Stepson is charged with murdering Scot in US

THE stepson of newly-wed Tracy Brannan was last night charged with murdering the Scot.

David Brannan, 21, was arrested and locked up after being discharged from hospital in the US. He was also charged with stabbing his father Harold during an alleged incident at the family home in Omaha, Nebraska.

Brannan was arrested following treatment for self-inflicted knife wounds. He allegedly cut his own throat after fatally knifing Ms Brannan and his father falling a bust-up last weekend.

An Omaha police spokesman said: "David Brannan has been booked into the Douglas County Correctional Centre for second-degree murder, second-degree felony assault, and two counts of use of a weapon to commit a felony."

Meanwhile, Mrs Brannan's brother, Simon Wyatt, said in a statement yesterday that it was a "tragedy" she did not live to help their father defend his name against child sex abuse charges.

She had given a legal statement as part of her father Albert Wyatt's defence case. The 78-year-old, from Hamilton, Lanarkshire, was due to go on trial this week charged with molesting two underage girls over a number of years dating back to 1976.

Mr Wyatt's statement said his family was going through "indescribable" pain and insisted that his father "vigorously" denied the charges against him. The case, which had been due to be heard at Hamilton Sheriff Court, has been put back until October.

Mrs Brannan, 33, had visited a lawyer's office in the US with her husband to give a sworn affidavit regarding her father's case.

In a statement released on behalf of her family, her brother added: "We are still in complete shock. The pain we are going through is indescribable. As a very close and loving family, we simply cannot accept what has happened to our bright, vivacious and beautiful Tracy.

"We are distraught by the fact we could not be at her bedside in hospital and are arranging to travel to the US for her funeral. It is all still so raw.

"My parents are in their late seventies, so are very vulnerable. We all need time and space to come to terms with our heartbreak in private. This has come at a very upsetting time for our family. My father Albert is subject to charges which he vigorously denies and Tracy supported his innocence 100 per cent.

"She desperately wanted to fly over from America to defend his good name and provided an affidavit for his defence in court. It is a tragedy that she did not live to see his name cleared."

Albert Wyatt faces five charges spanning nine years up to Christmas Day, 1984.

Four of the charges allege he used lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards two young girls in Hamilton, while the other relates to an assault.

He denies the accusations.