Police probe planning dispute in Nairn doorstep murder
- Published
Alistair Wilson, pictured with his wife Veronica, was shot in November 2004
Detectives investigating the murder of a father-of-two almost 18 years ago believe a planning dispute was the likely motive.
Bank manager Alistair Wilson was shot on the doorstep of his family home in Nairn on the evening of 28 November 2004. He later died in hospital.
Police said he had objected to a large decking area outside a hotel opposite his house shortly before he was shot.
Mr Wilson had said the decking was the cause of noise and litter problems.
Detectives travelled to Canada in March this year to interview someone they have described as a key witness regarding the planning application.
Police have now confirmed the witness was the former landlord of the Havelock Hotel, but on Tuesday were keen to make it clear he was not a suspect in the case.
Police Scotland's major investigation team has now confirmed it believed the answer to Mr Wilson's killing lay in his personal life and was not connected to his work as a business manager at the Bank of Scotland in Inverness.
Detectives said they had come to this conclusion after investigating many theories - including far-fetched suggestions - to why the 30-year-old was killed.
Alistair Wilson died in hospital after he was shot on the doorstep of his home
The decking at the Havelock Hotel was built in the spring of 2004 without the required planning consent.
It was the subject of a retrospective planning application at the time of the murder.
Mr Wilson lodged a written objection with Highland Council, and police said a copy of the letter was sent to the hotel on Friday - two days before the shooting.
Det Insp Gary Winter said detectives knew that Mr Wilson's name was known and shared within the pub at the time.
He said: "Today we believe the most likely motive, based on what was a current grievance in Alistair's life at the time of his murder, was the fact that he had objected in writing about a large decking area that had been built in the pub car park directly opposite where he stayed."
'Totally disproportionate'
The detective said Mr Wilson had done what any parent of a young family would have and had objected to "increases in anti-social behaviour, drunkenness and rowdiness".
Det Insp Winter said the objection may have caused an inconvenience to those involved in building or using it.
He said: "So, you may have a relatively minor matter that results in conflict and the potential for a level of violence that is totally disproportionate to what happens.
"These things do happen - fallouts over objections to car parking, planning permission that result in conflict."
Det Insp Winter said officers were trying to identify who could have been involved in the construction of the original decking in 2004, and also people who visited the Havelock Hotel the weekend of the murder.
Decking at the Havelock Hotel (pictured in 2008) was built in 2004 without the required planning consent
The hotel as it is today
On the evening of the shooting, Mr Wilson's wife Veronica answered the door to a stocky man wearing a baseball cap who asked for her husband by name.
Mr Wilson, who had been reading to his two sons, went downstairs to speak to the man and was handed an empty blue envelope with the name Paul on it.
Mr Wilson went inside briefly and then returned to the door for a second time when he was shot. His wife ran to the Havelock Hotel for help.
Last month, police said two men were seen with a gun on a beach at Nairn a month before the murder.
Police have made a series of new appeals in connection with Mr Wilson's murder
A witness described seeing two men - one in their 20s and the other aged between 40 and 60 - on the town's East Beach.
The younger of the men was said to have been in possession of a handgun.
The beach is only a short walk from the Wilson's family home.
The weapon used to shoot Mr Wilson - a German-made handgun - was later found down a drain by a council road sweeper a few streets from the family home on 8 December 2004, 10 days after the murder.
Tests on the gun failed to extract any DNA.
Police Scotland has asked anyone who believes they can assist the investigation to contact 101 quoting incident 515 of 4 March 2022 and Operation Sorn or they can e-mail a dedicated inbox at SCDHOLMESAberdeen@scotland.pnn.police.uk
Alistair Wilson timeline
28 November 2004: The 30-year-old is shot on his doorstep at about 19:00. His wife, Veronica, raises the alarm. Mr Wilson later dies at Inverness' Raigmore Hospital.
29 November: Police launch a major investigation and issue a description of the gunman.
8 December: The German-made handgun is found in a drain near the Wilson's home by a council road sweeper.
10 December: Mrs Wilson makes a public appeal for help in finding the killer.
June 2007: DNA testing of about 1,000 local men begins.
Alistair Wilson murder: ‘My only memory of my dad was when he was shot’
November 2017: Police say a blue envelope handed to Mr Wilson by his killer had the name Paul on it.
12 October 2020: The Wilsons' son, Andrew, who was four years old at the time of the shooting, speaks publicly for the first time. He appeals for help in finding his father's killer.
4 March 2021: Detectives say they travelled to Canada to interview a witness.
9 March: Police update the 2004 description of the gunman, suggesting he may have been younger than previously thought.
21 March: Detectives say a witness described seeing two men with a gun on Nairn's East Beach a month before Mr Wilson was shot.
26 April: Police reveal a planning dispute over a large area of decking at the Havelock Hotel, opposite the Wilsons' home, is significant to their inquiry. Mr Wilson had objected to a retrospective planning application for the decking.
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