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

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To Catch A Killer - My Hunt for the Truth Behind the Doorstep Murder

On 28 November 2004, banker and father-of-two Alistair Wilson was shot three times on his doorstep in a killing more commonly associated with inner city gang wars than a sleepy seaside town in the Scottish Highlands. All these years later, the question remains: why?Who would wish to kill this...
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A second point from the BBC “The Doorstep Murder” film, regarding where AW fell:

At 06:34 presenter Fiona Walker asks Lyndsey Gardner if she could see inside the house. She replies:

Yeah. So I remember at one point looking up to see a little boy standing at the bottom of the stairs.

So we know that at this point, both the inner and outer doors are open and those attending to AW could see into the hallway. Additonally, David James Smith notes in his Times article (link below) that

Alistair was lying where he had fallen or crumpled, backwards across the threshold of the front door, his head resting against a box in the hallway.


While in the BBC film at 03:32 VW says

… he was lying in the porch

So overall my impression is that AW was lying across the threshold of the inner door with his legs in the porch, and upper half inside the hallway.

A couple of points re the inner door:

First - at the time it had a hydraulic spring closer mounted at the top (circled in Scottish Daily Express photo, below), presumably a hangover from when the house was a hotel.

Second - based on the way the door closer is mounted it appears (counterintuitively) that the door opened outwards.

So a number of questions come to mind - was the inner door wedged open at the time of the shooting - in late autumn and at a time when the Wilsons were apparently using only the side door? Perhaps - the Channel 5 ‘Murder on the Doorstep’ reconstruction suggested it was wedged open, though this was staged in another house with an inner door opening inwards.

Was the porch deep enough to allow both the inner and outer doors to open into the porch at the same time?

If the door wasn’t wedged open, would AW have spoken to the killer with both doors open? He would have to hold the inner door open himself to prevent it closing behind him. And if it did close behind him while he spoke to the killer, how did he fall back into the hallway through an outward opening door? Might this suggest that, rather than being involved in a conversation there before being shot, he was shot the moment he opened the inner door?

Again, supposition on my part - if anyone can find a photo of the house with both doors open it would certainly be of interest.

25440C89-6857-4DD5-B970-B49C6DE599AF.jpeg
 
Just to add to the previous post regarding doors - AW’s planning objection letter stated that the couple were uncomfortable using their front door and had apparently taken to using the side door into the driveway only. From 16:30 onward in the BBC film, David James Smith notes AB querying why the Wilsons front door was apparently never open and their curtains shut. Was this in conversation in the pub? If so, would a killer connected to the Havelock not have gone to the side door? It would appear to offer better cover from any witness on the street.

ETA: would the planning objection letter delivered to the pub have had AW’s name on it? How would a killer connected to the pub know to target AW rather than VW?
 
And finally, to throw in an oddball curiosity - (at 14:07 in the BBC ‘Doorstep Murder’ film) of whom does VW’s hair style in footage of this police press conference shortly after the shooting remind you?

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SHOT BANKER HAD PLANNED NEW LIFE; Dad-of-two was set to quit his job. - Free Online Library

Free Online Library: SHOT BANKER HAD PLANNED NEW LIFE; Dad-of-two was set to quit his job.(News) by "The Mirror (London, England)"; General interest
www.thefreelibrary.com
Link/Page Citation
Byline: MAGGIE BARRY rbbm.

''As police hunted for the killer last night, it was revealed that Alistair was planning to quit his high-flying job at the Bank of Scotland.

Friends said he was planning to set up a new business in his adopted home town.

The gunman asked for him by name - removing any doubt that his killing was a case of mistaken identity.

Last night a pal said: "Alistair was ready to quit the bank and set up on his own in a new business.''

''Cops cordoned off large areas of the town as they combed gardens and outhouses leading to the beach using sniffer dogs and metal detectors.

A post mortem was carried out yesterday to retrieve bullets from Alistair's body so cops can identify the type of weapon used.

