17 years for thug who stabbed neighbour 47 times in pension row
A MAN who murdered his friend and neighbour by stabbing her 47 times in a row over his pension was yesterday jailed for 17 years.
William Finlay confessed to neighbours and police before claiming he should ‘be shot in the head’ for killing 44-year-old Fiona McDonald.
He admitted murdering her in her flat in Camelon, Falkirk, in November last year.
Sentencing the 57-year-old at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, Judge Lady Stacey told him: ‘Nothing can take away the grief her family feel.
‘Her mother, daughter and grandchildren have been deprived of her company.’
The court heard that Finlay, who was made redundant after 20 years of working in international electronics, became friends with Miss McDonald – who was also known as Fiona Canning – when he moved back to Falkirk to look after his mother.
But he attacked Miss McDonald and then went to a friend’s house covered in blood and confessed that he had killed her. When Finlay left, the friend dialled 999.
He also told neighbours: ‘I’ve just murdered Fiona.’ When they rushed to her flat, they saw her seated on a couch ‘staring into the sky’ covered in blood. A small kitchen knife was found near her body. Finlay, from Falkirk, told police that he was pushed to his limits and that it was ‘revenge’. He said she had been ‘rinsing him’ of his £10,000 pension payment.
Prosecutor Margaret Barron said: ‘He stated to witnesses that she had been rinsing him and was constantly asking for money.’
When he was arrested, Finlay told police officers: ‘Junkies bothering me, that’s why I got my revenge. I apologise for doing it, but you can’t apologise for killing someone – this is what happens when you get pushed to the limits.’
He showed no emotion as he was sentenced.
Defence QC Thomas Ross said: ‘They had a very complicated relationship.
‘At times they were friends and other times they had violent disagreements. Mr Finlay drew a pension payment for £10,000 in March, 2018, and was in debt to the tune of £1,300 by that November. ‘Fiona McDonald had accrued debts and men were turning up at his door looking for money. He believed she had built up debt with drugs using him as credit. It is unusual for someone with no history of violence to behave in such a brutal fashion.’