Inside where Michael Ross is now as Prime Video's The Orkney Assassin documentary airs
Prime Video's The Orkney Assassin is now available for streaming but where is Michael Ross?
In 1994, the Orkney Islands were thrust into international headlines following the murder of 26 year old Shamsuddin Mahmood at Mumtaz restaurant, a bustling curry house in Kirkwall.
On June 2, around 7.10pm, a man donning a balaclava strolled into the restaurant and fatally shot the Bangladeshi waiter before calmly exiting the premises.
For 14 years, the perpetrator managed to evade capture until a breakthrough occurred in 2006. A witness came forward to the Kirkwall police, claiming they had seen 15 year old Michael Ross with a firearm on the night of the murder.
Prior to his arrest, Ross enlisted in the renowned Scottish regiment, the Black Watch, at just 17-years-old. He rose through the ranks to become a sergeant of a sniper platoon and served in the first Gulf War.
In 2008, after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow where he did not testify, Ross was found guilty of murdering Shamsuddin Mahmood.
Where is Michael Ross now?
Ross is currently serving a life sentence for Mahmood's murder at HMP Shotts in Lanarkshire, one of Scotland's maximum-security prisons, as reported by the BBC.
To date, he has served nearly 17 years of his sentence. During this period, Ross has made multiple escape attempts, including an incident in 2018 when he attempted to scale a fence.
Ross had crafted a makeshift ladder and tried to climb over the fence while other inmates were exercising in the yard.
Consequently, Ross was allegedly put in solitary confinement for several weeks and prohibited from contacting his family.
His solicitor Aamer Anwar stated that Ross was aware his escape attempt would fail but aimed to draw attention to his appeal against the conviction.
Despite being found guilty in 2008, Ross continues to assert his innocence, as he conveyed to The Orcadian newspaper earlier this month: "I'm doing a 25-year life sentence for something I didn't do."
It is understood that the earliest Ross could be released is in 2035.
Prime Video's upcoming documentary, The Orkney Assassin: Murder In The Isles, promises an in-depth exploration of the gruesome murder, the extensive investigation that followed, and includes interviews with the officers involved at the time, Ross' legal representative, and his parents who also stand by his claim of innocence.
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