Community fears dog walker killer 'does live among us'

Police at the scene where Mr Low's body was discovered

A community in Perthshire fears the person who killed a dog walker is living among them, according to their local councillor.

Brian Low, 65, was found dead in Aberfeldy on 17 February.

A murder investigation was only launched by police six days later when a post-mortem examination revealed he had injuries consistent with a shooting.

Perth and Kinross councillor John Duff has told the BBC that someone in the area may have a "nugget of information" that could help solve the case.

Cllr Duff told Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme: "There is a concern that people are wondering if the person responsible does live here among us."

Cllr Duff added that people in the area will "be keeping their doors locked that never did before."

Mr Low was a retired groundsman who had worked at Edradynate Estate until his retirement in February 2023.

His black Labrador was found near the path in the Pitillie area of the town where his body was discovered.

Forensic work was carried out by police at the scene in Pitilie

Cllr Duff said there had been "concern" in the area over the amount of time it took the police to realise the victim had been murdered.

He said: "There is a concern at the delay in recognising that it was a murder at the outset. The answer possibly does lie in the community.

"There will be people who maybe know things, or know information that they haven’t quite connected to the crime so far.

"Somebody out there will have a nugget of information."

He added that many residents were still "in a state of shock" over the crime but fear over a gunman being on the loose had "subsided" since the initial discovery of Mr Low's body.

He said: "We need answers. The family need answers, the police need answers and we need to solve this mystery and find out who’s responsible."

Last week detectives spoke to 145 people after stopping 118 vehicles and 18 pedestrians, in a bid to discover new information.

They also appealed to anyone who was in the area with dashcam, or CCTV footage to share it with officers.

Det Supt Lorna Ferguson stated last week that police had carried out "a number of additional lines of inquiry in the last few days" and were remaining "open-minded" about possible motives.

She added police were "confident" the answer to the crime was within the local community.