The response to the question regarding the time the Police were informed of the bullet wound is within the FOI request of 22 October 2015

Transcription

1 MSP Enquiry - 18 January 2012 Following correspondence from an MSP the Lord Advocate sent the following information which sets out the general circumstances of the death of William MacRae and includes general information in relation to the review by Northern Constabulary around In August 2015 in light of further press interest and FOI requests regarding the time that the Police were informed of the bullet wound, further clarification was provided to the respective MSP s to ensure correct interpretation of the document. The clarification was as follows: In the paragraphs which are headed up Medical treatment there is a reference to the time of 7.40pm. This is the time that a House Officer indicates that Mr MacRae was admitted to the Neurosurgical Ward at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI), but in the context of the whole paragraph a reader may think that this was the time when he was admitted to ARI and when the bullet wound was discovered. In addition the time of 7.40pm was the time that the consultant provided his official statement to the Police regarding his finding of the gunshot wound The response to the question regarding the time the Police were informed of the bullet wound is within the FOI request of 22 October 2015 Circumstances of the death of William MacRae Mr MacRae died on 7 April At the time of his death he was 61 years of age, single and resided in Glasgow. He was in partnership with Ronald Welsh in a firm of solicitors known as MacRae and Company based in Glasgow. He was a senior member of the Scottish National Party. His next of kin was his brother Dr Ferguson MacRae a general Practitioner. Mr MacRae was known to suffer bouts of depression and had two previous convictions for drink driving and in February 1985 he was involved in a car accident in Glasgow and was charged for a third time with drink driving. He was acutely aware of the seriousness of the situation and this had a considerable impact on Mr MacRae and in the months prior to his death he had expressed suicidal thoughts to his brother and a close friend also confirmed that shortly before his death, Mr MacRae was extremely low. Last Known Movements Mr MacRae left Glasgow in the afternoon of Friday, 5 April to travel to Dornie. At about 7.30 pm his business partner Mr Welsh telephoned the Dornie number and got no reply. On receiving no reply he contacted all police stations en route from Glasgow to Kyle. Mr MacRae s brother was also concerned about his safety as Mr MacRae would usually phone when he arrived in Dornie. When no such call was received, Dr MacRae phoned his brother s holiday home. On being unable

2 to get a reply, Dr MacRae contacted Mr Welsh and between them they contacted all the hospitals in Glasgow and en route to Dornie to see if Mr MacRae had been admitted. Various attempts were made to contact Mr MacRae that night, including a neighbour attending at the house, all without success. Accident Scene At approximately am on Saturday, 6 April 1985 a husband and wife were driving on the A87 Kyle of Lochalsh to Invergarry Road when they came across a crashed vehicle down the embankment at the side of the road. Mr MacRae was in the driver s seat wedged underneath the steering wheel. He was unconscious, but was still warm and breathing. The witnesses noted that the rear windscreen and driver s window of the vehicle were both missing and the windscreen cracked but still in place. The witnesses indicated that the ignition key for the vehicle was lying on the edge of Mr MacRae s right hand or lap. The police and ambulance were contacted and, with the help of all present, an attempt was made to remove the Mr MacRae from the vehicle. Initially the driver s door was opened in an attempt to remove him, however, due to the angle at which the car was lying, the door would only open a matter of feet before coming into contact with the ground. Mr MacRae was, therefore, removed from the vehicle through the passenger door and put into the ambulance. Medical Treatment Mr MacRae was taken to Raigmore Hospital, Inverness where he was found to be unconscious but breathing. His pupils were unequal, his left pupil being unresponsive to light. He had a small gash on his right temple which was surrounded by dried blood. Signs of a serious intra cerebral injury were detected and his condition was discussed with Neurosurgeons at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, who agreed that he should be transferred to Aberdeen. He was x- rayed at Inverness. The X- rays were not examined by doctors at Raigmore but sent with him to Aberdeen. Mr MacRae was then taken to the Neurosurgical Unit at Aberdeen Infirmary. On arrival he was examined by a neurosurgeon, who found a bullet entry wound with surrounding swelling immediately behind the right eyebrow. At some point the head wound had been cleaned and any immediate evidence of forensic value was destroyed. X-rays confirmed that there was a bullet in his brain. The bullet entry was found to be in the right temple. At approximately 3.30 am on 7 April 1985, Mr MacRae died of his injuries without regaining consciousness. On being advised of the bullet wound, the locus of the accident was secured and the vehicle removed from the garage at Fort Augustus to Police Headquarters at Inverness where it was secured.

