Murderer backs down over emma conviction appeal
Willox will serve a life sentence
The former prison officer who murdered Emma Faulds and hid her body in a forest has abandoned an appeal against his conviction and prison sentence.
Ross Willox killed his friend at his home and drove with her corpse in the boot of a car before dumping her naked remains.
His 39-year-old victim was reported missing by her parents, Margaret and Ian, two days later when she failed to turn up for work.
Weeks after Willox was charged, Miss Faulds’s badly decomposed body was uncovered in Glentrool Forest, Wigtownshire.
Willox was found guilty of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice at the High Court in Glasgow. Lord Mulholland jailed him for life in June and ordered
him to serve at least 20 years behind bars.
Within days, the 42-yearold launched a bid for freedom after instructing his legal team to challenge both his conviction and sentence.
Willox’s appeal bid was lodged at the High Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
However, the court has now confirmed that he has abandoned the appeal against conviction and sentence and will remain in prison.
Miss Faulds had gone to Willox’s home in Monkton, Ayrshire, for drinks on the night of the killing on April 28, 2019. They had known each other from when they worked at Kilmarnock prison.
Her parents were visiting relatives in Brighton when they got a call from her daughter’s employers at the Kibble Education Centre in Paisley, Renfrewshire, that she had not turned up for work. Police forced their way into her daughter’s home in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, that day, finding only her beloved Westie dog Maverick.
During the trial, prosecutor Paul Kearney told jurors “good police work” uncovered “a trail of evidence” pointing to the guilt of Willox.
Officers called in soil expert Professor Lorna Dawson during a search of the forest where Miss Faulds’s body was suspected to be.
She was asked to examine a number of items including Timberland boots worn by Willox.
Just 24 hours after she made her findings Miss Faulds’s body was found on June 12 in an area someone “would not normally walk through”.
There was a 92 per cent soil match from the boots compared to the earth which covered the body.
Jurors were told the remains were so badly decomposed a pathologist could not state what caused Miss Faulds’s death, although she had an apparent injury on her neck.
Sentencing Willox, Lord Mulholland said: “Only you will know what happened in that house that night, which led to you killing your friend.
“Having murdered Emma Faulds, you formed an elaborate scheme to cover up the crime.
“You hoped she would never be found and her devoted family would have to spend the rest of their lives wondering where Emma was and if she was alive or dead.
“That was wicked of you. You were not as clever as you thought you were as your elaborate and deceitful plan provided the clues which led to your downfall.”