Dad’s fury as cops reopen probe into memorial murder
Father If she was a doctor, they would have killer by now
Gordon Blackstock The dad of a murdered woman has criticised authorities after police re-opened a probe into her death.
Detectives have begun a new search of the monument where the body of Annal ise Johnstone, 22, was dumped.
Earlier this year, Annalise’s brother Jordan Johnstone, 25, and his girlfriend Angela Newlands, 29, walked free from court on charges of murdering Annalise and dumping her body by the Maggie Wall’s memorial in Dunning, Perthshire.
That came despite Johnstone telling the High Court in Livingston he had dumped his sister’s dead body at the witch’s monument.
Residents in the Perthshire village say police have been carrying out fresh searches of fields close to the memorial.
But dad Gordon Johnstone, 44, of Fauldhouse in West Lothian, fears the fresh investigation will not lead anywhere.
He said: “This is the first I’m hearing about it but it’s not surprising.
“However, I’ve lost all faith in the police being able to find out what happened and the Crown getting a successful prosecution. I don’t think it’s ever been treated seriously enough because Annalise was a traveller.
“If she’d been a doctor or lawyer, I’m sure authorities would have treated it seriously from the start and someone would be in jail.
“We all know there are just two people who know what happened to Annalise – Jordan and Angela Newlands.”
Annalise’s body was found with her throat cut in May 2018.
Newlands, who has a host of violent and dishonest convictions, was cleared in May this year of Annalise’s murder due to insufficient evidence. The mother of four was then blamed by her partner, Johnstone, for the gruesome killing.
Johnstone, 25, who admitted carrying his dead sister’s body for two miles and dumping her by a roadside, was also cleared of murder after the jury returned a controversial not proven verdict.
He said Newlands cut his sister’s throat with a Stanley knife and he had remained in a car with Newlands’ sleeping children.
He said he later carried his sister’s body for about 40 minutes before dumping it behind a wall about two miles away because he feared Newlands’ father was going to “chop my wee sister up and throw her away”.
The prosecution and defence both agreed Johnstone’s car was near the Maggie Wall memorial at the time Annalise was attacked.
No murder weapon has ever been found.
A Dunning resident, who asked not to be named, said: “The police have been back and are scouring the area for something or other.
“They’ve tried to keep it low-key but it was clear what it was about. That poor girl had her throat cut and her body was left by the monument to rot. It would be good if they found something to move the case to a successful conclusion.”
A police spokesman said: “We can conf irm that the search activity that was ongoing in the Dunning area, which was in connection with the death of Annalise Johnstone in May 2018, has now been concluded.”
Newlands was recently ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work in the community after she admitted trying to hide her identity by giving police a false ID.