Spanish ‘Mafia killing’ was suicide not murder say police

Published on Sunday 14 July 2002 01:00

THE supposed murder of a notorious timeshare fraudster by gangsters on a Spanish holiday island has been dismissed as suicide by local police

Investigators in Tenerife have decided that Scott Miller took his own life by ramming a dagger into his throat - despite continuing claims that he was murdered by gangsters.

Scotland on Sunday can also reveal that Miller, originally from Perth, unsuccessfully attempted suicide just weeks before his violent death.

But even though Spanish police have effectively closed the book on the case, strong rumours persist that Miller met his end at the hands of criminal associates after his activities attracted the attention of police.

It is also claimed that Spanish detectives have ‘conveniently’ decided the death was suicide because they are afraid of confronting the gangsters who control many aspects of life on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary islands, which attracts thousands of Scottish holiday-makers each year.

Miller, 39, rose to notoriety last September after he walked free from a French court despite being convicted - together with his younger brother, Steven - for their part in a 10m timeshare con in which more than 2,000 French citizens were fleeced.

Both men were given one-year suspended sentences. The whereabouts of Steven is presently unknown.

Scott Miller - known as ‘Scottie’ by his friends - moved to the Tenerife resort of Marazul, where it is believed he took up with an old associate, John Palmer.

Sources in Marazul, which neighbours Playas de Las Americas, believe Miller was looking after his friend’s timeshare business, while Palmer serves an eight-year jail sentence for defrauding thousands of Britons who sought property deals in the Canaries.

However, in mid-May, as Tenerife basked in glorious late spring sunshine, Miller met his gruesome end. Police broke into his flat after neighbours became concerned about the "lack of activity". Miller was lying in a pool of blood in his bedroom with a dagger by his side.

A trail of blood suggested the wound in his throat had been inflicted while he was in the living room and that he had stumbled into his bedroom before collapsing.

Now, after an eight-week investigation, Tenerife police have closed the case and marked it ‘suicide’.

A police spokesman told Scotland on Sunday: "It was suicide. There was nothing strange about it, it was a normal and straightforward suicide.

"The police investigation and the autopsy results agreed it was suicide."

Apart from the forensic evidence, police believe Miller took his own life because of an apparent suicide attempt just a month before he died. He was rushed to hospital with cuts to parts of his body.

Although an attack was never ruled out, police believed Miller had mutilated himself because he was depressed over a recent break-up with a girlfriend, and the fact his own businesses were not doing well.

In Perth, Miller’s family are also prepared to accept the official explanation of the Spanish investigators.

His mother, Betty, said she was aware of the rumours surrounding her son’s death.

"This has all been whipped up because he was involved in timeshare but it is all nonsense," she said. "It has only been eight weeks since his death so these kinds of stories are still hurtful. We don’t think his death was suspicious."

One of Scotland’s leading forensic pathologists and an expert in suicide, Professor Anthony Busuttil, said last night the method of suicide in Miller’s case was "exceptionally rare".

He said: "I see about three to four suicides a week and over a year you will only get one or two where people have cut their own throats."

Busuttil indicated that Spanish pathologists might have found an important clue in deciding whether Miller was murdered or took his own life.

He said people who cut their own throats sometimes make small cuts to test the blade before inflicting the final wound.

But those who challenge the official police account, point to the fact Miller left behind no note for his family, and that he recently escaped a term in a French jail, as factors pointing towards murder.

A Tenerife journalist, who has investigated the case, believes Miller’s business interests may have been a front for laundering money raised through drugs and arms dealing.

The Romanian Mafia are suspected of controlling much of the south of the island and have previously demonstrated their ruthlessness in dealing with anyone who threatens their operation.

The journalist, who asked not to be named for reasons of personal safety, said: "It is possible Miller failed to cover up his tracks properly and that meant the police started asking awkward questions.

"I believe a contract killing was arranged to stop their inquiries getting any further."

The journalist alleges Spanish police recorded Miller’s death as suicide because they are running scared of the mafia, and to close down damaging publicity about the presence of criminal gangs in the holiday island.

"I am not convinced at all that it was suicide. Miller was clumsy and police were asking questions about what he was doing. The autopsy report was never made public and I suspect the police did not tell all they knew. It could be they were frightened of the consequences. Suicide? I don’t think so."

Another seasoned observer of the island’s criminal fraternity, who did not want to be named, said: "Scott Miller wouldn’t be the first person to have been killed in arguments between criminals here.

"I’m sure there have been plenty of bodies left bobbing in the ocean over the years because there are some very heavy people operating here."

The source added: "The authorities are keen to show people that this is a safe place to come."