Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Cousin of tragic Ralphie tells of ‘living nightmare’
the cousin of tragic Ralphie Smith spoke today about the family’s “living nightmare” — 12 months on from the teenager’s disappearance.
Ralphie, 18, went missing on February 25 last year while out walking on the cliffs at Arbroath with his dad, also Ralph.
That triggered a series of events leading to the devastating deaths of his cousins Julie McCash, 43, and David Sorrie, 32.
Julie and David were both killed by Robert Stratton, 43, who stabbed them at a vigil held in Drumlanrig Drive on the night Ralphie went missing.
Ralphie’s body was eventually discovered a month later by a member of the public at Victoria Park in Arbroath.
A year on, a poignant memorial to Ralphie was hung from a flyover on the Kingsway by Ralph.
Paying tribute to his son and quoting lyrics from the hit single Champagne Supernova by the band Oasis, he wrote: “You and I live and die but the world still spins around but we don’t know why — why, why, why?”
Julie’s daughter Khailey McKenzie said the entire family was still struggling to come to terms with Ralphie’s death.
She added: “This is still a living nightmare.
“We are all finding it hard to believe that a year has passed since the events of that terrible weekend.
“It started off with us gathering together as a family to support each other because Ralphie had disappeared from the cliffs i n Arbroath.
“It unbelievably culminated in the deaths of my mum and uncle.
“Then a month later, we were told that Ralphie’s body had been found.”
Khailey said each member of the family was remembering Ralphie, Julie and David in their own way.
She added: “We have got together in small groups to remember them.
“Given what happened after a larger family gathering last year, we decided it wouldn’t be appropriate to have a bigger gathering this year to remember our loved ones.
“The past year has been a blur — it has gone by so quickly.
“Every one of us is doing the best we can to get by.
“We have gone through all the firsts — the first birthdays and Christmas. Now we are dealing with the first anniversary of the deaths.
“So many people have been in touch with tributes since the weekend. That has given us all a great degree of comfort.
“However, like Ralphie’s dad we are still still asking why all this had to happen.”
Stratton was convicted last September of the murder of Julie and the culpable homicide of David.
He was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years in prison as part of a life term.
The court heard Stratton had a previous conviction for attempted murder dating from 2002.