Skeleton-in-the-cupboard killer David Barnes has been found guilty of the “despicable and evil” murder of a Fife father-of-three.
Tradesman Barnes targeted 60-year-old army veteran Ean Coutts – known as Ian – while redecorating his flat on Main Street, Kinglassie, in September 2019.
The 33-year-old used a neighbour’s wheelie bin to cart Mr Coutt’s body out of the house and into his partner’s Volkswagen Golf.
He then drove to the mostly derelict Whitehill Industrial Estate on the edge of Glenrothes, where he dumped Mr Coutt’s body in a doorless cupboard at the back of an old business unit.
Barnes then tried to cover up his tracks by setting fire to the corpse.
But the skeletal remains were found just over a year later by a group of explorers, whose pastime involved checking out abandoned and disused buildings.
Murdered for financial gain
After a week of evidence, a jury took two-and-a-half hours to find Barnes guilty of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
Judge Lord Mulholland told him: “You murdered a man who was simply going about his daily business.
“And you murdered this man for financial gain.
“You then embarked on an elaborate scheme to hide the murder.”
Lord Mulholland told Barnes the remains of his victim were found by an urban explorer.
“That is when your pack of lies unravelled,” he said.
“There is only one sentence for murder and that is life imprisonment.“
He added: “What you did was despicable and evil. Take him away.”
Sentence was deferred until December 13 at Glasgow High Court.
Closure for family
Mr Coutts’ daughter Louise said the verdict was a “huge relief” for the family.
“Dad has finally got justice for what happened to him,” she told The Courier.
“The way he died, there was no dignity.”
Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told the court: “Mr Coutts, who was one of four siblings from Kelty, was 60 years old when he died.
“He lived alone at Kinglassie since November 1998.
“He had been married but had separated from his wife for personal reasons.
“Mr Coutts had three children, although in later years the family was not particularly close.”
Mr Prentice said: “He was in the army and a chef.
“By all accounts, he was well liked in the village where he lived and was often seen in the company of others.
“But he seems to have kept his life very much to himself.”
Police welcome verdict
Detective Inspector Scott Roxburgh said: “This was a long and complex enquiry and I want to thank everyone involved.
“Barnes acted in a callous manner, killing Ean and then pretending to be the dead man.
“He disposed of the body in a horrific way, even setting fire to it to try to dispose of the remains, leaving it in an inaccessible place so that it was only by chance it was found.
“It took a facial reconstruction for us to be able to identify Eon and I hope the court result brings some kind of closure for his family and those who knew him.”
Financial gain
Fraud and theft charges against Barnes were dropped during the trial but it was agreed he used Mr Coutts’ bank card and bank details to make thousands of pounds worth of transactions.
Three days after the murder, he used his card to buy a meal from McDonalds in Glenrothes.
He also bought more than £100 worth of goods from an online vitamins seller called Mental Hamster.
In total, Mr Coutts suffered a financial loss of more than £5,000, the court heard.
Investigators had a computer generated facial reconstruction made to try and identify the remains.
Barnes had denied the killing, but was found guilty of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice after a week-long trial at Edinburgh High Court.
He originally faced 36 criminal charges, including allegations that he fraudulently went on a spending spree with his victim’s bank card.
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