Latest news with #Dod
The Irish Sun
21-07-2025
- The Irish 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 George Murdoch, known as Dod, was strangled to death in 1983 Credit: PA 14 The taxi driver was gruesomely garroted with a cheese wire 14 George's nephew Alex is fighting for justice Credit: Newsline Media 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 Dod with his wife Jessie. His murder is one of the most infamous cold cases in Scotland Credit: Supplied 14 George was found in a pool of blood by his taxi Credit: Newsline Media 14 The murder sent shock waves through the city Credit: Viacom 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. He could hear Jessie crying through the walls, so he wanted to go and stay with her 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 14 Alex and his wife Robina have been in constant contact with Detective Inspector James Callander who is trying to solve the case Credit: PA 14 A man who entered a chip shop that same evening was reported to have been acting suspiciously, but police never found out who he was Credit: Viacom 14 George's family are still fighting for the truth Credit: Viacom 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. It felt like my uncle had a voice again Alex 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 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 The mysterious photo depicts the torso of a man in an Iron Maiden t-shirt who seemed to know details about the murder Credit: Viacom 14 DNA from the scene has now been analysed with modern techniques Credit: Viacom 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 A nationwide manhunt is underway to find a possibly relative of the killer Credit: Viacom 14 Station Road located in Cults, Aberdeen, where George Murdoch was found dead in 1983 Credit: The Sun 14 The western outskirts of Aberdeen will always be associated with the murder Credit: Alamy 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.' Forensics: Murder Case Episode 1 airs on Monday 21 July at 9pm on Channel 5
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The Dodgers received their World Series rings. Here's what they look like
The Dodgers received their World Series rings. Here's what they look like Dodgers players and team personnel pose for a team photo with their World Series rings during a pregame ceremony at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) No detail, or diamond, was spared. Modern-day championship rings, Dodgers chief marketing officer Lon Rosen joked, have essentially 'turned into wearable sculpture pieces.' And after a month of intricate design planning this offseason, the Dodgers' 2024 World Series ring is no exception. Advertisement Presented to players and coaches on the field before Friday night's game against the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium, the latest championship ring in Dodgers history is easily the most grandiose yet. Looking down at the top of the hulking piece of jewelry, the team's LA logo is spelled out in blue gems, with a bed of oval-shaped diamonds serving as a backdrop. Around the edge lies a circle of 34 sapphires honoring late Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who died in the midst of last year's World Series run. On either side, eight more diamonds were included to recognize the organization's eight all-time championships. On the top and bottom, 'World Champions' is spelled out in more bling. Read more: Plaschke: Honoring past, dominating present, unbeaten Dodgers shine in home opener Down the side of the ring, there are personalized touches, with each team member's last name and number displayed around a hexagon shape inspired by Dodger Stadium's unique scoreboards. Inscribed on the inner half are also each recipient's signature, next to logos of the three teams the Dodgers defeated on their way to the crown. Advertisement Beneath the lift-off top of the ring itself, more easter eggs abound — most notably, cut-up pieces of the bases from the team's title-clinching Game 5 win at Yankee Stadium, as well as a bedazzled recreation of Dodger Stadium with the Commissioner's Trophy in the middle. One final touch resides on the bottom of the ring: Five diamonds to signify the five-run deficit the Dodgers overcame in the title-clincher. 'We had input from our ownership, from Stan [Kasten, team president], from me,' Rosen said. 'Looked at it, worked with designers, and our owner made the final decision, which we all actually agreed on.' 'It's very cool,' Rosen added shortly before the start of Friday's pregame ceremony. 'The guys are gonna be really excited.' Advertisement Even before the rings were presented, anticipation was high in the Dodgers' pregame clubhouse. 'This is the final piece [of our 2024 title celebration],' manager Dave Roberts said. 'Just to have the fans here to enjoy this with us, the players, to kind of close the book on 2024, and still staying focused on the baseball game tonight, there's just a lot of excitement. Probably more than I can ever recall, with the Dodger fanbase. Our players feel that." In a fitting twist, the rings were presented on the same night a key piece of the Dodgers' 2024 team, L.A. native Jack Flaherty, pitched against the club as a member of the Tigers — who re-signed Flaherty this offseason after trading him to the Dodgers at last year's deadline. 'He was somewhat of a savior, to be honest with you,' Roberts said of Flaherty, who will get his ring on Saturday. 