Dad’s grief three years on from Annalise killing
The father of tragic Annalise Johnstone, whose throat was slit at a witch’s monument in Perthshire, says he has given up all hope of seeing her killer brought to justice.
This week marks three years since her body was found lying face down in grass behind a drystone dyke in countryside near Dunning.
Her brother Jordan Johnstone walked free from court after a jury found the murder case against him not proven.
Annalise (22), a member of the travelling community, had been murdered two miles down the road, at a stone cross commemorating witch Maggie Wall.
Annalise’s dad Gordon (46) of Fauldhouse, West Lothian, said his life had been torn apart by the killing, adding: “It’s not that I’ve just lost my daughter, I’ve lost everything.
“Me and my son have fallen out. If the police came to my door and told me Jordan was dead, I couldn’t even be bothered to go to identify the body.”
Gordon said he had not heard from the police since the court case. He added: “I’ve given up all hope of the police doing anything now.
“If my daughter had come from a posh background, the police would be going out of their way to keep this investigation running. But because she was a traveller, they’ve moved on.
“It’s like they just want to brush things under the carpet and get it rid of it.”
Gordon said he planned to mark the third anniversary of Annalise’s death by laying flowers at her grave.
“There’s nothing else I can do,” he added. “It would have been better if I could just hold her in my arms and speak to her but that has been taken away.”
The discovery of Annalise’s body by two hillwalkers on May 10, 2018, sparked a huge investigation.
Jordan and Angela Newlands went on trial in 2019, accused of murder, but she was found not guilty at the High Court in Livingston.
The trial continued for Jordan, who was cleared on a not proven verdict.
Later, there was new hope of a retrial when cops returned to the Maggie Wall site to probe Jordan’s claims in court that he had buried the murder weapon and his sister’s glasses and phone inside a Happy Meal box.
Police confirmed the search proved fruitless but added that the probe was still open and any new evidence will be examined.