- 3 months ago
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Short filmTranscript
00:00People go missing in the Highlands a lot for many different reasons.
00:10Usually they're found pretty soon.
00:13What was unusual was that he was not found.
00:18Mountain rescue teams are searching for a man...
00:20Tony Parsons was last seen late on the night...
00:22...at the Bridge of Orkey Hotel.
00:24He was taking part in a charity cycle ride.
00:26No trace was ever found of him or his bike.
00:29I kept thinking he would just walk in.
00:32I didn't want to think about it being bad.
00:36Where the hell are you? What has happened?
00:39Loads of questions unanswered.
00:42Somewhere on that stretch of road.
00:44Tony Parsons vanished off the face of the earth.
00:46We spent three years coming to terms with the fact that my dad wasn't coming home.
00:52And then all of a sudden one phone call flipped everything upside down.
00:57There's a lot of detail in that initial call that starts to make you think this could actually be genuine.
01:10Our ex-partner had told her the biggest secret I have is that I've killed somebody.
01:25All the information tends to tie up. They need to be arrested.
01:38Can you tell me about your involvement in the disappearance of Anthony Parsons?
01:41It's a new commandment.
01:43But what's our crime going to be at this point? We don't have a body. We don't have a cause of death.
01:47We've only got the story that Caroline's told us.
01:50Robert, I'm bringing this interview to a conclusion but the investigation is far from over.
01:57We need to act on this and we need to move it now.
01:59We need to go and find this body.
02:01Well, the three years, not having my dad, not knowing where he is or what's happened, that literally eats you up from inside.
02:27Having to wait three years, three years of thinking, well, we're never going to find him again.
02:33We're never going to be able to grieve.
02:35I just got a phone call from a detective inspector asking to speak to me.
02:39We were told that credible intelligence had come in.
02:42We got informed that the police were going to be excavating a piece of land.
03:04Caroline had dropped a can of Red Bull marking that spot where Tony Parsons was buried.
03:13The Red Bull can was her starting point.
03:16But she had been given further specific information from Sandy that standing at that point looking in a particular direction,
03:25looking at a landmark in that direction and a number of metres from that point,
03:34that is where he indicated it's where the body was.
03:37It was three years since this body had been buried there, so to the untrained eye, all the ground looked the same.
03:46The plan moving forward was a case of who do we need to help us here?
03:52External specialists, because we need people who can provide their expertise with ground conditions,
03:57who can assist us with digging and filtering through the earth.
04:02And that's where Professor Lorna Dawson came in.
04:07All cases that you work on are special and distinctive and unique.
04:12But there is something about this particular investigation that will stay with me forever.
04:19I got a phone call from the SIO.
04:24They asked me if I could go along to the site and see if there were any clues with the soil or the vegetation.
04:31And whether there might be an area where someone might have been buried a few years ago.
04:40The location was remote.
04:43There was snow covering the mountains.
04:46And there were no sounds but the wild animals, the birds.
04:50And I think that's quite important because if someone was trying to dispose of a body,
04:55you could be there and no one would see you digging a grave.
05:04When you got there and you saw the red bullcan, it was moorland.
05:08It was heath, heather.
05:10There was a track and either side of the track there were clumps of vegetation.
05:17But there was an area of about two metres by one metre.
05:21It had obviously been disturbed fairly recently because the soil was mixed up so that the dark, deep peat was exposed.
05:30And it had left an impervious surface.
05:33The water sat on that peat.
05:35And because it was so cold, ice had formed.
05:39That was unusual because it was the only bit that had ice and moss only.
05:46All the other areas had shrubs.
05:48It was her professional opinion.
05:51That's a deposition site there where Tony has potentially been put.
05:55You could see that something had gone on there.
05:57I thought it supported what the witness had told the police.
06:02That's the area that the excavation has to focus on.
06:08You know you're looking for somebody's loved one.
06:11And they are relying on you for answers.
06:14It's a very heavy burden to carry.
06:20So there was quite a large team of experts required.
06:24Forensic archaeologists.
06:26They were able to very carefully skim off using tiny brushes and tiny spatulas.
06:33Layers, centimetres deep.
06:36And each of those layers could be carefully looked through.
06:40Just to make sure that we didn't lose any potential evidence.
06:43It was a very methodical, very structured event.
06:48But as we went down, I'll always remember the moment where we saw this little piece of red fabric.
06:55That was the colour of the fabric that Mr Parsons was wearing when he was last seen cycling home that day.
07:04I'm getting goosebumps down my back again here talking about it.
07:13Immediately everything was stopped and a phone call went in back to senior management.
07:17And we've got the sleeve of a red jacket here.
07:19Carefully, the two anthropologists removed the peat from around Mr Parsons.
07:29And it is an image that will stay with me.
