The jury has retired to consider its verdict in what has been one of the most gripping criminal trials Scotland has seen in years. David Campbell, a 77 year old former head gamekeeper, stands accused of murdering Brian Low, a 65 year old former colleague, on a country track near Aberfeldy in February last year.
The prosecution’s case reads like something from a crime novel. Campbell allegedly disabled the CCTV cameras at his own home, cycled to the scene on his wife’s e-bike wearing a hooded jacket with a shotgun slung across his back in a bag, and ambushed Mr Low on Leafy Lane near Pitilie. Mr Low suffered around 30 injuries from shotgun pellets. He was found the following morning by a local man.
Both men had worked at Edradynate Estate. Campbell was head gamekeeper from 1984 to 2018; Mr Low was a groundsman from 2000 to 2023. The prosecution argues Campbell harboured a “festering grievance” against Mr Low, believing him to have planted evidence to frame him for the illegal poisoning of birds of prey.
CCTV footage showed a hooded cyclist heading towards the track at 4.18pm and returning shortly after 5pm. Mr Low’s phone stopped recording movement at 4.52pm.
Prosecutor Greg Farrell did not hold back in his closing remarks. “This was a brazen, brutal and planned execution at a rural spot, a cowardly ambush motivated by nothing more than simmering hatred,” he told the jury.
What struck me about this trial was the initial police response. Officers treated Mr Low’s death as non suspicious for five days, despite the fact that shotgun pellets fell from his body bag at the mortuary. Five days. That is a question that will linger long after the verdict comes in.