Ex-prison officer jailed for murder
A former prison officer who murdered his friend and hid her body in a remote Scottish forest has been jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 20 years behind bars.
Ross Willox killed Emma Faulds after arranging to party with her at his home in Monkton, Ayrshire, on Sunday April 28 2019.
Ms Faulds was reported missing by her family on April 30 2019, two days after she was last seen.
Her body was found about six weeks later in Glentrool Forest, in the Galloway Forest, Dumfries and Galloway, after a major search involving specialist officers and search dogs.
Ross Willox, 42, had denied the charges but was found guilty of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow in May.
He was sentenced to life and told he must serve a minimum of 20 years when he returned to the court for sentencing yesterday.
Judge Lord Mulholland told him: "You have been convicted of murdering a young woman, Emma Faulds.
"Only you will know what happened in your house that night that led to you killing your friend.
"Having murdered her you created an elaborate scheme to cover up your crime."
He said that Willox placed the body of Ms Faulds in a shallow grave and covered it up and tried to ensure it would decompose more quickly by placing it in a wet area.
The judge said: "You hoped it would never be found and her devoted family would have to spend the rest of their lives wondering where she was and if she was alive or dead."
Willox was convicted of murdering Ms Faulds by unknown means at a property in Monkton,
Ayrshire, on April 29 2019 and of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by various means between April 29 and May 8 2019.
He concealed the dead body in Monkton and elsewhere and went on to dispose of his friend's naked body in ground at the end of a remote forestry track in Glentrool Forest, concealing it with soil, clumps of moss and other vegetation.
After Ms Faulds was reported missing, Willox told police he had been partying with her at his flat but said they then
went in her car to her flat in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, where he claimed he left her fit and well.
However, police became suspicious about his movements when they found CCTV footage that showed a man driving her car back to her street.
They then found CCTV footage of Willox driving his Mercedes jeep through Girvan on April 29 towards the Galloway forest area, a region where he had previously worked building wind farms.
He was also captured on CCTV in Ayr before his trip to the forest going to various shops buying bottles of bleach, rubber gloves, shower curtains, tins of outdoor disinfectant and waterproof trousers. Willox, who became friends withmsfauldswhentheyboth worked at HMP Kilmarnock, was arrested on May 8 2019. Donald Findlay QC, representing Willox, said it would not be appropriate to express any contrition on behalf of the 42-year-old when Willox says he was not responsible.