07:32Mr Parsons was about 50 centimetres down.
07:37It's quite a cold, constant temperature at that depth.
07:41The preservation of the cold, wet peat had kept Mr Parsons so well that he still looked like the images of him on the day that he disappeared.
07:59That was Tony.
08:02When I saw him face to face, that was Tony.
08:05You want to know the answers.
08:20But realistically, you don't.
08:24And it's not a case that you're thinking about yourself.
08:27You suddenly become, how am I going to look after everybody else?
08:31When you're having to stand there and watch your mum absolutely break down, it's tough.
08:41It really is tough.
08:43They came out and they told me that they'd found Tony.
08:50Obviously my words were, are you sure?
08:53Are you sure?
08:54And they said yes.
08:56The injuries that Tony had were horrific.
09:11My mum was an absolute wreck.
09:15Because at that moment, all her hopes of ever having that possibility of seeing my dad again were just gone.
09:24There was nothing left.
09:29We had Mountain Rescue in with us to lift Tony's body.
09:35The weather was atrocious that day. It was very low cloud cover.
09:41We got everybody into position.
09:44Everyone had to be done right.
09:45And there was suddenly a shout.
09:47And it was the diggermen.
09:49Guys, stop. Look.
09:52Now, all morning, you couldn't see the hills surrounding you.
09:57And at that point in time, the cloud had lifted.
10:02And we must have been surrounded by about 40 red deer.
10:11We are standing there ready to lift Tony out of there.
10:14And these wild animals, they're just standing watching us.
10:18We all just took a breath, looked at each other, and then that was it.
10:23We lifted Tony up and out.
10:27It was quite a moment.
10:28We're all made up of molecules, these elements that make us our body.
10:37But there is the soul.
10:39It could have gone unsolved.
10:41It could have still been in that cold, dark place alone.
10:45Once you've put a loved one to rest, they are at rest and the family have somewhere to go and grieve.
10:51I didn't personally feel that bad about it, because I'd expected it.
11:04I had been waiting three and a half years for that news.
11:08So it wasn't as big a shock.
11:12Being told that he was found buried, that made me feel physically sick.
11:19How?
11:21Why?
11:24Where Tony was recovered was an area where there was kill pits.
11:30It's where the farmer or the gamekeeper will dig a pit, basically,
11:34and dispose of fallen livestock.
11:38Anything that had been shot by sporting tourists, basically, on the estate
11:43that wasn't required for meat, was disposed of by the estate.
11:48In this kill pit.
11:50Words can't describe what would go through somebody's head to put another human being into that position.
12:00They're horrible.
12:01The family of a grandad, whose remains were found in Argyle more than three years after he went missing, say they've been left devastated by his death.
12:17We didn't know the details.
12:21A lot of it was kept from us, obviously, because it was an ongoing investigation.
12:26The recovery of the remains is a massive, massive moment in the investigation.
12:33But for us, it's literally just the start.
12:36The end goal for us is to find the evidence to convict Sandy and Robert for whatever's happened here.
12:44There are two different perspectives on this story.
12:56You've got the inner one.
12:58The people at the centre of this criminal investigation know what happened.
13:03The police are figuring it out.
13:05And then, outside that, you've got the rest of us.
13:10And as a reporter, our job is to try to get the inside story and bring it out.
13:17Why haven't these two men been charged?
13:22Why are they back out into their communities?
13:25What's going on?
13:30The boys went to school here.
13:33They had a huge group of friends here.
13:35Everybody knew them.
13:36People knew their parents.
13:38No one could quite believe the calculated way in which this appeared to be unfolding at that time,
13:45that not only had this poor man been killed,
13:50but he had also been killed in a way where his body was hidden.
13:58If you were to tell this story to anybody who doesn't work in our field of work,
14:02you would probably think,
14:04well, he's told his girlfriend that this is where the body is.
14:07She's told the police, and lo and behold,
14:09the police have dug in that location and found the body.
14:12But we can't just jump to the conclusion that because he told Caroline
14:16that it was him and his brother who were responsible for this,
14:18then that must be true.
14:19Other people could be involved here.
14:21At that point, it becomes a whole new dynamic of investigation.
14:24Don't bury yourself in a peat bog,
14:26so we know we're dealing with criminality.
14:28It's just exactly what crimes do we have,
14:30what we're looking to prove,
14:31what we're looking to show.
14:33There wasn't any DNA found on any of the clothing or on the body itself
14:43to link it back to the people responsible.
14:45We've got a story, but we don't have a case.
14:48We've got to find evidence that links them to this crime.
14:51The car that Sandy had been driving that night had been seized,
14:57but then we were able to do quite a lot of inquiry round about it,
15:01and we were able to actually, believe it or not, track back,
15:05and we were able to show that that car did have damage
15:09on the night that Anthony Parsons went missing.
