loads of people think it. Where do you think I got the idea from?

Dawn (laughs) Anyway. (laughs)

Cole: Yes?

Dawn: Anyway. As the police continue to question Pacteau to try and get the truth out of him, a press conference is held where Detective Superintendent Jim Kerr confirmed that the body of Karen Buckley had been found and that her family had been made aware of the discovery. He confirmed that they had arrested a 21 year old man in connection with Karen’s murder, and that the man would be appearing in court the following day. A statement was also read out by Detective Superintendent Kerr from John Buckley on behalf of Karen’s family, and it read “Marian and I, together with our sons Brendan Kieran and Damian, are absolutely heartbroken. Karen was our only daughter, cherished by her family and loved by her friends. She was an outgoing girl who travelled the world, where she met lots of people and thoroughly enjoyed her life. We will miss her terribly.” That’s so sad. On Friday the 17th of April at 3pm, Pacteau appeared at a private hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court where he was formally charged with Karen’s murder, as well as attempting to defeat the ends of justice. He made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody.

Cole: Just two hours later in George Square in Glasgow, hundreds of people, including Karen’s mum and dad, attended a vigil that had been organised, where a piper played and people sang both Scottish and Irish songs while mourners laid flowers, before a minute silence was carried out. Karen’s parents, John and Marian, then headed home to Cork with their daughter’s body to undertake the devastating task of arranging her funeral.

Dawn: Regardless of the stack of evidence Police Scotland had against Pacteau, they did not rest on their laurels, they continued with their investigation. Having obtained and checked CCTV footage from a variety of commercial premises in the northwest of Glasgow, detectives were able to ultimately map out Pacteau’s movements over the following couple of days after he and Karen walked out of the CCTV footage outside of the Sanctuary Nightclub on Sunday the 12th of April 2015. Although there is no footage of Karen and Pacteau going to his car or getting into his car, it is assumed that she was not under any duress and that she had been grateful that Pacteau had offered to give her a lift home. Pacteau did initially start to drive in the direction of Karen’s flat in Garnethill Street, however, he then drove to Kelvin Way, which is a three minute drive from the Sanctuary Nightclub. Pacteau’s car was seen on CCTV parked in Kelvin Way, which at that time of night was dark and quiet. His car was seen there from 1:06am where it stayed for 12 minutes and 46 seconds, before it then left Kelvin Way at 1:18am and turned round and travelled back along the same way it had just come. Police believe that during the 12 minutes his car was parked in Kelvin Way is when he had first attempted to strangle Karen, before hitting her repeatedly on the head with an adjustable spanner. She fought hard for her life as Karen had defensive wounds on her arms and hands, and Pacteau had cuts on his arms. Following murdering Karen, Pacteau drove around for about half an hour before driving to Dawsholm Park and dumping her handbag near a rubbish bin. Hethen returned to his first floor flat at Dorchester Avenue, a three-minute drive from the park, at 2am. He then wrapped Karen’s body in a sheet he had retrieved from his flat and carried her body into his bedroom, where he placed her body in a suitcase. Whatever he did in the next few hours is anybody’s guess, but he used his mobile phone again at 8am to look for the sodium hydroxide. After buying six litres of sodium hydroxide from B&Q, he returned to his flat, took Karen’s clothes off and submerged her body in a bath filled with the caustic soda. Oh God. He also apparently found the time to text his flatmate to find out what time they would be returning, to be told it would be about 8pm. Pacteau was not satisfied with just submerging Karen’s body in the caustic soda, he went on to make an incision from Karen’s sternum down to her abdomen, which allowed the solution to enter her body and destroy the internal organs, speeding up the process.  So bad. That is just grim. Pacteau spent quite a number of hours in the bathroom with Karen’s body, until about 5pm when he drained the bath and took her body back into his bedroom. He then began to tidy up the bathroom and hallway before his flatmate arrived at 8pm.