Police are conducting house-to-house inquiries and studying CCTV footage from the nearby Braevale Hotel, known as the Shambles.''
 
dotr said:

SHOT BANKER HAD PLANNED NEW LIFE; Dad-of-two was set to quit his job. - Free Online Library

Free Online Library: SHOT BANKER HAD PLANNED NEW LIFE; Dad-of-two was set to quit his job.(News) by "The Mirror (London, England)"; General interest
www.thefreelibrary.com
Link/Page Citation
Byline: MAGGIE BARRY rbbm.

''As police hunted for the killer last night, it was revealed that Alistair was planning to quit his high-flying job at the Bank of Scotland.

Friends said he was planning to set up a new business in his adopted home town.

The gunman asked for him by name - removing any doubt that his killing was a case of mistaken identity.

Last night a pal said: "Alistair was ready to quit the bank and set up on his own in a new business.''

''Cops cordoned off large areas of the town as they combed gardens and outhouses leading to the beach using sniffer dogs and metal detectors.

A post mortem was carried out yesterday to retrieve bullets from Alistair's body so cops can identify the type of weapon used.

Police are conducting house-to-house inquiries and studying CCTV footage from the nearby Braevale Hotel, known as the Shambles.''
Click to expand...

But when Alistair went to the front door the gunman callously shot him twice in the head and once in the body.

Another variation of the description of injuries AW received - something else I noticed yesterday when watching the BBC film again, in which both Lyndsey Gardner and AB (quoted by David James Smith) noted only a single gunshot wound to AW’s left cheek.
 
Independent article from 2005 with a few additional details - VW hypnotised by police, figures for AW’s estate etc.

One year on, who killed Alistair Wilson?

The shooting of a loved and respected father-of-two in close-knit Nairn 12 months ago has destroyed a family, shattered a community and left the police utterly baffled. Paul Kelbie reports
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
 
Since it is established that Alistair Wilson was the target of the killer, why not take an interest in his work at the Bank of Scotland? He was working as a business manager.
We know that this bank was suspected in money laundering cases.And " Ian Stephen the Edinburgh-based expert who was an adviser on the Cracker and Prime Suspect television shows, says : " (...)
the crime exhibited "unusual features", such as the caller coming to the door. "If he had been a professional hitman, I do not think he would have been as obvious as that. And I don't think it was mistaken identity, because he asked for Alistair Wilson by name."

He believes that similar crimes were usually related to drugs or money laundering, where someone had a particular problem or grievance. "In such cases though, whoever is behind it is normally traced within a few days as the reason for the killing emerges pretty quickly. In this case, though, there is no one in town that knows anything about it. It is one of the great unsolved mysteries - it is baffling." One year on, who killed Alistair Wilson?


I add this Heraldscotland article from 2021.

Royal Bank of Scotland group faces criminal proceedings over money laundering​

RBS group faces criminal proceedings over money laundering
 
www.dailymail.co.uk

Was £20bn scandal behind assassination of banker on his doorstep?

Alistair Wilson, 30, a Bank of Scotland business banking manager, was shot dead at his home in Nairn in November 2004, weeks after Paul Moore lost his job as HBoS head of risk management.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
By GRAHAM GRANT, 18 May 2019
''A whistleblower who lifted the lid on a financial scandal has told of his fear banker Alistair Wilson was murdered as a result of the controversy.

Paul Moore was sacked in 2004 after raising the alarm over a loans strategy that would finally overwhelm bank giant HBoS, leading to a £20.5billion taxpayer bailout''

''Last night, police sources said it could not be 'ruled out' that Mr Moore was the Paul in question, but refused to discuss whether or not efforts had been made to interview him.

Former detective Peter Bleksley, 59 – who wrote a book on the shooting, To Catch A Killer: My Hunt for the Truth Behind the Doorstep Murder – said it was possible Mr Moore was the 'Paul' mentioned on the envelope that was handed to Mr Wilson before he was killed.

Mr Bleksley believes it is 'possible' that someone who worked at the bank knew Mr Wilson may have been about to raise the alarm about some form of financial wrongdoing, by contacting Mr Moore.''