15:12Other people who worked in Bioka Estate were able to see
15:17the significant damage to the car before it was taken away to be repaired.
15:21Sandy and Robert had given me an explanation
15:24that they struck a deer that night.
15:26And that was really significant
15:28because we were able to establish
15:31that every time that car had been damaged previously,
15:35through the insurance,
15:37it had went to a specific garage to be repaired.
15:40On this occasion, the vehicle didn't go to that place.
15:44There was no report to the insurance.
15:46That was really, really interesting
15:48because if you had just struck a deer,
15:50why would you not claim your insurance?
15:52Not only that, the place the vehicle had been taken to for repair
15:55was miles away.
15:57Actually, the garage owner still had images.
16:01That car did have near-side damage to it,
16:05which would be consistent of where they would have struck a cyclist.
16:09It just adds another wee piece to the puzzle
16:11and another wee piece of evidence required
16:13to convict these individuals.
16:19When my dad was found, we found out at that point
16:21that there was potentially a road accident
16:24and that my dad had been struck.
16:26One of the hardest things going through all of this
16:29was the fact that we didn't know the details
16:33because of our profession.
16:35My brother and I being in the police,
16:38we also knew, don't ask questions.
16:41When the inquiry seized their mobile phones,
16:56we could see the conversations that were going on
17:00between the brothers and other people.
17:03We then found a video.
17:07You could see the dashboard of the cockpit of a 4x4 truck
17:11and it was on that stretch of road,
17:14heading between the bridge of Orkey to Tyndrum.
17:17And you saw a hand lifting up a can of tenants,
17:20shouting cheers and laughing.
17:23I remember myself and my colleague that were looking at the phones
17:26and we couldn't believe what we were seeing in front of us.
17:28This is a joke to them.
17:30Quite sickening to be honest with you.
17:32There was also text messages and social media comments
17:35that tended to suggest other people knew more
17:38about the circumstances than they were telling us.
17:41One person said,
17:43I think about this all the time.
17:45I'm relatively local and we've known who did it for ages.
17:49They were drunk driving, hit Tony
17:52and buried his body on their property.
17:54Someone tipped off the police,
17:56hence them searching and finding the body.
17:59So that suggests that there was a lot of local knowledge.
18:04Whilst all of this was ongoing,
18:07the relationship between Caroline and Sandy
18:10continued.
18:11I think Caroline thought that she had to
18:13try and get more evidence for us.
18:15As part of that, she would re-engage with Sandy.
18:18She was so involved with wanting to help.
18:21Obviously, first and foremost,
18:22we were just really concerned about her and her safety.
18:25But she supplied us with her phone
18:26and supplied us with recordings
18:27which were entered as part of the evidence.
18:32She talks at one point,
18:34Robert definitely told her that
18:36when they got out of the car,
18:38there was a moan coming from the body
18:40and he was obviously still alive.
18:42That then tied in with the information
18:46we received from the expert pathologists.
18:50It was quite upsetting pathology results
18:54because there probably could have been a period
18:56of up to half an hour for which he would have been alive
18:59after the point of impact.
19:01The last thing you want to think
19:03is that that was somebody's last half hour.
19:05He would have known he was dying
19:07and he would have known he was in the middle of nowhere
19:08and he would have known there wasn't help coming
19:10and that's really sad.
19:12At the point in time when they have realised
19:15that he is at the side of the road
19:17and is still alive,
19:19a reasonable person would be making a decision
19:21to get somebody help.
19:22To see if he'd have just phone 999
19:24and held his hand
19:25and told him it was going to be okay
19:26in that last half hour,
19:27well, you know, that's what most people would do.
19:31Tony may have died anyway,
19:33but they had decided he was definitely going to die
19:35and this was crucial in determining what charges would be relevant.
19:52The first question for the prosecution service
19:54is whether a crime has been committed.
19:57Now, when human remains are found in a remote area
20:00buried in a peat bog,
20:02that obviously gives rise to the likelihood
20:04that a criminal act has been committed.
20:08The next challenge was to decide
20:10what the nature of that crime was.
20:13Murder in Scotland can be committed in one of two ways.
20:16One, with a wicked intention to kill.
20:19The person that shoots someone else dead
20:21without any justification
20:23would be guilty of murder
20:24and there's no difficulty with that.
20:26Equally, if the attacker demonstrates
20:28such wicked recklessness
20:30as to demonstrate that he does not
20:33care whether the victim lives or dies,
20:36then that can amount to murder too.
20:39Robert and Sandy did not set out
20:42to kill Tony Parsons.
20:44But when they've struck him with the vehicle,
20:46if the evidence suggests he was still alive at that point,
20:50they can look at the state of Tony at that point in time
20:52and maybe reach the conclusion in their mind
20:54it's unlikely he'll survive.
