TEEN HELD ON MURDER OF VIOLINIST
A teenager has been arrested af ter a Scottish violinist was found murdered in Argentina.
Finlay Ferguson, 60, a former gold medal-winning student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, worked as a conductor and teacher.
He was discovered naked and tied to his bed in his apartment in the city of Cordoba on Thursday.
The discovery is believed to have been made by a student who arrived for a pre-arranged lesson.
Police arrested a suspect at noon on Friday.
Sources claimed the 19- year- old, f rom the province of Santiago del Estero, had a bag in his possession containing items belonging to the victim.
Police said Finlay, the director of the San Martin Theater Youth Orchestra, was found dead in his ground floor apartment in the Guemes neighbourhood of Cordoba.
Prosecutor Ruben Caro said he had suffered “a strong blow to the head”.
It is believed the virtuoso was assaulted with a gym dumbbell. Caro said: “It was a violent death.
“There are details which confirm it was a murder.”
Finlay, from Glasgow, was director of the Junior Academic Orchestra of the Liberator Theatre for musicians aged 15 to 22.
He lived in Argentina for 30 years and also offered his services as a translator.
A spokeswoman for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, previously the RSAMD, said: “We are very shocked and saddened. He will be sorely missed.”
The death shocked the artistic community across Argentina. Performances at the theatre where Finlay worked have been cancelled.
Rocio Peralta, a former pupil, said: “He was very dear, very famous. An irreplaceable person.”