BREAKING NEWS Shock twist in Hannah McGuire murder trial as her killer pleads guilty
Lachlan Young admitted that he killed Ms McGuire, 23, on April 5, 2024, before driving her body to a remote location and setting the car on fire.
But he previously pleaded not guilty to murder, claiming her death was an unplanned and spontaneous incident.
Young, 23, changed his plea to guilty on Friday.
Justice James Elliott thanked the jury for their time before asking the sheriffs to 'take Mr Young back to the cells.'
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The Sun
14 minutes ago
- The Sun
My uncle was garroted with a cheese wire by a passenger in his taxi… now chilling picture may expose killer 40 years on
WHEN Alex McKay's phone rang at quarter to ten at night, he knew it wouldn't be good news. 'It was my mother, telling me my uncle Dod had been murdered," remembers Alex. 14 That evening of the 29 September 1983, 57-year-old Dod, whose real name was George Murdoch, had been working Aberdeen's West End when he picked up a passenger that - little did he know - would be his last. Down a quiet street in the tree-lined suburb of Cults on the outskirts of the city, two teenage cyclists caught sight of a violent struggle outside the taxi between George and another man and raised the alarm. But when the police arrived, it was too late. George was dead, surrounded by a pool of blood, garroted by a cheese wire. 'My father went down with my other uncle, Dod's brother, to identify the body,' says Alex, who was 26 at the time. 'He never told us himself - but I heard it wasn't a pretty sight.' Both his money and wallet had been stolen. Despite the police launching a manhunt across the city, the killer - described by the two witnesses as a man in his 20s-30s - had seemingly vanished into thin air. For more than forty years, George's murderer has escaped justice. But that might all be about to change - thanks to recent breakthroughs in DNA technology that mean the case could be closed any minute. How bizarre novelty key ring could hold the 'key' to solving cold case And tens of thousands of pounds are on offer for anyone who can help. Now, the hunt for the so-called 'cheese wire killer' will feature in the brand new two-part Channel 5 documentary Forensics: Murder Case, set to broadcast on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 July at 9pm. Decades-long hope Speaking to The Sun, Alex McKay, now 68, said that finally unmasking the killer would leave him feeling 'euphoric'. He said: 'I've daydreamed a lot about it. 'I think that as I get older, it would mean more to us. A lot of the people that were around at that that time - Dod's siblings, my mum and dad, his wife Jessie - they've all passed away. I'll just be gazing up skywards thinking about them - thinking, 'We've done it.'' 14 14 Alex fondly remembers his uncle for being the down to earth and kind man he was. 'I loved them both to death,' he said of his Uncle and Auntie, who lived not more than a ten minute walk away from him on the same estate in western Aberdeen. 'Any time I was around him, he was always smiling, always fun to be around - probably because he was a bit of a big kid himself. 'The pictures you see of my uncle, with his carnation, was our wedding. 'He was the usher. That's how much I respected him as a man.' George's murder on Pitfodels Station Road left his family and the rest of the wider community in shock, but it was Jessie, George's widow, who was most affected. 'She was haunted by the fact that this guy took George's wallet, which had their address in it,' said Alex. 'She felt so sure that he was going to come after her, so she was having to live with that. 'It definitely had a psychological effect that then damaged her health. But she was always fun to be around - she was never all 'Woe is me', she was a laugh a minute." And an incredible act of kindness from her 12-year-old neighbour, David, may have saved her from the worst of the grief. 'He told his mum that he could hear Jessie crying through the walls, so he wanted to go and stay with her overnight to help her through it,' Alex remembers. 'I don't know if I would have had the strength to do anything like that at that age, but he did, and he stayed with her for about two or three years, every night.' Turning cold Meanwhile, police and locals alike were determined to catch the killer. At an Aberdeen vs Celtic match shortly after the murder, officers were posted at the turnstiles to inspect every single person who entered the ground for signs they might have been involved in the struggle. 