UK UK - Alistair Wilson, 30, murdered at home, Nairn, Scotland, 28 Nov 2004

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Another Brainscratch synopsis of the case. Never heard of it before today.
Another possibility is that the crime was entirely random, by a stranger who was acting out a psychosis. The empty blue envelope could have been an old envelope from a Birthday or some other Greetings card. 'Paul' is the name of the man who received the card. Whether Paul was the gunman or the card was taken from a relative, a friend, or bought at a secondhand store, hard to say. My guess is that the perpetrator lived in town and may have seen Alastair and formed an imaginary bond with him. Perhaps the gunman had dreams, visions, hallucinations about Paul that led the man to kill him when Alastair didn't respond "in the correct way" to the blue envelope. Maybe Alastair was supposed to "know" what the blue envelope "meant" and when he didn't, the gunman had to kill him. Bizarre, ridiculous, certainly. So is the notion of an empty envelope, a man waiting for seven minutes on a doorstep when he would've been seen by anyone passing by, or using an antique gun that could be traced to its prior owner. Nothing makes sense, which is why I believe it does NOT make sense. I could be entirely wrong. I just hope this crime is eventually solved.
 
Just been listening to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 and he talked about this case for half an hour with a retired detective who's written a book about it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Catch-Killer-Peter-Bleksley/dp/1786069830/ . I'm not sure it'll shed much new light on things but it could be interesting; if nothing else maybe the fresh publicity might encourage someone to talk; it sounded pretty likely that there are people out there who know what happened.

Googling it found this article which doesn't say a lot new, the main suggestion was linked further back in this thread already:

Former detective: 'I've found new evidence to solve the Alistair Wilson murder case' | Press and Journal

But in a previous interview with The Press and Journal he claimed Mr Wilson was not meant to die on the night he did.

Mr Bleksley said he was told the killer made Mr Wilson an offer that night – and if he had accepted, he would have lived.

The former Scotland Yard officer added: “I can’t disclose my sources. The person who knocked at the door just after 7pm on Sunday November 28 went to negotiate and not to assassinate.

“This person was prepared to kill but they did not intend to kill. That’s the information I’ve been given.”
Click to expand...
 
The police have thus far made sure that what Alistair told his wife about their visitor has never become public. It took a long time before they even released some details of the envelope - and they're still tight-lipped about all the details of the envelope.

What he said to his wife undoubtedly must be highly pertinent.

All we're told is that he was puzzled - completely baffled - by what the murderer had said to him. I'm sure that he would have given some indication of what was said. Maybe the police feel that she could be in danger if it became known what she knew; maybe it's just the usual reticence of the police who are always reluctant to publish any evidence unless they really have to. And at the moment they don't think they have to.
 
Bump. Any updates on this ?

Wasn’t the envelope empty ?

I don’t think there was not a actual gunman , supposedly two people across the road saw Alistair talking to him?

The hotel angle is interesting, as is he had handed his notice in to the bank.

Also a identical gun was handed in many years later to police, and then another similar gun too. Polish connections?
 
The Envelope

The police are somewhat equivocal about the envelope - the principal investigator (Det Supt Gary Cunningham) says: "I need to know if there's any idea as to why this envelope may have contained nothing". He uses those words because he doesn't know whether there was anything in the envelope when it was handed to Alistair - only that it was empty when his wife saw it. They say that the envelope was 'open': there are two ways an envelope can be open - either the flap isn't stuck down or it has been stuck down and the top slit - they haven't said which. If the flap hadn't been stuck down it's likely that there was originally nothing in it and Alistair was expected to put something in. If it had been opened then that is less likely and something was already inside but was removed before his wife saw it. Also what the police won't say is whether there was anything else written on the envelope or even how the name had been written - typed, block caps etc.

Why did the killer hand Alistair an envelope and what was its purpose? The most plausible explanation is that Alistair was expected to put something into it - probably money - and hand it back to the man who was still at the door; that explains why he waited outside for several minutes for Alistair to return. When he did return the envelope was empty; so he was killed.

If it was supposed to be filled with cash, how much money could that be? The largest denomination in Scotland is a £50 note (the same as the rest of the UK) so around £5,000 or possibly slightly more would fit into such an envelope (the envelope has been described as a roughly a quarter of A4 in size, i.e. A6). It seems unlikely, however, that the Wilsons, if they're like most families, would have such a large sum just lying around in the house. Why would the killer expect them to be able to hand over so much money on demand? He (or an accomplice) would surely have warned Alistair in advance (probably by phone, I think) that he would be coming and be expecting the nominated sum to be handed over there and then. ("Paul wants his money - have it ready by Sunday"). Clearly, Alistair never received such a message which explains his bewilderment. So, if Alistair didn't get the message then probably another Alistair Wilson did (the 'correct' Alistair Wilson). If I'm right so far it looks like a simple case of mistaken identity.