20:56But if you're not medically qualified,
20:58how can you make that decision?
21:02This was not straightforward.
21:03If Mr Parsons was killed instantly
21:06then the charge would probably have simply been
21:09causing death by dangerous driving
21:11because there's no suggestion
21:13that the accused set out to kill Mr Parsons.
21:17The difference with this case was that
21:20knowing he was alive after the collision
21:23they decided not to recruit help for him.
21:26They have formed a plan in their mind
21:29to put him into the ground
21:31and conceal this fact forever.
21:33It's a sliding doors moment
21:35and that's where the murderous intent comes in.
21:38It seemed to me that an argument could be made out for murder.
21:57You're not bound to answer, but if you do
21:59your answers will be recorded and may be noted
22:01and may be used in evidence. Do you understand?
22:03I do, yes.
22:04The time is 15.08 hours on Tuesday 1st December 2021.
22:10At this time we're going to interview room number 4
22:13at London Old Police Office.
22:15Yep.
22:16Can you confirm your name?
22:17It's Alexander Gardner McKaylor.
22:19Your age?
22:20Is 29.
22:21Can I ask you your name please?
22:23No, I'm McKaylor.
22:25And your age please, Robert.
22:27This is 11 months down the line from the first arrest.
22:30On this occasion the two twins were arrested that morning for murder.
22:36When we first spoke to them we had a lot more limited information
22:39but much further down the line we obviously had a full case built against them
22:43so it was to bring them in and put all the evidence that we had to them
22:47to see if they would provide us with what had happened in their own words
22:50or if they would tell us how they could live so long without telling anyone what Tony was.
22:54We're now going to be asked questions about your involvement in the murder of Anthony Parsons
22:58and attempting to defeat the course of justice.
23:00We are not bound to answer but if you do your answers will be recorded
23:03and may be noted and may be used in evidence.
23:06Do you understand?
23:07I do, yes.
23:08They've probably both spent those 11 months wondering when we're coming back
23:12and I think there maybe was a little bit of thinking
23:15they'll maybe never charge us with us or they'll never prove it happened.
23:19I think by the time they come to these interviews 11 months later
23:22they're probably a lot more worried about what's going to be presented to them
23:25and Sandy certainly doesn't look as polished.
23:27He looks like a man that's had a really tough 11 months.
23:30He doesn't have the same confidence.
23:35He's got the crossed arms, hands right enclosed to his, a torso on his chest
23:40and you can tell he's really, really uncomfortable here
23:42which is different from how he was before.
23:46You know who that is?
23:48Just look at that picture and think what you did to him.
23:52He's family.
23:57Can you see the floor?
23:58Can you see the man?
24:04The man that's got a family, that's got a wife, that's got kids.
24:09It's not just a photo, it was a person that had a life.
24:12Of course.
24:13But your actions, albeit if you had been knocked off a bike,
24:17your actions could have kept that man alive and you chose not to
24:23because your need was greater than his.
24:28And that family behind that picture have waited three years to get an answer.
24:33Over three years, they're now nearly on four years
24:37to get an answer to what happened to their dad.
24:40I understand that.
24:42Do you?
24:43Mm-hm.
24:45What's your understanding of that?
24:47No comment.
24:51Do you genuinely have no remorse that you've killed a man in Biden,
24:54leaving his family without any idea where he was for three years?
24:57No comment.
24:58No comment.
24:59I don't think at any point you have any understanding of that.
25:06I think you just see a picture in there and you don't see anything behind it.
25:09There's nothing else inside the person you are.
25:11Not looking at it?
25:12No comment.
25:13One of the things from Robert's interview is the work we go into round about the truck.
25:23I think there's almost like that belief where people don't think you're going to quite dig as much as you do dig.
25:29Did Robert speak?
25:32No, he didn't.
25:33He never gave us anything significant.
25:36And neither did Sandy, to be honest with you.
25:40The only real reaction from Sandy during the interview was when the recordings were played.
25:44The recordings that we'd retrieved from Caroline Muirhead.
25:48We seized our laptop, which was later examined.
25:51The one that walked over several recordings, including a conversation between you and helping the morning of the 25th of February 2021.
26:00So that's going to be one of the audio clips out here.
26:06I don't see that my life is missing.
26:10Sheep, sheep.
26:15In all conversations, no ones do you deny being responsible?
26:19Why not, if you're honest?
26:21No comment.
26:23You state it was either in my life or his.
26:25What did you mean by that?
26:28It doesn't sound like you, to be honest.
26:29It sounds like it's been nestled.
26:33It's enhanced.
26:34He wasn't happy to accept that it was him.
26:36It's certainly on me to have that conversation.
26:39The enhancements went to Forensic Law.
26:41It's all been checked.