3 Post mortem examination The post mortem examination confirmed Mr MacRae had a bullet entrance wound in the temple, suggestive of suicide. Microscopic examination of the skin immediately around the entrance wound showed no powder driven into the superficial layer of the skin. Such markings could not have been cleaned. There was abundant powder residue in the track of the gunshot wound extending quite deeply into the subcutaneous tissue. The presence of much powder debris in the wound is typical of contact or near contact between the muzzle of the gun and skin. This view is reinforced by finding no evidence of powder spread around the entrance wound suggesting that there was no room for such spread to occur and that the muzzle was held firmly against the skin. Taking these findings into account, the pathologist concluded that the wound was self-inflicted. The cause of death was certified as a gunshot wound to the head. Examination of the locus A detailed examination of the locus was conducted. The accident occurred on the A87 Invergarry to Kyle of Lochalsh road approximately two miles south of its junction with the A887 Invermoriston to Kyle of Lochalsh Road. The vehicle had been driving north and had left the carriageway on the west side, shortly after negotiating a severe right hand bend. This bend is bounded by a small lay-by on the west side on which there was a skid mark of some 57 feet in length on the loose grit just inside the bounds of the lay by. The skid mark was comparatively fresh and believed to have been caused by the rear nearside wheel of the vehicle, the bend having been negotiated by the vehicle at a speed too great for its road holding capabilities. There were no further marks on the road until a point 171 feet from the lay-by where 4 skid marks were seen on the west verge of the road. The police examiner concluded that the vehicle had travelled down the embankment from the road, overturning until it landed at a point at the bottom of the steep part of the embankment at the edge of a small burn. The vehicle had landed on its roof, shattering the rear windscreen, had continued further down the embankment coming to rest 87 feet from the road on its wheels. The vehicle was facing south, lying over the burn on a small waterfall, with the driver s door directly above the pool below the fall. The driver s door was capable of being opened approximately 2 feet but no more, because of heather and grass. The photographs from the scene also confirm that Mr MacRae was removed from the vehicle via the passenger door. The police examiner concluded that the vehicle had approached the bend too fast and the nearside wheels had strayed onto the loose grit at the edge of the road at the lay-by, causing the vehicle to skid, which had apparently been over corrected by the driver, who had tried to gain control of the vehicle but had failed to do so, the vehicle leaving the road sideways and rolling down the embankment.

4 Recovery of the revolver On the morning of Sunday 7 April 1985, a search was carried at the locus of the accident. A small silver coloured revolver with pearl hand grips was found in the burn at the locus. It was lying in the burn beneath a waterfall which was directly below where the driver s door of the Volvo had been situated after the accident - not some distance from Mr MacRae s car as has been reported. This information is contained within the statement of the officer who recovered the gun. There were two spent cartridges in the chamber. The revolver was identified as a Smith and Wesson revolver belonging to Mr MacRae. An examination of Mr MacRae s property including the holdall recovered by one of the first witnesses who discovered the scene of the accident revealed an empty ICI cartridge box which had contained 50 non rusting short solid rim Fire Cartridges. The holdall also contained various personal papers belonging to Mr MacRae, a watch, various credit cards in the name of Mr MacRae, clothing, toiletries, a full bottle of Glenmorangie whisky and a partially consumed half bottle of Famous Grouse whisky. This is all recorded in a police statement taken at the time. Firearms examination The gun was examined by 2 police firearms experts and found to be a 7 chamber top - hinged, external hammer, single action revolver of the American manufacture (Smith and Wesson) designed to chamber.22 short rim fire cartridges. Although fully capable of being fired, the ratchet the mechanism on the rear of the cylinder was so worn that the cylinder had to be rotated manually to align the chambers with the barrel. At no time during the examination of the weapon could it be induced to discharge accidentally, despite being struck first against hard and vertical and horizontal surfaces. Test shots were successfully discharged and a fired bullet recovered for comparison purposes. While there were two fired cartridges in the chamber of the revolver, there was only one shot wound to the head. There were no other bullet injuries and there was no trace of a second spent bullet in or about the car, - nor was any damage caused by a bullet to the car. The firearms experts also examined 5 live and 2 fired cartridges. They were all.22 short rim fire cartridges of British manufacture (ICI) suitable for use in the above Smith and Wesson revolver. Five were live and the two fired cases bore a clearly defined hammer impression in each of their rims. When these were compared such detail was present within the hammer impressions of each as to enable the experts to form the opinion that both had been fired from the same weapon.