It can be speculated that when the 'correct' Alistair Wilson heard about the murder he would surely have seen that he was in danger and also would have seen the two courses of action that were open to him - either contact the police (and possibly incriminate himself) or pay up when the knock on the door came - it looks as though he chose the latter.

What all this means is that the 'correct' Alistair Wilson would have known who he was dealing with and therefore who had ordered the hit. This knowledge alone would have placed him is some danger and so just paying off 'Paul' would not have put him in the clear.
 
Markybug said:
Is/was there another alistair wilson nearby ? Did police look into him and his affairs?
Click to expand...

Yes - there was one who lived in Nairn. According to the BBC podcast he died in the past couple of years. Elsewhere, it has been claimed that several other Alistair Wilsons in Scotland have been traced, interviewed and eliminated from the enquiry.
 
This case has always intrigued me because it is so odd. The business with the envelope doesn’t make any sense. Perhaps some critical information has been withheld.

Alistair seems to have been about as low risk victim as you are going to find. The only remarkable fact I am aware of is that he had recently given notice and was to begin a new job in a week or so. The job he had appears to have been a fairly high level one with Royal Bank Of Scotland that could have lead to better, more lucrative posts in the future while the job he was taking was with a much smaller organization with little future prospects.

True, there are many reasons for taking a step down but the fact that he was murdered during the transition can not be just dismissed. My understanding is that his job involved negotiating loans to local businesses. Perhaps he became embroiled in the illegal activity of one of these businesses and it was feared that he might be planning to go to the authorities.
 
kemo said:
....Perhaps he became embroiled in the illegal activity of one of these businesses and it was feared that he might be planning to go to the authorities.
Click to expand...

If he came to kill Alistair then why didn't he do it as soon as Alistair came to the door? What was the pantomime with the envelope all about? The killer waited while Alistair went back inside with the envelope. For all the gunman knew he wouldn't come back; for all the gunman knew Alistair could have called the police - yet he hung around waiting. Alistair also returned with the envelope which the gunman was then able to take away (that was lucky - the envelope would have been a useful piece of evidence had it not been returned). The gunman seemed to expect that Alistair would not only return but be bringing the envelope back - why ever did he think that would be what would happen?
 
trendsetter said:
If he came to kill Alistair then why didn't he do it as soon as Alistair came to the door? What was the pantomime with the envelope all about? The killer waited while Alistair went back inside with the envelope. For all the gunman knew he wouldn't come back; for all the gunman knew Alistair could have called the police - yet he hung around waiting. Alistair also returned with the envelope which the gunman was then able to take away (that was lucky - the envelope would have been a useful piece of evidence had it not been returned). The gunman seemed to expect that Alistair would not only return but be bringing the envelope back - why ever did he think that would be what would happen?
Click to expand...
|That's a good point - especially as the killer hanging around on the doorstep waiting also meant that there was a longer time period for people to notice him and to remember him.
He must have been waiting for a response = either money as previously discussed or some form of information. IMHO
 
The Assailant

Was the assailant a professional? The crime was committed after dark and he was dressed in dark clothing - consequently the killer was able to easily disappear. However, the murder weapon was abandoned in a street drain quite close to the scene and was easily found - this is not the action of a 'professional' - while the weapon was of no further use and if kept by the assailant would be a damning piece of evidence, there were better ways of disposing of it - ways that would mean that it would never be found. It is probably luck that no trace evidence (DNA, fingerprints, etc) has been recovered from the gun and the killer's action in dumping it so soon suggest a lack of foresight and 'professionalism'. The bizarre affair of the envelope meant that he could easily have failed in his task (if his task was to murder) as Alistair may not have returned to the door - he also risked being spotted by third parties while waiting outside; furthermore, he may not have been able to retrieve the envelope which, again, would have crucial evidential value. On the balance of probabilities he was therefore probably an amateur - a one off - certainly he was lucky - lucky that even though the gun was found it furnished no evidence and lucky that the initial police investigation was a lot less than perfect.

Was the killer a 'local'? He knew enough to negotiate Nairn's streets after dark and he knew how to entirely avoid being picked up by the cctv. Of course, he may be an outsider who simply planned the murder very well but that doesn't seem likely. If he was local, then was the crime motivated by nothing more than a grudge harboured by a somewhat mentally disorientated individual? He wasn't known to either of the Wilsons, but suppose he had a grudge against the Bank of Scotland - maybe he had had a mortgage with the bank but had lost his home as a result and saw the bank as responsible. Maybe, in his mind, he saw Alistair as representing the bank (although Alistair was a manager at the bank he was not actually involved in the 'High-Street' activity). Could he have confronted Alistair in the belief that he was in some way responsible for his misfortune? Did he think that Alistair would know about his case and did he hope that Alistair would make some sort of amends by putting some cash, or even a cheque, into the envelope?
 