26:43I can't explain it, sorry.
26:45To actually hear a recorded conversation, that's probably why he's reacted to that at that point, when it's actually been put in front of him and he knows it's real.
26:54You continue, fucking stupid cunt, shouldn't have been there.
26:59Zero remorse for Mr Parsons or his family.
27:02Have you no regrets about what we've done?
27:04No comment.
27:06When you've been immersed in an inquiry like that for 11 months, when you reach the stage whereby you know you're going to get it over the line and you're going to get a conclusion to your investigation, there's a sense of satisfaction.
27:17Terminating the interview with Albert and the Michaela, within Wondermore Police Station.
27:24From the 11 months between first interview and second interview, Robert and Sandy were very much out in the community, still living lives.
27:31But from this date, we're pretty confident that they've been remanded.
27:34The time is now 18.55 hours now, including the interview with Robert and Michaela.
27:40Ultimately, that's what you've spent a year working on. That's what the long nights or the time away for your family is all about, just trying to get to that point.
27:47So it's a really, really satisfying moment.
27:49It's probably one of the best parts of the job, when you're able to charge somebody with a serious crime.
27:59Both were charged with murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice in terms of disposing of the body afterwards in the manner in which they did.
28:10Once McKellar twins had been charged with murder, the family of Tony Parsons have to be advised.
28:27That opens a lot of questions and thoughts.
28:31It's strange to think murder and being told that someone's being charged with murder of my dad, because we don't know how, what happened.
28:49They're thinking, if it's murder, it must be deliberate. They must have deliberately killed him.
28:54So have they deliberately ran him off the road? Has there been a fight or disturbance beforehand?
28:59We were asking all the questions and still getting told, no, it's an ongoing investigation.
29:06Which I totally understand, totally get. But again, it fills your head with even more scenarios.
29:14I was asked to represent the interests of Alexander Sandy McKellar.
29:30I saw him in prison where he had been remanded at that stage.
29:37I thought it would resolve by way perhaps of a plea causing death by dangerous driving and also a very serious attempt to prevent the course of justice.
29:48Because the body had been effectively hidden for a period of around about three years.
30:08The Crown had made a decision that they were going to indict both brothers for murder.
30:17It wasn't an obvious murder to me. The Crown case was that their actings were wickedly reckless and therefore they were guilty of murder.
30:27On that occasion, the first accused offered to plead guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
30:33There was no dispute about the fact that Sandy was the driver and so that was submitted.
30:39The Crown did not indicate they were going to accept that.
30:42I rejected that plea. I did not think that that was adequate in the whole circumstances of the case.
30:49The trial was actually set at the High Court in Glasgow.
31:01It's obviously the highest court in the land. It's a very significant high profile case.
31:06There's a lot of media interest and that was obviously increasing as the trial was approaching when all the intricacies of the story would have come out.
31:15It's difficult to imagine the agony that the family went through in not knowing where Mr Parsons was and what happened to him.
31:33That just compounded as time went on.
31:38My task is to present the evidence openly and fairly but the jury will be told that sympathy plays no part in this and neither does morals because it's a court of law and not a court of morals.
31:50When the McKayla brothers first came up into the dock and they took their seat, I watched their every move.
32:04I wanted to know whether or not they were going to look at us.
32:07They didn't.
32:09Stern kept looking straight at the head and all I wanted to do was to say to them why.
32:17As a family, we've had nothing from them.
32:26When you've done that, the impact that that has had, the ripple effect of that night has impacted me, my sister, my mum, my children, you know, my dad's friends.
32:40There was a group of us went through to the trial and we sat not far, two or three rows behind them and we were watching them.
32:49They came in all clean shaven, wearing suits, trying to look respectable and everything else.
32:55But you could tell that it was pure arrogance.
33:00I knew I couldn't approach them.
33:03But I just wanted to see them react. I wanted to know what was going through their mind.
33:09The evidence was that Mr. Parsons was alive after the collision and that the accused knew that.
33:19But it was not a straightforward case by any means and it would be difficult to present to the jury.
33:25Call the Diet. His Majesty's advocate against Alexander McKellar and Robert McKellar. Please be seated.
33:33I've been deputed.
33:34Thank you, my Lord. I regret that I move that the case be adjourned until tomorrow morning.
33:39Very well. Thank you.
33:41The Crown were having difficulties in sighting Caroline to appear for the trial.
33:50Caroline was the key to this in terms of the evidence that she had gathered through the course of her relationship with Sandy
33:57and the manner in which she had been assisting the police investigation.
34:01So there was quite a bit of anxiety as to how things would go at the trial in relation to Caroline providing her evidence.
34:11The second day is the day when the jury turns up and actually are put into the jury box and so on.
34:28Caroline had been cited to attend and she hadn't turned up.
