The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Man’s plea for truth after triple murder
Man’s plea over the mother
A MAN whose family were slaughtered in one of Aberdeen's most shocking murders has made an emotional plea for information about his past.
Michael MacDonald has been searching for clues about his mother, Isabella, since he discovered she was brutally murdered alongside his brother and toddler sister in the 1960s.
Mr MacDonald was six months old when he was taken from her arms and moved to a children’s home in Stirling in 1966.
But just three weeks later she was strangled to death by her husband, Adam Sherriffs, along with their son Murray and daughter Jacqueline.
Sherriffs later killed himself – and it was not until his body was discovered hanging from a tree in woods at Bridge of Don that police were led to the bodies of his victims.
The corpses of Isabella and her son were found under the floorboards at their home at 27 Logie Avenue, while the body of his daughter was discovered near his own.
To this day, it remains one of the most chilling murder cases in the north- east's history.
Nearly 50 years on and having battled cancer twice, Mr MacDonald said he feared time was running out to find the answers he desperately wants about his family. The 47-year-old said he knows nothing about his mother, nor what relatives are still alive.
He said he often wonders if he would have been killed too, and what exactly made his stepfather snap.
To the world outside, mother-of-three Isabella McCabe was the perfect wife and mother.
Neighbours in theWoodside area of Aberdeen, where the 41- year- old stayed in a flat with her husband Adam Sherriffs, watched the way she looked after her young family and never suspected anything was amiss.
But behind closed doors, her tangled love life – she had several children born to different fathers – was causing heartache for her partner.
With rumours that she was planning to leave him for another man, Sherriffs snapped and committed the ultimate crime of passion.
For almost a week, the 38- year- old told neighbours that his wife had run away with their children, 13-year-old Murray and Jacqueline, aged three.
But in reality, he had strangled the love of his life, and his own children, in a fit of rage.
His shocking crimes were discovered after his body was found hanging from a tree beside the River Donon July 27, 1966, with a suicide note admitting what he had done.
The body of his young daughter was in a cornfield nearby, while the corpses of Isabella and their son were found rotting beneath the floorboards at home.
As news of the tragedy swept the city, crowds gathered outside the house in Logie Avenue and the case made national headlines. Butthe storywaskept quiet from one person – Is-