'He was the right person at the right time for our club. And I'm happy that he got family and friends who got to see him in a Dodger uniform, get a championship ring.' Advertisement 'Now,' Roberts added with a laugh, 'we can go beat him up today, and give him his ring tomorrow.' Like most of his players, Roberts isn't one to wear World Series hardware often. The rings from his previous two championships — as Dodgers manager in 2020, and as a player with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 — reside inside a safe in his garage. But, the manager conceded, he was excited to get to try on this year's piece during Friday's pregame ceremony. 'I hope it fits,' he joked. 'If you see me fiddling with it, and it ends up on my pinky, we'll have big problems.' Then again, championship rings now are less for wearing anyway. As Rosen noted, they have transformed more into pieces of art. And after the franchise's first full-season title in more than three decades, the Dodgers didn't waste an inch of this year's diamond-studded design infusing as much symbolism as they could from their triumphant 2024 season. Kiké Hernández on the mend Friday's ring ceremony was also a special occasion for Kiké Hernández. Advertisement Though the veteran utilityman played a key role in the Dodgers' 2020 title, he missed out on all of the team's season-opening ceremonies the next year after signing with the Boston Red Sox that winter. Then, on Thursday, Hernández was absent again during the club's 2024 World Series banner raising, unable to make it to the ballpark for the Dodgers' home opener while battling a stomach illness. On Friday, however, Hernández was feeling strong enough to return to the ballpark. He didn't feature in the starting lineup, and it remains unclear when he will be back on the field. But Roberts said Hernández was 'feeling much better' and seemed hopeful his illness would cause only a short-term absence. Advertisement 'He is not going to be here at the ballpark early on, doing work, just make sure that he kind of stays strong and builds up,' Roberts said. 'But,' he added of Hernández's attendance for the ring presentation, 'he wasn't going to miss this one.' Pitching injury updates Hours before Friday's game, injured pitchers Tony Gonsolin (back) and Evan Phillips (shoulder) both faced hitters in live batting practice. Reliever Michael Kopech (shoulder) threw a flat-ground session in the outfield. And Clayton Kershaw (who is recovering from offseason toe and knee surgeries) told reporters he would face hitters for the first time this year on Saturday. Advertisement Read more: Shohei Ohtani hits one of Dodgers' three homers to beat Tigers in their home opener Gonsolin, who tweaked his back while doing squats in the gym near the end of spring training, and Phillips, who had a PRP injection this offseason to address a partially torn rotator cuff he suffered during the playoffs last year, are the closest of the group to returning to the active roster. Phillips will likely throw another live BP before beginning a rehab assignment, keeping him on track to rejoin the team in the next couple weeks. Gonsolin's next step will be to throw three innings in either another simulated setting, or as the start of a minor-league rehab assignment, as he works toward a long-awaited return from his 2023 Tommy John surgery. 'To have something like that, non-baseball-related, really sucked, honestly,' said Gonsolin, whose last appearance in the majors came in August 2023. 'I don't really have any other words for it. But again, it's a minor setback, and I'll try to take this time to build back up and get into an even better position." Advertisement The timeline for Kopech's and Kershaw's returns are less clear, but Kershaw said he remains hopeful of being ready right around the time his 60-day injured list stint is up near the end of May. Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hegseth orders review of military fitness and grooming standards: 'Our adversaries are not growing weaker'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is ordering a review of military fitness and grooming standards as the Trump administration continues to reverse policies critics say have made America's fighting force appear weaker on the global stage. In a memo Wednesday to senior Pentagon leadership, Hegseth ordered Darin Selnick, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, to gather existing standards in all U.S. military branches related to physical fitness, body composition and grooming, including regulations on beards. "We must remain vigilant in maintaining the standards that enable the men and women of our military to protect the American people and our homeland as the world's most lethal and effective fighting force," Hegseth said in a statement. "Our adversaries are not growing weaker, and our tasks are not growing less challenging." Secretary Hegseth Says The Dod Does Not Do 'Climate Change Crap' The review will "illuminate how the department has maintained the level of standards required over the recent past and the trajectory of any change in those standards," he added. Doge Initial Findings On Defense Department Dei Spending Could Save $80M, Agency Says Read On The Fox News App Leaders will look at how those standards have changed since Jan. 1, 2015, and provide insight into how they have evolved and the effect of those changes. Hegseth has vowed to bring back tougher standards while reversing "woke" policies that don't align with restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence. "Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear," he said in a Jan. 25 memo to service members. "The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose."Original article source: Hegseth orders review of military fitness and grooming standards: 'Our adversaries are not growing weaker'
