I killed him: confession of accused in lecturer case

A MAN has admitted stabbing to death a retired university lecturer in his home in Edinburgh.

Pawel Rodak, 21, pleaded guilty to the culpable homicide of Roger Gray, 64, but the prosecution rejected the plea and insisted on taking him to trial on a charge of murder.

Mr Gray was found dead in the hallway of his flat in Merchiston Crescent in the early hours of 19 March following reports of a gas leak.

He had lived alone for the past 12 years in the large detached property, which had been split into flats. He was a senior lecturer in actuarial mathematics and statistics at Heriot-Watt University until he retired from full-time work about four years ago. He continued to teach part-time.

Mr Gray had travelled widely, lecturing in countries including Kenya, Hungary and China. He was a member of the Scottish Arts Club and the Edinburgh Festival Society.

Rodak, assisted by an interpreter, made a brief appearance at the High Court in Edinburgh to face an indictment containing two charges – of murdering Mr Gray and of attempting to defeat the ends of justice. His counsel, David Burns, QC, said Rodak pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of culpable homicide, by repeatedly striking Mr Gray on the head and body with a knife and killing him on 18 and 19 March at his home.

The advocate-depute, Peter McCormack, said the plea would not be accepted.

Rodak denied the second charge. It alleges that, being conscious of his guilt, he turned on the gas supply to the rings of a gas hob and allowed gas to escape into the flat.

He lit a candle, it is said, and left it near the cooker, intending to cause an explosion and a fire to destroy evidence connecting him to the murder. As a result, the lives of other residents were put in danger.

Rodak is further accused of removing items from the flat and dumping them in a bin in Brougham Place, Tollcross, and of concealing clothes he had worn at the time of the murder in a flat in Brougham Place.

The charge states: “All this you did with intent to defeat the ends of justice and to avoid detection, arrest and prosecution in respect of the [murder].”

The judge, Lady Dorrian, fixed 8 December as the date for the trial, to be held at the High Court in Aberdeen.