Murder accused 'calm' as he asked for spade to dig victim's grave

Published on Friday 20 February 2009 20:55

A MAN appeared "perfectly relaxed" as he borrowed a spade to dig a grave for the body of an elderly spinster, a murder trial jury heard yesterday.

John Lawson, 48, had said he was planting trees, and he seemed equally unconcerned when he returned the spade an hour later and apologised for not cleaning it. The High Court in Edinburgh was also told that Dolina MacLean, 87, had been a quiet and humble woman.

Lawson is accused of murdering Miss MacLean, of Stanley, Perthshire, on 30 May last year and of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of her body in Knowehead Wood, near Dunning, about 15 miles from her home.

The jury has heard that Lawson abducted Miss MacLean by jumping into her car at a supermarket car park in Perth and making her drive him into the countryside. He said in police interviews that he intended to drop her off and steal the car, but he claimed she fell and banged her head and died.

He initially hid the body in woods near Bankfoot, and returned about a week later and took it to Knowehead Wood, where he had worked as a tree planter. He dug a grave and buried the body.

William Cunningham, 70, said he was renovating a derelict farmhouse near the wood, and saw a van approaching.

"The driver opened the window and asked if I could give him a loan of a spade. His explanation was he was going to plant trees which had been missed during the original planting. His attitude was perfectly normal, perfectly relaxed," he said.

An hour later, Lawson returned the spade. "He apologised for not cleaning it … it was covered in earth and mud. He was perfectly relaxed," Mr Cunningham said. The trial continues.