Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00On November 28th, 2004, Alistair Wilson, a 30-year-old banker, was shot dead.
00:08Despite one of the biggest murder inquiries in Scottish history, the case remains unsolved
00:13to this day.
00:15This is what we know.
00:19Alistair Wilson lived on Crescent Road in Nairn with his wife, Veronica, their two young
00:24children and Veronica's father.
00:28At around 7pm on November 28th, an unidentified man wearing a baseball cap, dark blue jacket
00:35and dark jeans rang the Wilson's doorbell.
00:38When Alistair came to the door, the man handed him a blue envelope with the name Paul written
00:43on it.
00:44The envelope was empty and moments later, Veronica heard three gunshots.
00:49When she rushed to the door, she found her husband fatally wounded.
00:53He was taken to hospital but died that evening.
00:57The murder of Alistair Wilson launched one of the most extensive investigations in Scottish
01:01history.
01:02Nearly 14,000 people were interviewed.
01:05Police took 3,500 statements and conducted door-to-door inquiries to more than a thousand
01:11addresses in Nairn.
01:13Investigators also collected and reviewed CCTV footage from 670 different sources.
01:20Days after the shooting, council workers found a crucial piece of evidence.
01:24A small .25 calibre handgun from the 1920s.
01:28It was confirmed as the murder weapon, but it offered no direct leads as to who might
01:33have used it.
01:34Fast forward to 2020, police renewed calls for public help in identifying anyone who
01:39may have had access to a Haenelschmeisser pistol.
01:43One of the major challenges for investigators have been understanding the motive behind
01:47Alistair's murder.
01:49Initially, detectives looked into his work as a banker, but this theory failed to uncover
01:54any promising leads.
01:57In April 2022, a new theory emerged.
02:00The murder could have linked to planning disputes involving the Havelock Hotel, a pub located
02:05directly across from the Wilsons' home.
02:08Alistair had objected to a large decking area the hotel was planning to build.
02:12Now, nearly 20 years after the murder, Scotland's Lords Advocate ordered a complete reinvestigation
02:18into the case.
02:20Detectives are re-examining all evidence in the hope of finding new clues.
02:25You can read a full timeline of events on our website.