Double murder ‘house of horrors’ will be re-let

Council chiefs reject calls to knock it down

A COUNCIL house dubbed “the house of horrors” after two unrelated murders were carried out there a decade apart is to be re-let.

Michael Taylor, 72, was sentenced to 16 years in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday for the brutal murder of 60-year-old Liz Mackay at her home, 5 Kintail Court in Hilton, Inverness in March 2016.

Liz had been one of the first tenants to live at the house after Brian Grant, who murdered Ilene O’Connor and then buried her in the garden in 2006.

Housing chiefs said the future of the property was being considered following Taylor’s conviction in May amid calls for it to be demolished.

Workers have spent the last few weeks emptying and refurbishing the property and a Highland Council spokeswoman told The Sunday Post a new tenant was now being sought.

Local councillor Alasdair Christie said there had been several people waiting on the housing list who had been in touch with the council and offered to take the property.

“It’s been a very difficult decision,” he said.

“There have been some people who wanted to see it demolished. But there have also been expressions of interest from people who are desperate for a property.

“Inverness is a city but it’s still a close-knit community and a lot of people are aware of what happened there. The house will be re- let on a sympathetic basis, making people aware of its history and not put under pressure that they have to take it.”

Iain Sinclair, 48, lives two doors down from the property and moved into his council house in March. He said he was unsure what he would have done if he had been offered the house where the two murders had taken place instead.

“It depends on how much work has been done to the place,” he said. “People have been talking about it being used again because it had been boarded up for a while and the grass was really long but it’s all been taken care of now.”

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said he had been told the house had been offered to a tenant but had been turned down because of its history.

“It seems stupid to me, it’s not like it’s haunted,” he said. “It makes no sense knocking the house down when so many people are waiting on a place.”

Judge Michael O’Grady at the High Court in Edinburgh said Taylor had murdered defenceless Liz with“staggering brutality”.

A probe into the case proved difficult for police as Liz, who went to school with murdered Inverness police officer Gordon Semple, had lost touch with her family.

During the trial, prosecutors said they were unable to discover why Taylor repeatedly punched her on the head until she lost consciousness.

He repeatedly struck her on the head with what prosecutors suspected was a kitchen pan and then removed her clothing, handled and bit her breasts before fleeing the scene.

Brian Grant was jailed for life in January 2007 for the “savage and brutal” attack of 39-year-old hairdresser Ilene O’Connor.

Ilene had been missing for two weeks before police discovered her body buried in the garden at 5 Kintail Court.

Her injuries included brain damage, 26 rib fractures and a smashed breast bone.