34:34The trial was underway and I actually got a phone call from the brother's father to say Caroline's here, she's on the estate.
34:51I said, what do you mean she's on the estate? I knew that that was the day that she had to go to court to give evidence.
34:58To pin your murder charge on that particular witness was a wee bit of a surprise to me, I think.
35:07They last saw her heading up into the valley towards Loch Lyon.
35:13I let my supervisors know immediately. You'd better phone the Crown, Caroline is nowhere near Glasgow High Court.
35:22She was effectively missing and clearly everybody was concerned about what had happened to her, where she was.
35:30It just so happened that one of the gamekeepers and an officer would get up to the side of the law and Caroline was found.
35:39In these circumstances, I invite his Lordship to adjourn until tomorrow morning.
35:44Well, in the whole circumstances, I'm inclined to grant the motion.
35:49We'll adjourn until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning and we will assess the situation at that point.
36:00She was clearly struggling to deal with the circumstances on that particular day.
36:05This case has been different. Every single hour of every single day I've worked on it, right to the end and during the trial.
36:12It was a pretty unique set of circumstances.
36:32We thought the two of them were going to be charged with murder.
36:35But I think it was day three.
36:39I just felt that something weren't right here.
36:45You know, I just had that feeling.
36:48Thank you, my Lord.
36:51Lord, I'm grateful for the extra time afforded today.
36:55And I can advise that there has been a development in the case.
36:59And I would propose to amend the indictment.
37:02You know, recognising that proving the murder charge was not going to be straightforward.
37:08It did seem to me that a charge of culpable homicide would be sufficient in the circumstances of this case.
37:14My Lord, in relation to charge number one, in line 11, to delete the word murder and substitute the word kill.
37:32No, Mr McConaughey.
37:35Yes, ma'am. I have instructions to tender a plea of guilty to charge one.
37:41Which is, as your Lordship is aware, now a charge of culpable homicide.
37:46And that was then accepted with the result that the case did not go to a jury as a trial, but was a guilty plea.
37:53Okay, my Lord, those pleas are acceptable to the Crown.
37:57The difference between a conviction for murder and a conviction for culpable homicide is huge.
38:11And also the fact that Sandy's brother would no longer be on the homicide charge.
38:16They were two very important factors.
38:20It probably wasn't a particularly difficult decision for Sandy to make, even though he knew the outcome would be he would get a significant custodial sentence.
38:30A change of plea by the accused is not an unusual thing.
38:34We do strive to try and avoid that happening at the trial.
38:37It's unfortunate that it happens at that late stage, but it does happen.
38:41Well, I can see why it happened, because if you went for murder and you couldn't prove it, then there's a chance they were getting off.
38:49Don't make it right.
38:52When we found out that the McKellars had made a plea, that didn't sit well with me.
39:00My initial thought was, they're going to go down, and they're taking the truth with them.
39:09So by pleaing, not only have they robbed me of my father, but they've robbed me of knowing the truth.
39:17When I move for sentence, his Lordship will see that the previous convictions for Alexander McKellar are dangerous driving.
39:29Driving with an excess of alcohol, and in 2012 he was convicted of careless driving.
39:38My Lord, I would propose that the Crown and Defence prepare an agreed narrative, because the case is fairly complex and there's quite a bit to say.
39:52There would be insufficient time to conclude that today.
39:55Thank you very much.
39:56When they get out of jail, they're going to go back to life as if nothing's happened.
40:06They're going to get on with it. They're going to enjoy themselves.
40:10I can't do that. I can't do that because Tony's not here.
40:14They're not the one that I left with a life sentence. I am. Because that's what they've done.
40:27My Lord, this case commenced as a missing person inquiry before evolving into an investigation.
40:45Around July 2017, Anthony Parsons decided to engage in a cycle from Fort William to his home address in Tilakoutri.
40:58His wife, Margaret Parsons received text messages from his mobile asking how she was and confirming that he had arrived in Fort William.
41:07This was the last contact she had with her husband.
41:13Around 2300 hours, Mr Parsons attended at the Bridge of Orkey Hotel. He was wet due to the adverse weather.
41:20It was suggested to him that he should stay the night in the hotel. However, after having a coffee, he left the hotel to continue his cycle and travelled south on his intended route.
41:33You could see him shaking the heads with what was being said. Oh no, man. It was really, really difficult.
41:41My Lord, so far as the accused are concerned, the accused Alexander McKellar, after consuming alcohol, drove with Robert McKellar as a passenger on a journey from the Bridge of Orkey Hotel to their home on the Orkey Estate a few miles away.
41:59During the journey, in adverse weather conditions, at night and at speed, the vehicle collided with Anthony Parsons, who was, at the time, riding his bicycle.
42:13After seriously injuring Anthony Parsons, Alexander McKellar ascertained that Mr Parsons was still alive.