14 14 There were strong leads at first, including reports of a man who entered a chip shop that same night with cuts on his hands, and other witness reports of a smartly-dressed man running away near to where the murder happened, also that on the night. And though many assumed the killer was local, police weren't certain. They'd even managed to identify the manufacturer of the cheese wire, discovering that exact model had only been sold to a workshop in Bristol for disadvantaged children. But had the murder weapon been brought up by the killer himself, or was it a total red herring? Despite police making more than 10,000 house-to-house inquiries and taking more than 7,000 statements, the case went cold. Alex and his wife moved to the US in the late 1990s but returned to Aberdeenshire in 2014 to find little had changed. They set up a Facebook page dedicated to solving the case and found themselves inundated with potential leads. One in particular came from a man who was drinking in Wilson's Sports Bar one night in 2015 and began chatting to another punter, who seemed to know details of the murder that were unpublished. The drinker took a picture of the drinks on the table, meant to show off the number of drinks consumed, but it also captured the torso of the man in question, wearing an Iron Maiden T-shirt. Sadly his face is not visible in the picture, and police have so far been unable to trace him. Forensic breakthrough But with new clues to investigate, a fresh team was brought in, led by Det Insp James Callander, giving the case serious attention again. 'It was great,' said Alex. 'It felt like my uncle had a voice again.' Then came a breakthrough. 14 14 Though traces of DNA were found on forensic evidence in 2001, it wasn't until 2018 that a full DNA profile was discovered. There were no matches - but given the crime took place more than a decade before the UK's criminal DNA database was established, this wasn't all that surprising. Come 2024, however, and the science had advanced even more. Using what's known as familial DNA testing, the DNA of the suspect was compared to the five million or so on the national database. From this analysis, it was possible to establish a possible familial link. In other words, while the matches that show up aren't suspects themselves, they could be related to the suspect, giving police a huge head start. Now, it's up to detectives to scour the country and take fresh DNA samples to establish if there is indeed a familial link - or perhaps a link to Aberdeen in the 1980s. 14 14 Police are currently only a quarter of the way through visiting those on their new thousand-strong list. But it's also the best shot there is in closing this case once and for all. Police Scotland are currently offering a £50,000 reward for any information that leads to the identification of the killer, while Alex himself is offering a £10,000 reward to anyone who gives their DNA leading to identification. They are also keen to trace the man who was wearing the Iron Maiden T-shirt. 'It's been a rollercoaster,' said Alex. 'Tips come through, and some of them really make us think, wow this could be the guy. And then of course, it turns out through DNA that it wasn't them - that's the downside of that rollercoaster. 'But it's just going to take one person to say something that they've closely guarded for a long time. 'I don't think the killer's ever going to admit it. But somebody out there knows something.'
BBC News
14 minutes ago
- BBC News
Bedford man says he "didn't intend" to murder teenager
A 19-year-old man accused of killing a teenager "virtually in cold blood" has defended his Ndenkeh, 19, of Midland Road, Bedford, is one of five teenagers who deny murdering 17-year-old Thomas died after being stabbed in Greenhill Street, Bedford, just before 18:00 GMT on 8 January, a trial at Luton Crown Court Ndenkeh has told jurors he "didn't intend" to kill Thomas. Prosecution barrister Mark Heywood KC has told jurors that Thomas was "effectively left for dead" after being stabbed in a pedestrian street near a bus has told the trial "sudden" and "ugly" violence involving two groups of "young men" had broken Adam, 18, Mr Ndenkeh, Riaz Miah, 18, She'ma Dixon, 18, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be identified, have all pleaded not guilty to have heard two of the accused teenagers give evidence in their defence - a third is due to answer questions from barristers on judge Mr Justice Martin Spencer has told jurors that they should finish hearing evidence on Wednesday. 'Cold Blood' Mr Heywood said CCTV showed Thomas being stabbed and stamped said footage showed Mr Ndenkeh stabbing Heywood told Mr Ndenkeh: "You murdered him in virtually cold blood."Mr Ndenkeh replied: "I didn't intend to."He said he been trying to protect a friend. Mr Heywood has told jurors how Thomas had been walking with two other youths near Bedford bus said the group was approached by members of a larger had been attacked, brought to the ground and fatally stabbed, Mr Heywood said youths involved had "fled" and passers by were "left to deal with the aftermath".Mr Heywood said the "background" to the attack "almost certainly" related to an incident some days earlier involving Mr suggested that Mr Miah had been assaulted by a youth associated with Thomas and the incident had become an "issue".Mr Heywood said the attack on Thomas was "deliberate". Mr Heywood has questioned Mr Ndenkeh over several hours at the suggested that Mr Ndenkeh carried a knife "every time" he went into Bedford - including on a visit to a job centre."When you went to the job centre you sat there with a 10-inch blade," Mr Heywood told Mr Heywood suggested, that on the day Thomas died, violence had been "planned"."You took the knife for violence - and you planned it," Mr Heywood suggested to Mr Ndenkeh."And that was to try to right Riaz Miah's humiliation."Mr Ndenkeh twice replied: "No" Mr Adam has told the trial that he "didn't carry knives".He said he was "keen" to see a fight take place on the day Thomas died - but said he had not "encouraged" added: "I have got no idea why anyone would take a weapon."I didn't have knives - I don't carry knives."He went on: "There was discussion of knives being involved." Mr Heywood has shown jurors photographs of the teenagers and told them where some of them lived in said Mr Adam lived in Mardale Close, Mr Ndenkeh, in Midland Road, and Mr Dixon, in Baldur Miah - and the 17-year-old boy - also lived in Bedford, he said. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
