A total of five unsolved murders have been prioritised for immediate re-investigation by a unit set up to crack Scotland’s cold cases.
The Cold Case Unit was set up in June in the wake of the conviction of Malcolm Webster, who killed his wife in Aberdeenshire in 1994.
The five priority cases date from between 1974 and 1999 and involve victims aged 20 to 59. This means unsolved murders, such as those of Carol Lannen and Elizabeth McCabe, whose bodies were found dumped in Templeton Woods on the outskirts of Dundee in 1979 and 1980, could be among those being re-investigated.
The Cold Case Unit hopes technological advances, like DNA technology, improved ballistics and fingerprint databases will help them track down the culprits.
The death of 33-year-old Sandy Drummond 20 years ago is another case the unit may reinvestigate. Mr Drummond was found strangled on a farm track near his home near St Andrews in June 1991.
Over the four days prior his death, he withdrew several sums of money from his bank accounts and rang his employers at Guardbridge Paper Mill to say he was resigning and would not work his week’s notice.
After his death, most of the money he had withdrawn was found in the house he shared with his brother.
His death is the only unsolved murder in Fife, but other than the Templeton Woods murders there are several more in Tayside.
One of the most infamous was the death of 74-year-old widow Eliza Connelly in Barnhill 30 years ago. Her body was found in the blood-splattered bedroom of her home in Abderdour Place in April 1981.
Police interviewed 1,500 people in connection with the death, but nobody was ever charged in connection with the crime.
Other unsolved murders on Tayside Police’s books include that of Martin Mullady, whose body was found in a flat in Jamaica Tower in September 1999, and Brian Robertson, whose body was found on a grassy area at Grange Road in Arbroath in July 2002.
Despite the high-profile nature of many of these cases, the Crown Office has refused to release details of any of the 93 cases on the Cold Cast Unit’s database in case doing so harms tip-off suspects and disrupts ongoing criminal investigations.
Solicitor General for Scotland Lesley Thomson said: ”The prosecution service is committed to the pursuit of criminals who have avoided detection for murder. Our Unresolved Homicide Database is a significant step in helping bring them to justice.
”We have commenced the reinvestigation, by the Crown Office Cold Case Unit, of the first five murders from the database.
”The convictions this year of Malcolm Webster and Peter Tobin show our determination to pursue those who have avoided detection for their criminal acts.
”For those affected, the years that pass since the death of a loved one does not diminish their memory, nor does it diminish our determination to ensure that justice is done.
”We will seek them out and prosecute them for their crimes. We will not give up.”
Although the Cold Case Unit’s database only goes as far back as 1942, there are even older unsolved murders in Scotland where the investigation remains technically open.
The oldest of these is the murder of Janet Henderson, whose body was found at Mount Stewart Farm in Forgandenny in Perthshire in 1866 (link).