The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Murder accused was agitated, says medic
Court: ‘Slightly unsteady’ woman said husband was dead
A woman accused of murdering her husband on Skye allegedly told an ambulance technician called to their home that her partner was dead and there would be no need for the defibrillator.
Sandra Bruce was also said to have told the medic: “He put a packet of cigarettes under my pillow.”
Bruce was accused of making the remark on the day she is said to have murdered 64-year-old former paramedic Norman Bruce.
The 61-year-old secretary is on trial charged with killing Mr Bruce at their home at Breakish on the isle of Skye.
Ambulance technician Andrew Alexander told the
“She stated that there was no need for the defibrillator”
High Court in Glasgow yesterday that he was called to the couple’s house on February 9 last year.
He said he initially met Mrs Bruce who appeared “agitated” and “slightly unsteady on her feet”.
Mr Alexander added: “She stated that Norman was dead and that there was no need for the defibrillator. She took hold ofme – she did not let go for a period of time.”
A defibrillator is a machine that can be used to monitor heartbeats and also to restart a patient’s heart.
Mr Alexander and a colleague eventually went into the house where Mr Bruce was found. It was clear that he was already dead.
Prosecutor Andrew Brown Q Casked the ambulance man if Mrs Bruce was on the telephone while he was there.
Mr Alexander confirmed she was, but he could not say who she called.
He told the jury that she said Mr Bruce “put a packet of cigarettes under my pillow” or “hid a packet of cigarettes under my pillow”.
Mrs Bruce, now of Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, denies murder and has lodged a special defence of self defence.
She is alleged to have scratched, kicked, stamped and jumped on her husband.
Prosecutors claim she also inflicted “blunt force injuries” to her husband by means unknown. Mrs Bruce is also accused of assaulting Mr Bruce’s son Andrew at the same property on Skye between 1992 and 1995, and a separate allegation of assaulting her husband between 1991 and 2014. Mrs Bruce – who also uses the names Fraser and Anderson – denies those allegations. The trial, before Judge Lord Armstrong, continues.