What was the nature of the conversation between Alistair and the gunman? The police haven't said and it's difficult to make a plausible guess. What we must conclude is that whatever was said to Alistair it was neither aggressive or threatening; if it had been then Alistair would almost certainly have not returned to the door to continue it. All we know is that Alistair was perplexed by what had been said. My guess is that what Alistair heard was an incomprehensible monologue culminating in the handing-over of the envelope.
 
Only just joined so sorry if I repeat anything. I've just recently listened to the BBC Doorstep Murder podcasts. The case still puzzles me massively. It's clear from the podcasts that the police still do not want to discuss certain aspects or any additional information they may have.

The sequence of events that night as reported make no sense. The caller apparently spoke only two words to Mrs Wilson which were "Alistair Wilson", she also apparently didn't ask him anything but just went to get her husband. He then spends some minutes talking to this person before returning with an envelope that was empty when his wife saw it. That doesn't necessarily preclude there having been something in it prior to her seeing it.

Mr Wilson expresses bewilderment and then decided to go and see if the person is still there. I can't see why anyone would think like that or why indeed the killer himself was still there. Much more likely Mr Wilson always intended to return to the door and the killer was expecting him too. Perhaps Mr Wilson was a tad economical with the truth to his wife?

The killer seems to have been singularly lucky in that all the CCTV either was facing the wrong way or wasn't working at the time. It does seem most likely he was supposed to have responded to the envelope and then when he went back to the door and for whatever reason he was shot. I'm not convinced he was always going to be killed. I suppose the great difficulty with this case is that we just have the one version of events and no corroborating evidence at all there ever was an envelope or even that Mr Wilson did go to the door twice.

All that said from listening to the podcasts and all the other stuff I have read I do have a feeling the police probably have "solved" this one in their own minds but are currently unable to bring a prosecution.
 
The Investigation

How good was the original investigation? The murder weapon was found essentially by accident - it had been dumped in a road drain and was found when it was unblocked. I was under the impression that when a serious incident has occurred where a weapon was involved it would be routine to check the places where it could have been discarded - we're used to seeing pictures in the press and TV of the police searching through gardens, rubbish bins and drains for missing knives and guns. Why didn't the Scottish police carry out such an obvious search? Is this shortcoming symptomatic of a lack of focus and clarity that might have resulted in missing other important evidence?

Whether the assailant was a professional or not, it is almost certain that he would have reconnoitered the area before committing the crime. He was able to avoid the limited cctv coverage entirely which suggests that his reconnaissance was extremely thorough. Of course, he could have been picked up by the cctv during one of his earlier outings before he was fully aware of its coverage - did the police check for this? Also, I don't recall the police appealing for sightings of someone in the area prior to the killing behaving in such a manner. This should have been a line of enquiry at the time.

If the killer wasn't local - i.e. in easy driving distance of Nairn, then he would have had to stay somewhere. Did the police check hotels? This would have been a fairly laborious task but it would have been made easier as there would have been few holiday makers in the area in November.

The current 'cold-case' investigation is going to be severely hampered by the passage of time. Material evidence will have been long lost and people's memories will have faded or become confused.
 
I have no idea just how many drains in the area they needed to check or if they had done any checking. The gun was discovered by council workers clearing the drain. Perhaps it was underneath a lot of debris. I suppose it's just about possible the drain was checked but the gun wasn't there at the time. I know the assumption is that it was dumped shortly after the murder but I suppose in theory at least it could have been dumped later on? Just random thoughts.

As for the CCTV it wasn't just that he managed to avoid it all he also had the good fortune to choose a night when some of it wasn't working properly. Everything seems to have gone in his favour.

You raise another point that I've wondered about too. The apparent lack of other witnesses. Apart from a couple across the street who saw two men talking (presumably AW and his killer) there seems nothing else. According to Police Scotland the man seen on the bus was traced and eliminated. Doesn't seem to be any reports of anyone seen loitering in the area in the days beforehand. No one seems to have seen this person on his way to the property or whilst he was there or when he left. I've no idea how many people would normally be around at 7pm in Nairn on a Sunday night. Coupled with the fact the gun used was very rare in the UK but others have been found in the area I wonder if that increases the chances of the person responsible bring local.

The six BBC podcasts do raise some more points. Police Scotland do appear to give some indication that they may not have divulged all the information they have on the envelope. They won't disclose the details of the conversation that the Wilson's had about the envelope. They also state they thoroughly investigated the Wilson's finances at the time but will make no comment on the results of that enquiry. I didn't realise until recently that the Wilson's had run a small B&B & restaurant from the property that had failed. Presumably that increases the chances they may have resorted to borrowing money from someone. Not sure you'd kill someone over that though.

One other thought. I'm not sure at what range AW was shot but is it known how likely or otherwise it is that the killer would have managed this without getting blood on himself?
 
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