MURDERED AS SHE TRIED TO DEFEND HER HOME
Horror in the suburbs after couple confront burglar
A 51-YEAR-OLD mother was murdered and her elderly partner seriously injured yesterday after confronting an intruder in their home. Isabelle Sanders and Norman Busby, 85, a retired policeman, discovered
the man inside their property in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Police launched a murder hunt after they were called to the couple’s semi-detached home in a quiet Glasgow cul-de-sac around 1.55am and found the body of Mrs Sanders inside. She was pronounced dead at the scene, while Mr Busby was taken to Glasgow’s Southern General hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.
Crucially, the father-of-three was able to provide officers with a detailed description of the attacker, who fled the scene. The house in Raeswood Drive, Crookston, Glasgow,
remained cordoned off as more than 25 police officers carried out door-todoor inquiries and forensic teams scoured the scene for clues.
A car in the couple’s driveway was covered in tarpaulin and was being inspected by forensic experts and a Police Scotland spokesman said one possible line of inquiry was that the vehicle may have been targeted in a botched car-jacking.
One neighbour suggested there had been a series of attempted car breakins in recent weeks.
Both Mrs Sanders and Mr Busby have children from previous relationships but the couple had lived together in the quiet neighbourhood for 24 years.
Mr Busby has two sons, Donald, 52, of Thurso, Caithness, and Norman, 58, of Glasgow, and a daughter Patricia, 61, who lives in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire.
Last night, Donald Busby was travelling down from the north of Scotland to visit his father in hospital. He said: ‘I’m not sure how he is, I’ve only had a brief conversa-
‘We have never had anything like this’
tion with my sister. I don’t know much about what happened.’
Neighbours spoke of their shock at the brutal killing, which comes just a week after official new figures showed that every 15 minutes a home in Scotland is broken into.
The statistics, included in the Scottish Government’s Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, also revealed that the number of breakins has shot up by a quarter in the past two years and by 10,000 since 2008, and that four-fifths of housebreakings remain unsolved.
One nearby resident, Robert Freckleton, 61, said there had been several recent reports of attempted thefts in the area.
He said: ‘My niece came out to go to her work and saw all the activity with the police. It looks like they have covered the car in their drive with tarpaulin for some reason, so they must think its important for forensics.
‘It is a pretty quiet street, but there has been one or two incidents recently. I had my car tried the other week by somebody trying to get into it. But we’ve never had anything like this. It is clearly being taken very seriously and my thoughts are with those involved.’
Another resident said: ‘I’m absolutely shocked and devastated. I know that family well because I used to walk the dog with them.
‘I’ve lived here for the last 13 years or so and we’ve never had anything like this before. It’s a quiet area where folk keep themselves to themselves, we don’t have any trouble.
‘I went to my bed around 12.30am so I must have only just missed it. I opened the curtains this morning and couldn’t believe it when I saw all the police and ambulances – this is such a tragedy.’
Detectives later said the suspect was white, Scottish, with a local accent, between 20 and 30 years old, around 5ft 10in to 5ft 11in tall with a slim build and short, dark hair. He was wearing jeans, a lightblue top and blue canvas deck shoes. Superintendent Brian McNulty said: ‘I would ask anyone who was in the area of Raeswood Drive last night and saw a man matching the description above or anyone who recognises the description to contact police as soon as possible.’
He stressed that inquiries were at an early stage, but said there was ‘ no i ndication at all’ that the intruder was known to the couple.
He added: ‘ There’s a whole team of detectives working on this investigation. As I’m sure you’ll appreciate, there are many strands to the investigation. We are not ruling anything in or out. There has been a level of violence used. It’s a despicable crime.’
A post-mortem examination on Mrs Sanders is due to be carried out to establish the exact cause of her death.
Mr McNulty said Mr Busby was doing ‘remarkably well’ under the circumstances, adding: ‘The gentleman has lost his partner. He’s clearly very upset and disturbed as you can imagine.’
Anyone with information should contact police on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.