Brian McKandie murder: Police stop 700 vehicles

Brian McKandie in a bank in Turriff the day before he was found dead

Police investigating the murder of a man in Aberdeenshire stopped more than 700 vehicles in an effort to find his killer.

Brian McKandie was found beaten to death with a "heavy weapon" in his home in Rothienorman on Saturday 12 March.

Officers stopped the vehicles in the Rothienorman area on Friday, two weeks since the 67-year-old was last seen alive.

Police said they had received "potential fresh lines of inquiry".

Mr McKandie was attacked and died at his home in Badenscoth on Friday 11 or Saturday 12 March 2016.

Detectives are continuing to appeal for information about two pairs of men seen with Mr McKandie on the Friday and have asked for drivers with dashboard camera footage of the area that weekend to come forward.

Forensic experts have been examining Mr Mckandie's cottage

Det Ch Inspector Iain Smith said: "It is now just over two weeks since when we understand Mr McKandie was attacked and officers spent much of last Friday speaking to people travelling in the area.

"Information was received from a number of people in terms of assisting us with our inquiries to identify people who may have been in contact with him before he died.

"This gives us potential fresh lines of enquiry to follow. We are still appealing for two sets of men who may have visited him on the Friday (11 March) to come forward as this may assist us."

Descriptions of men

He added: "We have also requested that if anyone was driving on the B9001 between Rothienorman and Forgue at any point on Friday 11 March 2016 who was using their dashboard camera, I would ask them to copy the footage from that part of their journey, especially as they were driving through Badenscoth, save it to disk and hand it into their nearest police office.

"The information within the footage will potentially help us progress the inquiry forward."

Mr McKandie was found dead at his house in Rothienorman

Earlier on Friday, Mr McKandie's brother made an emotional plea during a press conference for anyone with information about Mr McKandie's death to come forward.

William McKandie said: "We are finding this whole situation really hard to come to terms with. We have lost our brother and we just want to know what happened and why."

Detectives have released an image showing Mr McKandie at a bank in Turriff on 11 March.

Two men were reportedly seen speaking to Mr McKandie between 13:00 and 14:00 on the Friday before his body was found.

One of the men was said to be in his 50s and heavy set. The other was a younger man.

They were beside a burgundy or maroon estate car, possibly a Saab or Volvo.

Officers have also appealed for two men seen talking to Mr McKandie between 17:00 and 18:00 on the Friday. One was described as in his 20s, and the other in his 30s or 40s.

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