Brian McKandie murder: Memorial held as brother appeals for help

A memorial service for a 67-year-old man murdered at his Aberdeenshire home has been held, as his family again appealed for information.

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

The memorial service was held at Auchterless Church.

His brother William said in a statement afterwards it was a month since the murder and urged anyone who could help to come forward,

He said: "Brian was a private, gentle man and we cannot understand why this would have happened to him.

"He was a genial man and was well liked in the local community. He had lived at his home in Badenscoth most of his life and was known for his passion which was fixing cars. He helped a great deal of folk and his death has come as a shock to us all.

"Somebody somewhere must know what happened to Brian and we would ask them to look to their conscience and call the police. We have lost our brother and we just want to know what happened and why."

People gathered at Auchterless Church for the memorial

Det Ch Insp Iain Smith said: "Our thoughts are with the family today as they hold a service to mark Mr McKandie's life.

"We would again urge anyone with knowledge or information that could assist us with our inquiries to get in touch on 101.

"Mr McKandie worked as a mechanic from his home and knew a lot of people in the local community.

"I would directly appeal to any of his friends or associates who may have noticed something concerning Mr McKandie in the days leading up to his death to come forward.

"If there is anything at all, even if it seems insignificant, it could assist us so please get in touch and let us make that decision."

Rev Stephen Potts echoed an appeal for information

Detectives earlier appealed for information about two pairs of men seen with Mr McKandie on the Friday before he was found and have asked for drivers with dashboard camera footage of the area that weekend to come forward.

Rev Stephen Potts said: "The whole community is just bewildered by this. We're just absolutely stunned.

"To lose someone is difficult enough anyway, but to lose someone in these circumstances is just horrendous.

"I would say that if anyone could just search their memory just to see if Brian said anything, in the days or weeks leading up to this, or if they saw him chatting with someone or someone in his drive - just anything, no matter how mundane it is to them - it may be important to this investigation."