42:24He did not call the emergency services, thereby preventing any prospect of Mr Parsons receiving medical treatment.
42:38He will have been in massive amounts of pain. So then to not seek any form of medical treatment from that is just 100% inhumane.
42:48It was horrible to hear what they had done. And I'm not talking about the fact they knocked him off his bike with the car. It's what they did after.
43:00Without immediate medical assistance, he would have been unlikely to survive longer than 20 to 30 minutes.
43:11Police inquiry confirmed that the quickest emergency medical response would have taken approximately one hour if any assistance had been sought.
43:20The outcome of what would have happened, how long it would have taken an ambulance to get there, is irrelevant.
43:27If you know that you've hit somebody, you can see that they are still alive.
43:31Any basic human instinct says you need to try and get help.
43:35They just wanted to protect themselves. They could have phoned for somebody. They could have phoned an ambulance. They could have phoned the police. They could have even done it anonymously. But they didn't.
43:48The two accused left the scene in the vehicle and returned in a different vehicle, collected Mr. Parson's body and bicycle and transported him to the Auch Estate, whereby they left him overnight.
44:01After attending with a shooting party the next day, the body was taken to a peaty area on the Estate. A grave was dug and the body placed in it and covered.
44:14I do remember the full story being read out in court line by line. And it really was. It was a real shock.
44:21What they did was callous. That's not actions of a drunken man. Not the day after. This is the actions of somebody who's trying to cover up a crime.
44:30To willingly go down a course of action whereby you are letting somebody die, that to me is murder. And our opinion will always be the same.
44:40They have murdered my dad and they have taken him away from us.
44:45Such was the location that if Alexander McKellar had not disclosed where the grave was, the remains are unlikely to have ever been found.
44:55And, my lord, there is a drive-through on the estate. I'm not going to play all of it, but I will demonstrate the deposition area so his lordship will get an idea of how remote this area is.
45:10They took Tony. They buried him. They left me for three and a half years. And my kids. And my grandkids. Not knowing where Tony was.
45:26And this is the deposition site, just to the right of the roadway.
45:31The peat bog area is utilised by state employees, including the accused Robert and Alexander McKellar, to routinely dispose of animal carcasses.
45:42This was evident on initial observation by police officers due to openly visible animal bones.
45:49Between the 13th and 14th of January 2021, the body of Mr. Parsons was exposed and, with great care, recovered from within the grave.
46:00How on earth can anybody, with any iota of goodness in them, how could they do that? How on earth could they live without knowing a poor Tony was buried, so probably not very far from the front door?
46:13Anthony Parsons was 63 at the time of his death. He was a much loved husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend. He had very close community ties.
46:27My lord, those are the submissions for the crown. Robert McKellar and Alexander McKellar, please stand. You will next appear before me for the matter of sentence. You will continue to be detained. That's all.
46:45There's been no remorse. Absolutely nothing from them at all. To be honest, I hate the both of them. I really do.
46:58I'm still angry. It won't go away.
47:03There's been no remorse, sir.
47:10There's no remorse...
47:27Court!
47:39Call the Diets adjourned out for sentence.
47:42His Majesty's advocate against Alexander McKellar and Robert Keller.
47:45Please be seated, thank you.
47:48Mr McCorrekey.
47:50On aboard.
47:52Mr McKellar is well aware of the family's views
47:57and knows and understands that there is no apology
48:02which he can tender which will ever be acceptable to them.
48:09But nonetheless, he wishes me on his behalf
48:13to indicate that he deeply regrets the trauma
48:17that he put the family through.
48:20On the night of the 29th of September 2017,
48:25it is fully accepted by him
48:28he ought not to have been driving.
48:31By his plea, he accepts that whilst catastrophically injured,
48:35Mr Parsons was alive at the time.
48:39Mr McKellar accepts he did not call for assistance.
48:44The only explanation which he offers
48:50and the only explanation which perhaps makes sense
48:54is simply fear and panic.
48:57Fear for himself and panic for the situation he found himself in.
49:03His conduct thereafter became something of a runaway train.
49:09Using his words, he says he was too much of a coward to come clean.
49:15He sought solace in alcohol and much more significant abuse of cocaine.
49:22Mr McKellar found what he had done more and more difficult to live with.
49:28And on two separate occasions, he came close to ending his own life.
49:37On one occasion, he drove to a remote part of the estate
49:41and had a loaded rifle in his mouth but didn't pull the trigger.
49:50In 2020, when he met Caroline and she went to the police,
49:58he fully accepts that ultimately she made the right decision in doing so.
50:04So, the finding of Mr Parsons' body and the fact that these proceedings are now coming to an end,
50:16to some extent has meant that there is a very significant weight being lifted from him.