5 A comparison exercise was carried out between the bullets fired in the testing exercise and the fired bullet recovered during the post mortem examination, and again these showed such agreement in detail within the markings caused by the rifling system of the weapon that the experts formed the opinion that the bullets had been fired from the same Smith and Wesson revolver. Examination of the Vehicle A preliminary examination of the vehicle found no major defects in the vehicle and that the lighting switch was in the headlight position. The engine and radiator were cold, indicating the accident had occurred some time before, probably during the hours of darkness. Whilst examining the car, the police found a partly consumed half bottle of whisky in the glove compartment of the vehicle. A full examination was made of the vehicle later that day which concluded that there were no defects in the vehicle which could have contributed to the accident. Review by Northern Constabulary Following recent press speculation and on being contacted by you, Northern Constabulary decided to instigate a review of their case files to identify if modern scientific techniques could assist any re-investigation. The police initiated the following actions: A review of any evidence held by Raigmore Hospital, Inverness and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. A review of the forensic evidence relating to the proximity of the firearm muzzle to the entry wound and any interpretation of the firearm discharge residue on the skin or subcutaneous tissue. This was undertaken by a ballistics expert at the SPSA in Glasgow. A review of the Pathology evidence to be undertaken by a Forensic Pathology Specialist Group. A review of the original road traffic accident report and the road accident investigation. Road Traffic Collision Report A review of the original road traffic accident report was undertaken by an experienced Police Forensic Collision Examiner with reference to the photographs, sketch of the locus, statements of the police officers at the scene and the road accident investigation. He concluded that the primary cause for the initial loss of control of the car was not excessive speed but sudden and harsh steering. This may have been due to inattention or the driver s perception

6 that his cornering speed was too high. The driver managed to return the vehicle to the road for some 52.1m before the vehicle left the road when the driver overcorrected. It is believed the car rolled sideways several times before coming to rest. He concludes that the shot in the head could only have happened after the car came to rest as deliberate driver effort was required to attempt to correct (or in this case overcorrect the original skid which could not have occurred if the driver had been shot). A report has also been provided by the National Injuries Database. The pathologists agree with the initial pathology conclusions that the injuries are consistent with a self-inflicted injury. The Group also agree that the injury would have resulted in the victim being unable to drive the car. The police were unable to retrieve any toxicology analysis of samples from either Raigmore Hospital, Inverness or Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. A review of the forensic evidence relating to the proximity of the firearm muzzle to the entry wound and any interpretation of the firearm discharge residue on the skin or subcutaneous tissue was undertaken by a Forensic Scientist, at the SPSA Forensic Services, Glasgow who is a ballistics expert. He examined a CD of photographs from the post mortem examination of Mr MacRae and the original report of the ballistics expert. He concluded that the injury to the head, on the right side of the temple, was consistent with a near contact (but not hard contact) discharge of a.22 calibre weapon and that the position of this wound is typical of that commonly encountered in a self-inflicted injury, although other possible causes could not be completely ruled out. Additional Inquiries Following recent speculation, statements have been obtained by Northern Constabulary of all the purported witnesses referred to in press reports and those identified as having relevant information. No information provided contradicts any of the factual evidence that has been collated. Most of the information obtained is irrelevant and none of the allegations made have been substantiated in any way. Indeed, in some cases there is direct evidence contradicting the claims. In particular, there is no credible evidence to support allegations that Mr MacRae was under surveillance by Special Branch.

7 Conclusion There were no witnesses to the road accident or the fatal shot but the evidence both at the time of Mr MacRae s death and in the subsequent review is entirely consistent with the cause of death being self inflicted. There is evidence from those closest to Mr MacRae that he was in an extremely fragile state of mind at the time of his death and their concern is evidenced by their attempts to locate him and by contacting the police and hospitals. There is clear evidence that the vehicle left the road, overturning several times causing the rear windscreen and driver s window to break, whereby papers and other contents of the car were strewn around the accident scene and coming to rest with the driver s door situated above a small waterfall which flowed into a burn below. The gun was located in the burn directly below the driver s door of the vehicle and was either propelled out of the broken driver s window by the recoil of the shot or possibly fell out of the door of the car when it was opened by the witnesses at the scene in an attempt to remove Mr MacRae. Mr MacRae was found with no seat belt on and the ignition key either in his palm or on his lap with minimal injuries on his body or limbs indicative of him wearing a seat belt. However, on being found he was not wearing a seat belt. The post mortem findings are consistent with the shot being self inflicted and the gun recovered was identified as belonging to the Mr MacRae. Within his belongings at the accident locus, an empty.22 short calibre ammunition carton was located in one of the bags. The live and spent bullets shot from the gun were recovered at the locus and there were no other bullet holes found in the vehicle. Any alternative explanation does not bear any scrutiny. The inference of third party involvement does not equate with the fact that gun used belonged to Mr MacRae. Further, the combined evidence of the pathologist who states that following such an injury the accused would not have been able to drive taken in conjunction with the evidence of the Road Traffic Collision report of clear signs that Mr MacRae had taken positive remedial action to straighten the car rules out any theory of Mr MacRae being shot while driving particularly given police evidence that to shoot someone while driving was a near impossibility.