The grieving sister of Angus murder victim Joanne Rennie has spoken of the young woman’s ”eerie” killer as he faces a life sentence for the brutal crime.
On the eve of what would have been Joanne’s 36th birthday today, Agnes Rennie said Graham Buist was a ”cold” man, whose violence towards a sibling she will remember as ”loving and bubbly” erupted with tragic consequences in the Arbroath flat they shared.
At the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this week, Buist (30) admitted murdering Miss Rennie after he said he ”just lost the plot” in the Culloden Road property last September. The tragic climax of a tempestuous relationship saw Buist smash a brick on Joanne’s head before he inflicted a single, fatal 17 centimetre-deep stab wound to her chest.
Miss Rennie’s mum and brother still live in the Angus town, but hundreds of miles away in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, older sister Agnes (37) is preparing for the sad anniversary of Joanne’s death.
Agnes plans to come to Scotland soon to visit Joanne’s grave and be with family members who she said had endured a dreadful time prior to the Arbroath murder.
”Our dad died in 2009 and then the last time I saw Joanne was at my oldest brother Robert’s funeral about five months before this happened, after he died of a heart attack,” she said.
Until the grim details of the fateful night emerged in court this week, Agnes had been unaware of the brutality with which Buist took Joanne’s life, but she had never felt comfortable around the man who turned killer.
Agnes, Joanne and younger brother John grew up in Clackmannanshire in a home the elder sister remembers as being ”full of mischief.”
”She was always a bubbly girl, loved just going out with her mates. And of course, because we were sisters we fought a lot.”
Agnes added: ”Joanne had that sort of infectious laugh where if you heard it she would make you laugh too. Often when I phoned her from down here she would take the mickey out of me about my accent and tell me to get back up to Scotland and get it back.
”We spoke all the time on the phone, but it’s sad that the last time I saw her was at my brother’s funeral.”
Agnes said she was aware of the troubled relationship her sister shared with Buist, but could not persuade her to leave him.
”There were several occasions she rang me crying and I would give her advice, but she wouldn’t leave him. I met him several times and I didn’t like him,” said Agnes.
”I got quite an eerie feeling. He was very cold towards people and just didn’t give me a good feeling. I know he was very possessive and jealous with Joanne and they would fall out.”
Agnes continued: ”He would steal her money and leave her with nothing to fend for herself, and unfortunately she ended up turning to alcohol most of the time.”
Agnes added: ”A couple of months before he killed her he had been put in jail for breaking her jaw and was put on bail so he wasn’t meant to be anywhere near her. That’s one of the concerns we have and we feel that maybe if the police had arrested him for breaching his bail then she might still be here.”