Assumptions Made

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:

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.

Credits

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

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