Crazed intruder who knifed Isabelle to death in her home had struck only hours before
A KNIFE-wielding thug murdered Isabelle Sanders and slashed her partner in their home just hours after stabbing a BMW driver in a botched car-jacking. Bank worker Mrs Sanders, 51, and Norman Busby, 85, a retired policeman, were attacked after an intruder forced his way into their home in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Police now believe their attacker also stabbed a taxi driver in the leg less than three hours earlier at a nearby convenience store in a failed attempt to make off with his BMW car.
After fleeing the scene of the first attack at the Spar supermarket in Crookston, Glasgow, around 11.15pm on Tuesday, the ‘dishevelled’ killer turned up around 1.55am on Wednesday less than a mile
‘We expect blood to be on his clothing’
away in Raeswood Drive, where he killed Mrs Sanders and left Mr Busby seriously wounded.
The blood-soaked killer is thought to have fled the scene down a path leading to Crookston Road, where he ran across the road, narrowly avoiding being hit by a passing car.
Detective Superintendent Jim Kerr from Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team said both incidents were being treated as possible failed car-jackings and that a ‘sharp object’ had been wielded by the killer each time.
He described both attacks as ‘an act of desperation’.
And he added that the couple’s home may have been targeted because the lights were on inside as Mr Busby stayed up late to watch television.
At a press conference yesterday outside the murder scene, Mr Kerr revealed officers were following a positive line of inquiry and were hopeful of making a breakthrough in the tragedy, which has traumatised the community.
The detective said: ‘At the Spar branch 700 yards away, a 33-yearold man was assaulted by a man matching the same description and an attempt was made to steal the man’s BMW.
‘The man was wearing dishevelled clothing but failed to steal the car and was last seen running off in the direction of Househill Park behind the Spar shop. We are now linking these two incidents.
‘This has been a sustained attack on Norman and Isabelle and we would expect there to be some form of blood on clothing.’
DS Kerr added: ‘We would appeal for a taxi driver who was seen in the Raeswood Drive area to come forward and for a driver on Crookston Road to come forward who had to take evasive action to avoid hitting him.’
CCTV footage from the Spar shop has also been removed for examination.
Arshad Mohammad, 50, was on duty in the shop when the BMW driver, a regular customer, came in and said he had been attacked.
Mr Mohammad said: ‘He said he had been stabbed in the leg by a guy who tried to steal his car. There was blood all over the floor.’
Meanwhile, a neighbour who rushed to the couple’s aid has told how he found Mr Busby badly injured in his house.
He quickly realised nothing could be done to help Mrs Sanders.
He said: ‘Norman was in a bad way when I saw him, he had been seriously assaulted but he was talking away at the time.
‘I sat him down and called the emergency services but I was too late to see who did it.’
Police raced to the couple’s semi-detached home in the quiet cul- de- sac around 1.55am on Wednesday and found the body of Mrs Sanders inside.
She was pronounced dead at the scene and Mr Busby was taken to Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.
The father- of-three was able to provide police with a detailed description of their attacker. A post- mortem examination is being held to establish how Mrs Sanders died and a search of the couple’s property and the surrounding area was being carried out by officers yesterday, including a search of drains in the street.
Mrs Sanders’ niece, Lauren Elizabeth Andrew, said: ‘In some of the saddest times for my family and I, we are calling on everyone and anyone that can help in any way that they can.’
‘My aunt was the most beautiful person I had the pleasure of knowing.’
Mrs Sanders’ ex-husband, 56year-old Robin Sanders, said: ‘She was always lovely and easy-going. It was a terrible shock.’
Mr Busby has two sons Donald, 52, of Thurso, Caithness, and Norman, 58, of Glasgow, and a daughter Patricia, 61.
They were too upset to speak yesterday.
Tributes also poured in from Mrs Sanders’ work colleagues at Lloyds branch on Waterloo Street, Glasgow.
A spokesman said: ‘ Isabelle will be sorely missed by many colleagues who worked with her.’