6th September, 1865 When Captain John Greig Junior set sail from Montrose to London in his father’s schooner on 6th September 1865, he was blissfully unaware of his fate. The schooner was towed from Montrose harbour, out of the shallower waters of the bay with a crew of three men, plus their Captain, not longRead more ⟶
Category: Crime & death
Gordon Dunbar, 1992
Law, December 1992 A young woman was walking her father’s police dog on the morning of December 30th, 1992 by the Law when she made a horrifying discovery. Lying in the underbrush was a severed arm. Alarmed, she rushed home to notify her father, who reported the grim find. A further search of the areaRead more ⟶
Ellen Bury, 1889
Princes Street, Dundee, February 1889 When a man came to the police station on the night of 10th February 1889 to report the suicide of his wife, Ellen Bury, alarm bells began to ring for the Lieutenant who took his story. Amid claims that she had killed herself, Bury made another startling claim. Upon “finding”Read more ⟶
Margaret Balfour, 1825
Dundee, December 1825 On what we can safely assume was a cold, wintry day on 22nd December 1825, David Balfour murdered his wife using a butcher’s knife he had obtained from the Fleshmarket in Dundee. David was a sailor, and, as such, was prone to being away at sea for long bouts of time. Margaret,Read more ⟶
John McMurchie, 2012
Fintry, August 2012 A great night out in Dundee turned into a tragedy for 50 year old John McMurchie when his life was taken in a senseless attack in the early hours of August 12th 2012. Described as the life and soul of the party, John had been out with his wife, Donna, and someRead more ⟶
Mary McLaren, 2010
City Centre, February 2010 Failing to return home from a night out in the city centre of Dundee in February 2010, the relatives of Mary McLaren began to worry. With no clues whatsoever as to the whereabouts of Mary, the rumour-mills were abound with gossip. Had Mary secretly left Dundee, without saying goodbye, or wasRead more ⟶
Elizabeth McCabe, 1980
Templeton Woods, February 1980 Still regarded as a huge mystery is the story surrounding the disappearance and murder of Elizabeth McCabe, a nursery nurse with a kind heart and a new-found passion for socialising and disco-dancing. Elizabeth’s body was recovered on 26th February 1980 entangled in woodland growth at Templeton woods by two rabbit hunters,Read more ⟶
Carol Lannen, 1979
Templeton Woods, March 1979 On March 21st, 1979, the naked body of Carol Lannen was found in the growth at Templeton Woods. A search quickly began, scouring the entire country for the callous murderer of 18 year old Lannen. A troubled teen, Carol had fallen into the trappings of Dundee’s seedier side, and had becomeRead more ⟶
John Drew Woods,1838
Thorter Row, August 1838 As watchman Duncan MacNab patrolled the Thorter Row area of Dundee on the night of Saturday 4th August 1838, he happened to see what he believed to be a drunken man propped up against the stairwell close to some properties. Upon closer investigation, MacNab realised that the man in question wasRead more ⟶
Jane Wishart, 1826
Arbroath, 8th October 1826 On 14th April 1827, Margaret Wishart appeared at Perth Circuit Court, charged with the wilful poisoning of her blind sister, Jane, and her newly born son. The charges laid against her were: ‘[having] administered a quantity of arsenic to her sister, Jane Wishart, residing with her in Arbroath, on the 3rd,Read more ⟶