Former prison officer found guilty of murder and hiding the corpse
A former prison officer has been convicted of murdering Emma Faulds and hiding her body in a forest.
Ross Willox, 41, killed the 39-year-old youth worker at his home in Monkton, Ayrshire, on April 28 2019.
Emma was then reported missing by her parents Margaret and Ian two days later when she failed to turn up for work.
As her frantic family and friends began the hunt to find her, Willox did nothing to help in the search of his friend of 18 years.
He instead had earlier driven Emma’s body in the boot of a car before dumping the naked remains at the end of a remote track in Glentrool Forest, Dumfries and Galloway.
It was weeks after Willox was charged with the killing that Emma’s badly-decomposed corpse was uncovered.
Jurors convicted Willox of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice after a six week trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
Emma's emotional parents and sisters Miriam and Sarah were present to hear the verdict.
Lord Mulholland told Willox: "You know what the sentence for murder is – it will be life imprisonment.
"Be under no misapprehension, this was a foul crime on a young woman loved by her family.
"You would have visited upon them a lifetime of wondering if she was still alive had her body not been recovered as a result of the sterling work by the police and experts.
"It was in such a remote place and you had intended her body would never be recovered."
Willox showed no emotion as he was led handcuffed back to the cells. He will learn the minimum he will spend behind bars next month.
Emma had gone to Willox’s home in Fairfield Park, Monkton for drinks on the night of the killing.
The pair had known each other from when they worked together at Kilmarnock prison.
The trial heard claims married Willox had previously been intimate with Emma.
It is at the house prosecutors stated Emma was then murdered by means unknown.
Little is known as to what exactly happened there.
But, on April 30, her parents were visiting relatives in Brighton when her mother received a call from Emma’s employers at the Kibble Education Centre in Paisley that she had not turned up for
work. Margaret told jurors: "We were concerned because it was totally out of character.
"She was in touch every day. We knew something was wrong."
Police eventually forced their way into Emma's home in Kilmarnock that day – finding her Westie dog Maverick at home alone – and a nationwide appeal was launched.
On May 6 2019, detectives announced they had fears Emma had come to harm.
Four days later, Willox appeared in court charged with her murder - even though, at that time, no body had been found.
He appeared in the dock despite the "extreme lengths" he had gone to in a bid to cover up the crime.
But, Mr Kearney told jurors "good police work" uncovered "a trail of evidence" pointing to his guilt.