14 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Bombshell new video reveals shadowy figure in a laneway moments before mum was fatally stabbed in the neck - as shocking details emerge about her failing marriage
New CCTV has revealed a shadowy figure dressed all in black moments before a mother unleashed blood-curdling screams as she was fatally stabbed in the neck. The footage was played on Monday at the inquest into the murder of Indian national Prabha Kumar, 41, who was killed in a Parramatta park in Sydney 's west in 2015. The inquest was told Ms Kumar's husband, Arun Kumar, had been having an affair, had just renewed his wife's life insurance, and changed the PIN on her bank account an hour before her stabbing. Two days after the murder, as Mr Kumar flew to Australia after deleting messages between himself and his lover in India, she texted him, saying: 'Idiot, you've got to be strong. 'Do you need me to come?' At the time of the deadly attack, Ms Kumar was on a long phone call to her husband in India. He has since given three different versions to police of what he heard during the call. The inquest was told detectives are still investigating whether Mr Kumar could have organised the hit on his wife. Ms Kumar's only child, daughter Megahana, 21, watched the two-day inquest by audio video link from India on Monday as it was shown video of her mother's final moments. Counsel Assisting the inquest Jillian Caldwell said Ms Kumar was clearly 'relaxed' while on the phone to Arun until she was attacked without warning. As she commuted home by train from her IT job at an office in Rhodes to Parramatta via Strathfield, she looked 'unconcerned' as she crossed the street. However, the CCTV footage cuts out just as the 41-year-old was walking past Evolve Housing on Argyle Street at 9.17pm on March 7, 2015. 'This is the last image of Prabha,' Ms Caldwell said. '(She) is talking on her phone to Arun. There is no-one behind her. She's not concerned about her whereabouts.' The footage was captured 130m from where she was stabbed, which was only 300m from her Westmead home. Mr Kumar's account of what happened next varies in differing statements he gave police. The inquest heard that prior to her death, Prabha's husband Arun (pictured at his wife's funeral in Bangalore) had been having an affair, had renewed her life insurance and changed the PIN on her bank account an hour before the fatal stabbing Initially, he said he could not hear another person, but later said he could clearly hear the voice of his wife's attacker. After arriving in Australia, Mr Kumar told police on March 9, 2015, that his wife had told him in the moments before the attack that 'a guy completely covered in black … suddenly passed me'. He said she had cried out, 'Please do not do anything to me … I will give, I will give', before she screamed loudly when she was stabbed. In that interview, Mr Kumar said he didn't hear anything else. But in November that year, he said that after pleading with her attacker not to hurt her, she then cried out after being attacked, 'You have stabbed me, no-one is around'. In February 2016, he told detectives he could hear someone in the background making demands of her. One of Ms Kumar's flatmates, Sarada, also gave a different account of what her husband told her had happened. On the evening of the attack, Sarada, who had never previously spoken with Mr Kumar, had eight missed calls from him. He told her: 'Sarada Sarada, I'm Prabha's husband. It looks like Prabha is in danger, can you go to the park?' When Sarada ran straight to the park and saw police and an ambulance, she called Mr Kumar back and asked how he knew his wife was in danger. She said Mr Kumar told her his wife 'saw a guy in black and told him, 'Don't do anything to me. I'll give you anything I have' and had then said, 'He stabbed me'. A passer-by found Ms Kumar facedown and bleeding profusely on the footpath. One man, then a student, recalled hearing two screams and went to investigate. He heard 'screaming, loud, intense, it sounded like someone being attacked' and then 'heard a second scream, louder, more of a crying scream,' Ms Caldwell said. Police and an ambulance initially couldn't find Ms Kumar, but when she was located, her heart was beating and she had a pulse. Paramedics rushed her to Westmead Hospital, applying ventilation and adrenaline en route. By 11pm, three cardiac specialists were operating on her wounds to stem the blood flow. But by 12.15am, Ms Kumar started to deteriorate and her blood pressure dropped. She died half an hour later. NSW Police told the inquest Mr Kumar remains one of several persons of interest. While the investigation into the murder remains live, there has been a recommendation it be referred to the Homicide Cold Case Unit. The inquest is expected to conclude on Tuesday.
