Mystery file could help solve Nairn bank manager murder

Officers investigating one of Scotland's most notorious unsolved murder cases have denied a claim by a criminologist that there is enough detail to create a photofit of a suspect.

Bank of Scotland manager Alistair Wilson was shot dead on his doorstep in Nairn in 2004

Banker Alistair Wilson was shot dead on his own doorstep in Nairn in 2004 but despite an extensive investigation, 
no-one has ever been brought to justice.

A “cold case thesis” sent to The Scotsman from someone identified only as “Nate” maintains officers have enough information to draw up an e-fit of the attacker based on statements from Mr Wilson’s wife Veronica and Tommy Hogg, a former community councillor who reported seeing the gunman before the shooting.

Mr Hogg, who is understood to have been interviewed by police about the case, claims to have seen the attacker on a bus prior to the shooting and previously said he would “never forget” the man’s face.

Mr Wilson, a 30-year-old business manager with Bank of Scotland, was shot three times at close range and later died in hospital. The murder weapon was found in a drain by council workers the following month.

The new dossier, which has now been passed to officers investigating the murder, says Mr Wilson had received a loan from “contacts in the criminal underworld” in exchange for “off-the-books ‘banking services’”. It maintains the banker ignored threats from these contacts about his plan to leave the banking industry.

Criminologist David Wilson, who also received a copy of the dossier, said the information contained within made the case “eminently solvable”.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, he said: “I was intrigued given that there was an independent witness, that no e-fit has ever been produced of the person who carried out the killing of Mr Wilson.

“We obviously have a description from Mr Wilson’s widow and now, if it is accurate there is an independent witness, it seems to me an e-fit should have been produced of the person who carried out the murder.

“I always presumed this was carried out by a master hitman and the case would be unsolvable. Because of what this package contains, if it’s accurate, I know think it’s eminently solvable.”

Detective Superintendent Gary Cunningham said “limited detail” about the attacker’s facial features meant a photofit could not be produced.

He said: “The investigation into the murder of Alistair Wilson remains open and ongoing and we urge anyone with new information or anyone who hasn’t spoken to police to speak to us so we can investigate all opportunities.”