Hopes for progress in Nairn doorstep shooting case
- Published
Alistair Wilson was shot on the doorstep of his family home almost 18 years ago
Is one of Scotland's longest-running and most puzzling murder cases about to be solved? Peter Bleksley, a writer and former detective thinks it might.
Seventeen years ago, Peter and I put together a series of reports for BBC News about the case of Alistair Wilson, a bank manager who was shot dead on his doorstep in the seaside town of Nairn.
Back then the case had been unsolved for exactly a year and even at that time there was a sense that the police investigation was failing to come up with answers.
Writer and former detective Peter Bleksley has followed the case closely
Peter and I spoke to witnesses and the police investigating team. He felt that the case was solvable, but perhaps the resources available to Northern Constabulary were not adequate to the task in hand.
Since then a new Scotland-wide force has come into existence and in recent months there's been a string of press releases from the new investigating team, strongly suggesting that progress is being made.
So, it felt like the right time for Peter and me to revisit the case.
Listen to the podcast - Is Scotland's most mysterious murder about to be solved?
Early one morning, we find ourselves outside the front door of a person believed to be of interest to the investigation. The man who opens the door tells us that the person we're looking for has moved away but others have also been making inquiries about him.
Another neighbour confirms that a former soldier and his son lived on the street. The father may have had a cache of weapons hidden in the house. The son drank in the Havelock, the pub which is at the centre of the case.
Later that day we meet Sarah Chalmers. She got to know Alistair Wilson and his wife, Veronica, when they were planning to move house about six months before Alistair was killed.
She describes them as a lovely couple, friendly, funny, affectionate with each other - two people looking forward to starting a new chapter in their lives.
She says: "They definitely came across as just a very happy family and, you know, life was going to change and become better for them."
She goes on: "That was the impression I got, that this was going to be their fresh start and they were excited about it."
She remembers the sadness she felt for Alistair Wilson's family, when she heard months later about his murder. The Wilsons never would get the chance for the fresh start they'd been dreaming of.
Decking at the Havelock Hotel (pictured in 2008) was built in 2004 without the required planning consent
Peter has a stack of official papers which tell the story of events leading up to the murder. A planning dispute between Alistair Wilson and the owner of the Havelock, Andy Burnett. Alistair Wilson's strongly worded objection to new decking which he said was causing noise and disturbance, broken glasses in his garden, people staring through his front windows.
Two days after his complaint became common knowledge among drinkers at the Havelock, Alistair Wilson was killed.
It might seem extraordinary that something so apparently mundane could end in murder. Not so, says Peter Bleksley. Even more trivial disputes have resulted in extreme violence. There is no accounting for the state of mind of a potential killer.
Peter interviewed Andy Burnett in 2009. In that interview, he described his movements on the night of the murder, how he was called to the scene and helped emergency workers as Alistair Wilson's body was taken away.
Mr Burnett now lives in Canada. Detectives have spoken to him. Police Scotland have been at pains to make it clear that he is not a suspect.
So where does that leave the police investigation? Peter Bleksley says it is still an extremely challenging case.
He says: "This investigation would appear to not have any of the modern evidence that would be gathered, like forensic science, DNA, all that kind of stuff. CCTV, none of that either and mobile phone records which so often put a particular person at a given place at a given time.
"So they're conducting a 1970s-type investigation in 2022. And they've got to rely on witness statements - who saw what - maybe circumstantial evidence in all its different guises. They've got a challenge, but I'm hoping that this is going to be solved".
Which might bring some small measure of relief to Veronica Wilson and her two sons, now young men, who've grown to adulthood over the past eighteen years without the father who loved them.
You can hear more from Peter in the BBC Sounds 5 Minutes On podcast available here.