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vance visits Capitol Hill to urge senators to confirm Elbridge Colby for Pentagon No. 3 post
Vice President JD Vance visited Capitol Hill to offer a message of support for his "friend," Elbridge "Bridge" Colby, President Donald Trump's contentious nominee for the Pentagon's No. 3 spot, undersecretary of defense for policy. "In so many ways, Bridge predicted what we would be talking about four years down the road, five years down the road, 10 years down the road. He saw around corners that very few other people were seeing around," Vance said in opening remarks Tuesday at Colby's confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "If you look at his long career in defense policy, he has said things that, you know, frankly, alienated Democrats and Republicans. He's also said things that I think both Democrats and Republicans would agree with," Vance continued. The vice president praised Colby as a "good man" and an "honest man." "You need people who are going to tell you the truth. We're going to look you in the eye who are going to disagree," Vance said. Disputed Dod Nominee Is 'Best Person' To Implement Trump And Hegseth Agenda, Key Conservative Group Says Read On The Fox News App The vice president's presence demonstrates how seriously the White House is looking to shore up support for Colby, whose restraint-minded views have given pause to some more hawkish senators. It is the second confirmation hearing Vance has attended after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who the vice president also has a close relationship with. Colby said in his own opening remarks, "There is a real risk of major war, and we cannot afford to lose one. I recognize these realities in my bones. It is my great hope that we can get through the coming years peacefully, with strength in ways that put us and our alliances on a stronger and more sustainable footing." "I'm willing and ready to engage with those who disagree with me and adapt my views based on persuasive arguments and the fact is that I value our alliances deeply, even as I think they must be adapted, and that I love our great country, and will put its interests first and foremost." Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., questioned Colby on his previously stated position, "America has a strong interest in defending Taiwan, but Americans can survive without it." "Your views on Taiwan's importance to the United States seems to have softened considerably," Wicker told Colby. Colby disputed that point, arguing he had been shooting a warning flare that the U.S.' "military balance has declined" with regard to China. "What I have been trying to shoot a signal flare over is that it is vital for us to focus and enable our own forces for an effective and reasonable defense of Taiwan and for the Taiwanese, as well as the Japanese to do more," said Colby. "So my position in terms of the value of Taiwan is consistent. But what I'm very fearful of, Senator, and I think this is agreed across administrations of both parties, is that, you know, the military balance has declined. So I'm trying to avoid a situation of which, because we are not adequately prepared." Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the committee, pressed Colby on his views on Russia and Ukraine. "In November 2023, you said, 'The invasion of Ukraine is an evil act by the Russians, and I morally support the Ukrainian defense.' Do you still agree with that statement?" asked Reed, D-R.I. "I think I stand by my record, but at this point, I think, there's a very delicate diplomatic process going on where the president is rightfully trying to resuscitate the peace process. And I don't think it'd be appropriate for me to weigh in," said Colby. Colby's confirmation process has rankled Iran hawks, and at least Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has privately expressed skepticism. Wicker previously told Roll Call that Colby's nomination poses "a concern to a number of senators." Maga Loyalists Take Aim At Gop Senator As Key Trump Defense Post Sparks Controversy: 'Why The Opposition?' Colby, who worked at the Pentagon during Trump's first term and was a lead author on the 2018 U.S. National Security Strategy, has long asserted the U.S. should limit its resources in the Middle East and refocus on China as the bigger threat. Colby said during the hearing that Iran was an "existential" threat to the U.S. and he present the White House with military options if diplomacy fails at preventing Iran with a nuclear weapon. Cotton pressed Colby on whether a nuclear-armed Iran poses an "existential danger to us … not just a 'severe danger,' as you said in response to Sen. Gillibrand or a 'significant one' as you said in your written answers," "Yes, a nuclear-armed Iran — especially, Senator, given that … we know they've worked on ICBM-range capabilities and other capabilities that would pose an existential danger to the United States," Colby said. "I believe we should not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon and, if confirmed, I would believe it's my responsibility to provide credible good military options," he added later on. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., pressed Colby on whether Russia was an "adversary" or an "ally" to the U.S. "Russia presents a significant military threat to Europe, and there are significant military threats to the homeland as well," said Colby. "We can… diminish, you know, the potential for direct confrontation with Russia in the same way with China."Original article source: Vance visits Capitol Hill to urge senators to confirm Elbridge Colby for Pentagon No. 3 post
