The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Council won’t rule out re-letting ‘house of horrors’
Housing chiefs in the Highlands have confirmed they are considering the future of a “house of horrors” where two women were brutally murdered.
The local authority would not rule out re-letting the home at 5 Kintail Court in the Hilton area of Inverness, despite it having been the scene of two horrific, unrelated crimes.
The semi-detached, single-storey house has been lying empty since Elizabeth Mackay’s body was found in a pool of blood in the kitchen in March last year.
Questions over its future were asked last week after pensioner Michael Taylor was convicted of murdering the 60-year-old mother with “staggering brutality”.
For unknown reasons, Taylor repeatedly punched Ms Mackay on the head until she lost consciousness, then repeatedly struck her on the head with what prosecutors suspected was a kitchen pan.
He then removed Ms Mackay’s clothing, handled and bit her breasts, before fleeing the scene, only to be snared by DNA evidence.
Ms Mackay had been one of the first tenants to live in the council house after Brian Grant, who murdered Ilene O’Connor and then buried her in the garden a decade ago.
Grant was jailed for life in January 2007 for the “savage and brutal” attack on the 39-year-old hairdresser, who was missing for two weeks before police discovered her body.
Her injuries included brain damage, 26 rib fractures and a smashed breast bone.
Asked whether the house would be re-let to a new tenant after being the scene of two murders, a Highland Council spokeswoman said last night: “The property currently remains within the council’s housing stock and its future use is being considered. We have no further comment.”
The detective leading the inquiry into Ms Mackay’s death, Detective Chief Inspector Keith Hardie of the police’s major investigation team, said he had never encountered two unrelated murders happening in the same home before.
He added a potential link between the two crimes was never considered as a serious line of inquiry during the investigation into Ms Mackay’s death, as Grant remains behind bars after being ordered to serve at least 14 years.