Cole: Pacteau must realise that he has a very busy day ahead of himself trying to cover up the horrific crime he has just committed, and so he is first seen at 4:52am on CCTV on Monday the 13th of April going to the Forth and Clyde Canal near his flat, where he dumps the spanner. He then goes to a local supermarket to try and find cleaning products to remove bloodstains from his mattress, going as far as actually asking a member of staff for her recommendations. He then goes on and buys white spirit and a lighter, before making his first trip of the day to High Craigton Farm, about 6 miles or 10 kilometres northwest of Glasgow, a place he knew well and had previously paid for storage there. He proceeded to burn Karen’s bloodstained clothes as well as the other bloodstained items from his flat, including some of his clothes and sponges. He picked up the blue barrel sometime between 8:30 and 9:30am. He goes to buy yet more sodium hydroxide from a completely different store before returning once again to his flat, where he took the barrel up to his flat and wrapped an extension cable around Karen’s body. He put brown parcel tape around her head then leaves the flat again without her body. Now clearly his cleaning products didn’t work on the bloodstains on the mattress as he was seen loading his mattress into his car. as well as a suitcase that Karen’s body had been in, and his duvet and other items. He was then seen on CCTV footage in a supermarket car park, which showed his car and a mattress in the back, where he bought another lighter and lighter fluid, before headed yet again to High Craigton Farm where he burns the mattress, duvet, clothes and suitcase. God he was busy going backwards and forwards wasn’t he?  He really was. Pacteau returns to his flat again at 11:19am and this time he fills the barrel with the drain unblocker liquid and the sodium hydroxide. He puts Karen’s body into the barrel and seals it. He is then seen at about 2pm by a neighbour struggling to take the barrel from his first floor flat to his car. Once he has the barrel in his car he goes to a supermarket to buy padlocks. He is seen again on CCTV driving towards the farm at 2:35pm, and a barrel could be seen in the back of his car. As he nears the farm he meets the local farmer and asks about renting a unit from him, and they agreed a price of £10 pound, or about $13, for the week. He drives to the storage unit he had rented and puts the barrel inside. He puts over the barrel a sheet, a paper shredder and a bike wheel, placed the padlock on the outside of the unit and left. He is then seen at a car wash having his car valeted at 4:16pm, and while he is waiting for the car to be cleaned he uses his phone to create an advert to sell the car, before heading home. The next time he is seen is when the police come to his door at 6pm and he says to them “I was just coming to see you.”

Dawn: Police Scotland had done an amazing job in not only catching  Pacteau and charging him for Karen’s murder, but in collecting as much evidence as they possibly could to ensure that there was no way this monster of a man could get away with anything that he had done, not only to Karen but to her family and friends. There were more than 500 police officers involved in the investigation, and Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said that “The full resources of Police Scotland were directed towards understanding what had happened to Karen and tracing the person responsible for her murder.” Due to this diligent piece of policing detectives now knew where Pacteau had gotten rid of the murder weapon, and so on Tuesday the 21st of April, police divers went into the canal and they located the spanner used to kill Karen. But the evidence to prove Pacteau’s guilt didn’t stop there, it just kept mounting. Obviously the police had continued searching High Craigton Farm and the surrounding area after finding Karen’s body, and on Monday the 27th of April they found a partially burned mattress. After being forensically tested, it showed that the mattress contained samples of Karen’s blood. Also, through the use of cadaver dogs, it was confirmed that a body had been in Pacteau’s car, and it was established that it had been Karen’s body, due to forensic tests having found traces of Karen’s blood on the passenger side of the car. This was despite the fact that Pacteau had had his car valeted on Monday afternoon, following having taken Karen’s body to High Craigton Farm. Pacteau’s fingerprints were also found inside the blue barrel. He probably thought that they would have been destroyed by the sodium hydroxide, but he would have been wrong. Soil samples taken from the tyres on Pacteau’s car were compared to soil samples taken from High Craigton Farm and Dawsholm Park, and they matched also. While the police were continuing to collect evidence and build a case against Pacteau, Karen’s funeral was arranged for the 28th of April at her local parish church in Mourneabbey, County Cork. The church only holds 300 people and it just wasn’t big enough for all the mourners that attended her funeral to bid her a final farewell. A loudspeaker had to be put up outside for those that gathered. Karen had apparently loved fashion and her favourite dress had been placed beside her coffin to mark her love of fashion. Karen’s funeral was marked by many contributions from family and friends to remember her, including her cousin who read a poem entitled Karen, recalling her journey from green country fields to international studies; “A nurse with plans, a woman full of dreams. A smile to lift a thousand frowns; brown eyes shining big and round, a country girl, big hopes, big plans, big heart, big smile and caring hands.” While Karen was driven to her final resting place, her former University of Limerick nursing classmates walked alongside the hearse wearing their full nursing uniforms and carrying a single red rose, to form a special guard of honour.  That’s really nice. Only four months after burying their daughter, John and Marian Buckley, and their three sons, were back in Glasgow again on Tuesday the 11th of August for a hearing at the High Court, where they were subjected to listening to the moments leading up to their daughter’s horrific murder, and what Pacteau did to her body after the murder. Pacteau pleaded guilty to the murder of Karen Buckley. Through his defence counsel, he accepted full responsibility for his actions, but could offer no rational explanation for what he had done.  During the hearing, footage was also shown of Pacteau  being interviewed by the police, where he was speaking about the moment he first saw Karen outside the Sanctuary Nightclub. This footage is on our website. He also disclosed that he apparently had little recollection of the events on 12th April claiming he was so drunk, and blamed the fatal attack on a trivial comment passed by Karen in his car. A trivial comment? That’s all it took?  Yep. That was all it took. Outside the High Court, following the hearing, Karen’s father, John, thanked the police and the people of Glasgow for all their help in finding Karen. He said, “What a waste of a young life. It all seemed unreal. No words of ours can do justice to our feelings towards him. He is truly evil and we hope he spends the rest of his life behind bars.  Our hearts are broken at the thought of Karen’s final moments in this world. The thought of her being alone, frightened and struggling for her life haunts us. We miss her terribly. Karen is our little angel and she is at peace now.” Then finally the day everyone involved in the case, and Karen’s family, had been waiting for, Pacteau’s sentencing. On the 8th of September 2015, everyone attended the High Court in Glasgow again. Pacteau’s sentencing was actually recorded and broadcast, and if you’d like to listen to the full summing up and sentencing by Judge Lady Rae, I’ve put a link to it on our website. Judge Lady Rae, residing over Pacteau’s sentencing, said that she found it extremely difficult to find words to describe the dreadful crime that he had pleaded guilty to. She said, “This crime is a very shocking and disturbing case. You killed a young woman who was a stranger to you in what appears to be a motiveless, senseless, brutal attack.” She went on to say “You claimed to be remorseful, but you only expressed remorse for the first time when you pleaded guilty.”  She went on to say that Karen had been much loved and that he had carried out a “brutal, motiveless attack on a defenceless young woman.” Lady Rae stated that she felt that her hands had been somewhat tied in relation to Pacteau’s sentencing, as not only had the Crown decided not to seek a conviction for Pacteau attempting to defeat the ends of justice, but the defence had also argued that she not take into account anything that had happened after the actual murder. She said that she found this “extraordinary”.  She continued, “What you did after her killing, including telling the police a tissue of lies, some of which went into the public domain which would, I have no doubt caused the family increased stress. All of this displays the actions of a man who is callous and calculated.” In the end she decided that she could not in fact ignore Pacteau’s actions after the killing and sentenced him to spend a minimum of 23 years in jail for murdering Karen Buckley, before he could apply for parole.  It will be at least 2038 before he is up for release, he will be 44 years old. Following the sentencing Pacteau was led away in silence. Karen’s dad gave a statement after the sentencing saying, “Today’s life sentence will not bring our beautiful Karen back. Our little angel has been taken from us forever in the cruellest of ways. We mourn for her every day. It will, however, ensure that women are safe from harm from the truly evil coward who took our beautiful Karen’s precious life. I hope that he is never released and spends every day in prison haunted by what he did.” Karen’s dad went on to say that himself, his wife Marian and their three sons, would try their best to rebuild their lives.

