Forteviot pensioner found with blood-stained towel over her head

By FRANK URQUHART
Published on Friday 24 February 2012 15:33

AN ELDERLY pensioner, brutally murdered in her home, was found slumped at her kitchen table with a blood-stained towel over her head.

The body of 80-year-old Janet Methven was discovered by her son, David, on Monday evening at the isolated cottage they shared on the outskirts of the village of Forteviot, in the Strathearn Valley in Perthshire.

Yesterday, as detectives launched a fresh appeal for information, it was also disclosed that Mrs Methven failed to keep an afternoon appointment with her GP in Bridge of Earn on the day she was murdered.

The timeframe of her murder has now been narrowed to between 10:30am when she last had a phone conversation and 2:25pm when she should have boarded the bus for the doctor’s surgery.

Mrs Methven, who was known as Jenny, was due at the Bridge of Earn medical centre at 2:45pm on Monday but never arrived.

Detective Chief Inspector Colin Gall, who is heading the investigation, said officers had also confirmed that the local postman did not see Mrs Methven when he was on his round at about 1:30pm – something he considered to be out of the ordinary.

He said the latest evidence had allowed the investigation team to reduce the timeframe in which the murder could have been committed. He praised the public for their response to the force’s appeal for information.

DCI Gall said he was also anxious to trace a number of potential witnesses who had been sighted in the area on the day of the murder.

They include passengers on the No17 Stagecoach bus between Dunning and Perth, which had passed Mrs Methven’s cottage at Kildinny Farm on the morning of her murder. Police would also like to trace a man seen walking a brown dog on the road out of Forteviot, heading towards the level crossing at about 10:30am. They are keen to see the driver of a yellow agricultural forklift vehicle travelling from Forteviot towards Forgandenny at about the same time.

He said: ‘‘These people are all potential witnesses, who were in the area at a significant time. They shouldn’t just presume that they have nothing of interest to tell us.

“I would ask them to let us decide whether what they saw is of value to our investigation. The slightest detail, no matter how insignificant could help us to establish the circumstances of Jenny’s death.’’

A police spokesman said: “Forensic work is continuing at the house she shared with her son and officers are still combing the areas around her home. An increased police presence remains in the area with the intention of reassuring residents. Officers have visited approximately 350 houses and commercial premises in the Strathearn Valley appealing for information.”