50:25He would do anything he could to have the chance to alter the decision he took on the 29th of September,
50:34but he can't rewind the clock.
50:37If you have done something and you're not a psychopath,
50:42which I've got no reason to believe that they're psychopaths,
50:45then it is always going to play in your mind.
50:47And I think the older you get, the more you realise that you have to face up to the terrible things
50:54that you may or may not have done in life.
50:56There must have been a sense of relief that,
50:59right, okay, this is happening.
51:01They were going to have to face the consequences of what happened that night.
51:08I've never seen any remorse from Sandy.
51:10If other people have got a sense that he was remorseful, then fair enough,
51:14but it's not anything I ever witnessed.
51:17During police interactions with Robert,
51:19I didn't really get any real sense of remorse from him either.
51:23Robert McKellar became involved out of a misplaced sense of loyalty to his brother.
51:30He made a very significant error of judgement to support his brother
51:35at a point in his life where he already feared that his family was breaking up.
51:41However, that decision having been made,
51:46he accepts that he then participated fully in what was clearly a sustained and determined effort
51:53to conceal the truth of his brother's crime.
51:56And in so doing, he undoubtedly caused Mr. Parsons' family and friends
52:01immeasurable pain and suffering.
52:04It really just seemed that they didn't treat Tony Parsons any differently
52:10to how they dealt with the carcasses of the animals they killed
52:15when they were in their hunting parties.
52:17In my submission, it is fair to say that Robert McKellar bitterly regrets
52:22his callous and cowardly actions.
52:26He would like the opportunity to communicate directly with Mr. Parsons' family
52:33in order to apologise for his actions.
52:36But he too is aware of and respects the views of Mr. Parsons' family.
52:42These two individuals have sat in a courtroom listening to all this,
52:49listening to all this evidence,
52:51and are you only sorry because you've been caught?
52:55I don't know.
52:58I really don't know.
53:00Mr. McKellar appreciates the awfulness of prison.
53:05He is witness to it every day,
53:08and is kept awake most nights by prisoners in distress,
53:12screaming and banging on the walls.
53:15But he understands and accepts why he is in prison.
53:19That's not comfort for the family of the victim,
53:22or his friends, or his either.
53:24It's not comfort for any of us.
53:25Very well.
53:26Alexander McKellar and Robert McKellar, please stand.
53:33You have pleaded guilty to grave and serious crimes.
53:37I have no doubt that Mr. Parsons' family
53:40have been deeply affected by this.
53:43I have read and noted the terms of three victim impact statements
53:47made by members of his family.
53:49Their terms clearly indicate the profound, devastating and continuing impact,
53:56the lasting effect of which may be incalculable.
53:59Nothing I can say or do can compensate for their loss,
54:03and I suspect that no sentence would ever be regarded as sufficient in their eyes.
54:08Alexander McKellar, I will impose on you a single sentence of imprisonment of twelve years.
54:15Robert McKellar, the sentence which I now impose on you
54:19is one of a period of imprisonment of five years and three months.
54:23That is all.
54:25I guess on reflection for me, that is a fair result.
54:35They've still been convicted of serious and significant crimes.
54:39We've provided answers to the family of Tony and we've managed to bring justice.
54:44A drink driver who hit and killed a cyclist has been sentenced to twelve years in prison.
54:51So have we achieved our objective in relation to this investigation? Absolutely.
54:56This is an extraordinary, heartbreaking tale.
55:00Twin brothers Alexander and Robert McKellar sobbed as they were sentenced at Glasgow High Court this morning.
55:07For me, it had to be murder.
55:09I absolutely felt that the whole story should have been told in court in front of the jury
55:12because if they heard the whole thing, then there's no way they think those guys would have got away with it.
55:18Which I believe they did.
55:20With the sentences they got, they definitely got away with it.
55:23Pain and grief seemed to show on the faces of Tony Parsons' family as they left court.
55:30You never thought for one moment that it would be six years until we got justice.
55:44Nobody can try and fathom out how long that six years was.
55:52How hard, how traumatising it is.
55:58I don't have any hatred towards these individuals.
56:05Because of my work experience, I've seen these things happen in other scenarios.
56:11And I'm fully aware they have family as well that will be going through stresses and things like that.
56:17I just wish it had never happened.
56:23I love Tony because he was kind.
56:33He made me happy.
56:35He's looked after me all these years.
56:38And I'm lost without Tony.
56:48I am making new memories with my grandkids, my son and my daughter.
56:54But it still hurts that Tony's not here to see it.
57:00It's getting to the stage where I can see things finally coming to a close.
57:08I can see us finally starting to move on.
57:12Can't wait for the day where we do actually get together as a family and go,
57:19we've done him proud.
57:21We brought him home.
57:23And that's where he should be.
57:25Happy?
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