The Guardian
12-02-2025
- General
- The Guardian
I was a evangelical Christian for 35 years – until my transgressive big sister gave me the courage to break free
I spent most of my adult life as an evangelical Christian, learning to accept a whole-body compliance to a regimented way of living and submission to the Bible as God-breathed and infallible. For me, this became a rigid and tortured way to live, the opposite to the freedom it initially promised. I followed in the footsteps of my big sister, the trailblazing poet Dorothy Porter, and attended a church camp when I was 10. But unlike Dorothy (or Dod as I called her) who fell in love with a sequence of beautiful and beatific female Christian leaders at the camp, I charted my own path and invited Jesus into my life and was born again. Dod was horrified, but I think quietly set about trying to deconvert me from that time. It took 35 years. While Dod, in her bohemian life as a poet of rabble-rousing, sexually charged verse novels, ran towards delicious worldliness, I took the other fork in the road, towards asceticism and self-sacrifice. I believed I knew all the answers, so chose a different type of zealous life to my dazzling sister – and clung to it with equal tenacity. She died in 2008 aged 54, living passionately to the end. Sign up for our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Despite our radically different life choices, we both felt like outsiders in the family: me because of my intense religiosity and sense of invisibility, and she because she lived the closeted life of a gay woman until her early 30s. We became confidantes for each other, sharing our recent dramas with our father, the prominent Sydney barrister Chester Porter, reassuring each other of complete discretion. She became my reliable drinking companion in the Chester Porter Survival Club, as we navigated our father's volatile temper and terrifying rages. Dod then wrote books that challenged my entire worldview, startling me out of my stupor and dogged adherence to what had been fed to me as the 'Only Truth'. Her verse novel Akhenaten tells the tale of the monotheistic Pharaoh and his desperate attempt to secure a male heir through his daughters, while he also has a passionate love affair with his brother. My exterior evangelical self was shocked, but always lurking beneath the surface was my other buried self, who delighted in Dod's rule-breaking, her subversiveness and her galloping fame. My transgressive big sister cracked the door open for me to start seeing the world differently, beyond the narrow ideological compliance I felt subjected to. Her work gave me a place to hide, to know and feel the world as wild and varied, while on the outside I appeared as a respectable church handmaiden and matron. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion Perhaps it was her later book, Crete, that changed me the most. I was stuck in an evangelical church where women were permanently subordinated to men, but Dod celebrated women's power with explosive poems of bold Minoan femaleness. 'In what other time / has the breast been mightier / than the sword?' she wrote in The Power and the Glory. But it was her sublime verse novel Wild Surmise that sealed the deal for me. There would be no more conventionality and misogyny for me, as I immersed myself in her words and found courage: 'You're standing on a raft / of thick alien ice / but you're moving – / floating like a berg / on the deepest ocean / in the unknown world / A new world / where you might learn / colder lessons / than nothing' (Europa). Dod had an unerring belief in her creative voice, the power of a poem to blow a room or someone's life apart. While she may have felt fear and anxiety in her private life (as I have, a legacy of some of the worst times with our father), she never felt it in her work, nor did it deter her from speaking out on things that matter: Indigenous massacres, nationalistic jingoism, the incarceration of refugees, homophobia. She showed me how to find my voice in the fog of cognitive dissonance and internal fury that characterised my former Christian life. It took me many years to apologise to her for my preachy Pharisaic self-righteousness, particularly of her sexuality. I never managed to tell her, except at her funeral, that she had become the impetus and example for me to be brave and speak the truth, to be subversive and challenge orthodoxy in its many guises, and to always be suspicious of fakes. I was never going to be silent again, and maybe I too could be dangerous and transgressive by unmasking the hidden networks of power within churches and help other people with the trauma they experience. I am now a psychotherapist and advocate for those who have been harmed by high demand religious communities. As I found my voice, I try to help others find theirs. My bold and lionhearted big sister showed me how. 'I stand my ground / in the undaunted spray / and company / of my own words' (The Ninth Hour from The Bee Hut). Gutsy Girls by Josie McSkimming is out now (A$34.99, UQP)