Cole: Two weeks after his sentencing, the family were again drawn into the spotlight as Pacteau had lodged an appeal to shorten his sentence. While the family had been warned that this might happen, I can’t imagine how they must have felt. Pacteau’s mum, Noreen, had been visiting her son regularly in prison and somehow she managed to convince Pacteau to withdraw the appeal, out of respect for Karen’s family, which he did in December, two days before the court appearance was due to take place. His mother, Noreen, was devastated by what he had done when she first found out. He had apparently visited her house for a meal the night before he murdered Karen. She said that she was absolutely “heartbroken for Karen’s family, distraught and dismayed by the whole thing.” She was asked if she would be apologising to the Buckley family on behalf of her son, but she said “I don’t think an apology would suffice. If this was my daughter it simply wouldn’t suffice.”

Dawn: Yeah, I totally agree with that.  I think that would have been the wrong thing to do.

Cole: Yeah. As far as I can see she stayed away from Karen’s family.

Dawn: That’s good. So, after the absolute horror of losing their beloved daughter, the ordeal of the hearing, the sentencing, the appeal, I think by this point Karen’s family and friends probably just needed a bit of time to themselves to process everything, and grieve and heal. However, a year on from Karen Buckley’s life tragically and brutally being taken, she was not forgotten, far from it. Memorial services had been arranged and took place on both sides of the Irish Sea. On the 12th of April 2016 at Glasgow Caledonia University, Karen’s friends, classmates and staff at the University, came together for quiet, personal reflection to remember Karen and her family.  And then at around 7:30pm on Friday the 15th of April in Cork in Ireland, Karen’s family and friends came together at the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Analeentha, Mourneabby for tributes and prayers. This was the same church where Karen had received her communion, her confirmation, and where her funeral was held. The prayers were led by local priest Father Joe O’Keefe, who had been a “rock of support and a true friend”, and who had supported the family since the murder. And then on the 17th of April 2016, the family released a statement saying, “We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the very many people who went out of their way to help and support us at the time of Karen’s death and ever since. It was and continues to be very much appreciated by all of us and our extended family. We are indebted to the professionalism and great courtesy of the Scottish police and our own Garda Siochana for all the help we received in coping with a terrible tragedy; to the Scottish people who held a vigil for Karen in Glasgow and prayed with us, to everybody who has shared our terrible loss please accept this acknowledgement of our profound gratitude.”

Cole: It’s not often that in these cases families get the support or closure that they need, so it was a nice way to end it.

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

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

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

Both: Join us there! Bye!

Granny Robertson: Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn.

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn

Hosted by Dawn and Cole

Researched and Written by Dawn Young

Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull

Production Company Name by Granny Robertson

Music:

Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

by dawnyoung