Mr Bleksley said: 'I am convinced the reason for Alistair's murder lies within his work.'

''HBoS was acquired by Lloyds in 2009 and subsequently needed a £20.5billion cash injection from British taxpayers to prevent its collapse.

Mr Moore has previously said 'sales and marketing had got out of control' at HBoS by 2004.''
 
shadwell said:
It’s a good point - we can’t know in which direction the scent trail led, when it originated (scent trails can last for weeks in dry conditions) or even (with no comparison item) whose scent it was. With the Wilsons apparently using only the side door for some time previously, it might be a good supposition that a scent detected by dogs around the porch and front of the house belonged to the killer, but it can’t be guaranteed.

This is another example of where a historical weather record for the area would be useful - heavy rain during the day or days prior to the shooting would wash away older scents, giving a higher probability that the scent belonged to the killer.
Click to expand...

Presumably, the scent followed by the sniffer dogs would have been the strongest and therefore likely most recent scent trail.
MOO

We know they followed a scent to the beach, do we know if they also followed a scent trail to the drain in which the gun was found?
 
dotr said:
www.dailymail.co.uk

Was £20bn scandal behind assassination of banker on his doorstep?

Alistair Wilson, 30, a Bank of Scotland business banking manager, was shot dead at his home in Nairn in November 2004, weeks after Paul Moore lost his job as HBoS head of risk management.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
By GRAHAM GRANT, 18 May 2019
''A whistleblower who lifted the lid on a financial scandal has told of his fear banker Alistair Wilson was murdered as a result of the controversy.

Paul Moore was sacked in 2004 after raising the alarm over a loans strategy that would finally overwhelm bank giant HBoS, leading to a £20.5billion taxpayer bailout''

''Last night, police sources said it could not be 'ruled out' that Mr Moore was the Paul in question, but refused to discuss whether or not efforts had been made to interview him.

Former detective Peter Bleksley, 59 – who wrote a book on the shooting, To Catch A Killer: My Hunt for the Truth Behind the Doorstep Murder – said it was possible Mr Moore was the 'Paul' mentioned on the envelope that was handed to Mr Wilson before he was killed.

Mr Bleksley believes it is 'possible' that someone who worked at the bank knew Mr Wilson may have been about to raise the alarm about some form of financial wrongdoing, by contacting Mr Moore.''

Mr Bleksley said: 'I am convinced the reason for Alistair's murder lies within his work.'

''HBoS was acquired by Lloyds in 2009 and subsequently needed a £20.5billion cash injection from British taxpayers to prevent its collapse.

Mr Moore has previously said 'sales and marketing had got out of control' at HBoS by 2
Click to expand...
 
David Leaks and Peter Wilson have well documented these agreements in Scotland. It is well known that the Calabrian mafia is established in Scotland.
 
Lonicera said:
David Leaks and Peter Wilson have well documented these agreements in Scotland. It is well known that the Calabrian mafia is established in Scotland.
Click to expand...
rbbm.
20th August 2014
www.heraldscotland.com

EU will probe Italian mob link to Scotland

The Camorra - a Naples-based group similar to the Sicilian Mafia - has a stronghold in Aberdeen, according to research from Milan's Transcrime think…
www.heraldscotland.com www.heraldscotland.com
''EU officials will look in to a report that the tentacles of Italian organised crime reach as far as north-eastern Scotland.

The Camorra - a Naples-based group similar to the Sicilian Mafia - has a stronghold in Aberdeen, according to research from Milan's Transcrime think tank.
Now European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom has said the research, funded by the EU, would be studied to see how continent-wide legislation could tackle international mobsters.
Transcrime last year found the Camorra in Aberdeen, the Mafia in London's gambling scene and the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta in the UK property market.

