Jenny Methven murder: Police detain Perthshire man

A MAN was yesterday detained by detectives investigating the murder of elderly widow Jenny Methven at her isolated home in Perthshire.

The 46-year-old man, who comes from the Perthshire area, is said to be “assisting officers with their inquiries” into the murder of Mrs Methven, 80.

The pensioner was found slumped at her kitchen table with a bloodstained towel over her head on 20 February by her son, David, at the cottage they shared at Kildinny Farm on the outskirts of the Perthshire village of Forteviot. She had been battered to death with a blunt instrument.

Her death sparked one of the biggest murder investigations in the history of Tayside Police.

Last week, a house in a quiet residential area of Blairgowrie, 25 miles from Mrs Methven’s home, was the focus of intense police activity after Tayside Police announced that the force had cancelled a planned appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch, as they had reached a “critical stage” in their investigation.

Yesterday a Tayside Police spokesman announced: “Detective officers carrying out inquiries into the murder of 80-year-old Perthshire woman Jenny Methven have detained a 46-year-old man.

“The man, who is from the Perthshire area, is currently assisting officers with their inquiries.”

The spokesman added that the force was also issuing a fresh appeal to identify vehicles that were in the Strathearn Vallley area on the day Mrs Methven was killed.

Three vehicles were seen by eyewitnesses travelling between, or close to, a stretch of roads known locally as the “bad bends” between Forgandenny and Forteviot. Each of the vehicles was spotted there between 9:30am and 10:15am on the day of the murder.

The spokesman explained: “The first is a burgundy Transit van that was seen on the road between bad bends at around 10:10am.

“A silver hatchback car was seen waiting to pass a van at the stretch of road between bad bends between 9:30am and 10am. The car was driven by a blonde woman and there was an empty child seat in the back.”

He added: “A white panel van with a blue stripe along its sides was also seen on the same stretch of road at around the same time, 9:30am to 10am. It had its hazard lights on.

“Anyone who saw these vehicles on the day or who recognises them by their description should call Tayside Police.”

Mrs Methven, a former president of the local branch of the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute, was a popular member of the local community and was familiar figure as she daily walked her spaniel.

During the police inquiry a team of more than 70 officers has visited more than 500 houses in the area and interviewed almost 900 people in the search for information that could assist with the investigation.

Hours of CCTV footage were also examined in the search for possible clues.

Earlier this month a reward of £10,000 was offered by the charity Crimestoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for what the organisation described as a “despicable” murder.