Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
New bid launched to find brother’s killer
A DUNDEE man is bidding to retrieve his murdered brother’s phone and laptop from police – in the hope he can use them to catch his killer.
John McMurchie, a former security guard and a dad-of-five, was found by two members of the public lying on Fintry Drive with a stab wound to the heart in August 2012. He later died in Ninewells Hospital. Police launched a murder probe and arrested a man in his sixties in connection with the murder, but he was released without charge.
John’s killer has never been caught, despite police taking nearly 1,000 witness statements.
Now, in a bid to crack the case, his John McMurchie brother Bruce, 59, from Lochee, has instructed a solicitor to try to get back his brother’s phone and laptop – which police have been holding as evidence.
Bruce, who previously spoke of plans to hire a private investigator to try to bring his brother’s killer to justice, said: “The police have had them since John was killed and there could be something on them that can help us.
“We have waited for a long time and the police haven’t been able to solve the case.
“If I can get his phone and his laptop then I can see what was going on in the lead up to his death – who he was speaking to, who he phoned.
“I will never give up until we have closure.”
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Bell, of the Homicide Governance and Review department, said: “The passage of time is no barrier to the investigation of unresolved murder cases and, in the view of Police Scotland, these cases are never closed.
“Homicide Governance and Review actively keeps all unsolved and unresolved homicides under review and meets regularly with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in an attempt to review these cases and pursue resolution.
“Along with our partners in the Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services, we continue to relentlessly pursue advances in technology and investigative approaches which help bring those responsible for serious and violent crimes to justice and provide answers for families of the victims of such crimes.
“Scientific and forensic developments, combined with information from the public and determined investigative work, can yield new opportunities in such cases.
“In addition, given the passage of time, personal circumstances and associations can change. If anyone has any new information please contact police on 101, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”