A court has heard a Fife man accused of raping and murdering his sister told a police officer trying to save her life: “She’s already dead, you might as well give up.”
The High Court in Glasgow was told Charles Gordon made the comment as he calmly sat on a sofa smoking a cigarette while PC Craig Walker carried out CPR on Elizabeth Bowe lying yards away.
Gordon, 52, denies murdering Ms Bowe, 50, by putting a dressing gown around her neck, compressing it and placing a bag over her head at her home in Bobby Jones Place on September 17 last year.
He also denies raping Ms Bowe, and behaving in a threatening manner towards detectives.
PC Walker told the court he and colleague PC Keith Leinster were on mobile patrol when they were called to an incident at a flat in Bobby Jones Place at around 9.25pm on the evening in question.
PC Walker said he had to force entry to the communal door but was told to come in by Gordon when he knocked on Ms Bowe’s door.
There he saw Gordon sitting on the sofa smoking a cigarette, with Ms Bowe lying motionless beside a coffee table on the floor.
PC Walker told the court she was only dressed on her top half wearing a vest top, with her bra undone.
He saw she had blood in her mouth and what he initially thought was a blue blanket wrapped “like a scarf” around her neck.
He also saw a torn and stretched carrier bag with blood on it nearby.
PC Walker told the court he started doing chest compressions, as he couldn’t do mouth-to-mouth due to the presence of blood, and heard Gordon say: “She’s already dead, you might as well give up.”
While PC Walker’s focus was on trying to save Ms Bowe’s life, PC Leinster told the court his attention was on Gordon, whom he handcuffed.
PC Leinster said Gordon had been compliant and had not shown any emotion, albeit he had been “a bit rambling” as he appeared under the influence of alcohol.
The court then heard how Gordon had told police: “I wish it hadn’t happened, but it did.”
After being taken to Kirkcaldy police station, Gordon was then heard to say: “Wee sister tried to be a wee slut, so I tried to kill her.”
And then a short time later, he said: “Nothing to hide, I know what I’ve done.”
Asked by prosecutor Iain McSporran what Gordon’s mood was like, PC Leinster replied: “He didn’t appear to be a man who was distraught at the potential loss of life of his sister.”
He added that Gordon had seemed “a little agitated”, but had been cooperative.
Sergeant James Scarborough, who had been a detective constable at Kirkcaldy at the time, confirmed Gordon had made the statements alleged after his detention, adding that he had also heard him say: “Little b*****d sister.”
Sgt Scarborough said Gordon became “quite abusive” when trying to move him from his cell at 5.18am the following morning and told him “You’ll be next”.
The court also heard from ambulance technician Angus Headley who arrived at Ms Bowe’s flat to find her on her back on the floor.
She had no signs of life at that stage, but medics eventually managed to find a faint pulse after drugs were administered at the scene.
She was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, but the court heard that a CT scan showed changes to her brain consistent with a prolonged lack of oxygen and that doctors felt it was “highly unlikely” she would survive.
She was pronounced dead at 12.01pm on September 20.
The trial before judge John Morris continues.
