Was young oil worker lured to his death in an isolated beauty spot?
‘His friends are in deep shock’
A COUSIN of murdered oil worker Steven Donaldson has made an emotional attack on the ‘bunch of thugs’ responsible for the violent killing.
Mr Donaldson, 27, was found dead in the car park of a nature reserve following a ‘sustained and brutal’ assault.
He was discovered by two passers-by at 5am on Thursday a few feet from his white BMW, close to the Loch of Kinnordy in Kirriemuir, Angus.
Detectives set up an exclusion area, with all points of access to Kinnordy Nature Reserve cordoned off, while officers conducted forensic searches of the car park and the access road.
Neil Donaldson, 21, paid tribute on social media to his ‘big cousin’ who, he said, had been ‘taken from us’ by a ‘bunch of thugs at the wrong time’, adding that he had been ‘too young to go’.
It is the first suggestion Mr Donaldson might have been lured to the beauty spot and murdered.
The post also said Mr Donaldson still remembers ‘the day Steven taught me how to ice skate like it was yesterday and your pet snakes you used to scare me with’.
Mr Donaldson, who was unavailable for comment at his home in Dundee, added that ‘those are the memories that I’ll keep with me for the rest of my days.’
Meanwhile, Mr Donaldson’s best friend Martin Johnstone, 48, said he had spoken to him last Wednesday and was due to meet him on the day his friend’s body was found.
The oil worker was last seen at 10pm on Wednesday and police believe he travelled from his home in Arbroath, Angus, that evening for a rendezvous.
He died after being attacked with a sharp, heavy weapon.
Mr Johnstone, who also works offshore, spoke to Steven Donaldson hours before he died to make arrangements to meet.
He told the Sunday Mail: ‘When I spoke to Steven on Wednesday, he told me he was going to Kirriemuir and he seemed fine. We didn’t hear the body was him until police announced it on Friday.
‘But when he didn’t turn up for our meeting and police had found a body, I feared the worst.
‘All his friends are in deep shock. We don’t know why anyone would hurt Steven.
‘He worked offshore all over the world and had just returned from a two-week stint. I was his best friend and we spoke every day.
‘He was a 100 per cent hardworking, genuine guy, who was never in trouble.’
Mr Donaldson worked as a tool specialist for Aberdeenbased global oil and gas firm Interwell, and had been working in the industry since 2008.
According to Mr Johnstone, of Arbroath, Mr Donaldson invested his earnings in property in Aberdeen and Arbroath.
Mr Johnstone said: ‘None of his friends can think of any reason why anyone would want to harm him.’
Mr Donaldson ran a property company with his friend Faisal Naseem, 30, of Monifieth, Angus, for a year but it is understood the partnership was dissolved because of Mr Donaldson’s offshore work.
Detective Superintendent James Smith of Police Scotland said: ‘The motive is unclear. We need the help of the public to get answers for Steven’s family.’