It reported: "The Camorra stronghold is Aberdeen, the third most populous city in Scotland, where it controls the catering, public works, food retail and wholesale and property sectors."
The body also found Italian organised crime operations in Romania, Spain, Portugal and France. Several other international crime groups have tried to muscle in to Scotland in recent years, including Albanians and English groups with links to the Caribbean. The latter has traditionally also been strong in Aberdeen.
An alleged Camorra Don, Aberdeen restaurant owner Antonio La Torre, was extradited to Italy and jailed for extortion and racketeering in 2005.''

Maybe AW witnessed something, like this man in Nova Scotia? speculation
October 9, 2001
''RCMP officers have taken over the backyard of a tiny bungalow in rural Nova Scotia while they look for the body of a suspected mafia victim from Boston.
They're using picks, shovels, police dogs and ground-penetrating radar to search for Kenneth Conrad, a bartender who disappeared in 1979.
Authorities believe Conrad witnessed an alleged Mob hit in the basement of a bar.''

March 2022
www.dailymail.co.uk

Detectives fly to Canada to interview witnesses in bid to solve murder

Alistair Wilson, a 30-year-old father, was shot on the doorstep of his home in Nairn in the Highlands on November 28, 2004. Detectives travelled to Canada last week as part of their inquiries.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
  • ''Alistair Wilson was shot on doorstep of his family home in the Highlands in 2004
  • Detectives investigating the murder travelled to Canada as part of their inquiries
  • They are working with colleagues to carry out witness interviews in Nova Scotia ''
 
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A theory on the ' baffling ' envelope :

After Alistair Wilson first came to the front door, maybe the gunman made FALSE insinuations to Alistair Wilson that his wife was having / had had an affair with someone called Paul.
I think that Alistair Wilson would RIGHTLY have been very sceptical about these allegations but on the basis that often ' there is no smoke without fire ', he may have thought that he'd better just check with his wife.
Now, I doubt that Alistair Wilson would have directly asked his wife about these allegations for I don't think he would have found them believable and to ask his wife such a question could have caused ' trust issues '. So perhaps he may have just shown his wife the envelope with the name Paul on it to guage her reaction.
She was clearly as baffled about the envelope as he was, but perhaps what the gunman was hoping was that Alistair Wilson would have directly asked her about the insinuations he was making, such that she would have then told the police about this conversation, this being an attempt by the gunman to create a false narrative around the murder in an attempt to throw a future police investigation off the scent.
The fact that Alistair Wilson went back downstairs again and that the gunman was still there would indicate that both of them expected to speak for a second time and may point to Alistair Wilson not being entirely open to his wife about what the gunman had said to him ( He told his wife that he was just going back downstairs just to see if the gunman was still there, and she said that there was no sense of worry or danger, just bafflement ).

JMO / MOO
 
Eastend Eagle said:
A theory on the ' baffling ' envelope :

After Alistair Wilson first came to the front door, maybe the gunman made FALSE insinuations to Alistair Wilson that his wife was having / had had an affair with someone called Paul.
I think that Alistair Wilson would RIGHTLY have been very sceptical about these allegations but on the basis that often ' there is no smoke without fire ', he may have thought that he'd better just check with his wife.
Now, I doubt that Alistair Wilson would have directly asked his wife about these allegations for I don't think he would have found them believable and to ask his wife such a question could have caused ' trust issues '. So perhaps he may have just shown his wife the envelope with the name Paul on it to guage her reaction.
She was clearly as baffled about the envelope as he was, but perhaps what the gunman was hoping was that Alistair Wilson would have directly asked her about the insinuations he was making, such that she would have then told the police about this conversation, this being an attempt by the gunman to create a false narrative around the murder in an attempt to throw a future police investigation off the scent.
The fact that Alistair Wilson went back downstairs again and that the gunman was still there would indicate that both of them expected to speak for a second time and may point to Alistair Wilson not being entirely open to his wife about what the gunman had said to him ( He told his wife that he was just going back downstairs just to see if the gunman was still there, and she said that there was no sense of worry or danger, just bafflement ).

JMO / MOO
Click to expand...

Not sure about the ins and outs, but there is definitely a question as to why he showed the envelope to VW, rather than simply dealing with it himself.
 
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