The family of a murdered groundskeeper have said they are “at a complete loss” over his death as police admitted clues may have been lost due to delays in the investigation.
Brian Low, 65, was shot dead as he walked his black labrador in the Pitilie area on the outskirts of Aberfeldy, Perthshire, on the morning of Saturday, February 17.
Jacqui Low, the victim’s niece, who lives in Fife, told the Dundee Courier: “We are at a complete loss as to how this has happened to Brian. His partner and brothers are devastated and appeal to anyone who has any information to come forward.
“His devoted dog, Millie, stayed by his side for as long as she was allowed and is being cared for by his immediate family.”
Officers have revealed that a cordon around the crime scene was not established until February 21, four days after Low’s death, after a medical examination uncovered that a suspected gunshot wound.
Advertisement
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Macdougall, of Police Scotland’s major investigation team, said that the delay could have led to the loss of forensic opportunities. “Obviously, once the thing had been established on Wednesday, [that] there was concern surrounding the death, the scene was established at that stage,” he said.
“Yes, it’s appreciated that in the time frame between the Saturday and the Wednesday, something could be lost.”
It was not until Friday, February 23, after a post-mortem examination carried out by two doctors confirmed the gunshot as a cause of death, that a murder investigation was opened.
Macdougall indicated that police would review why criminality was not spotted sooner. He said: “In these circumstances, the fact that it was initially treated as a medical death and has now been established as a murder, the professional standards department of Police Scotland will be informed and they will review and assess that information.”
Officers confirmed that they did not believe the shooting was accidental, although they said they were keeping an “open mind”.
Advertisement
One 65-year-old Aberfeldy resident and acquaintance of Low’s partner said on Thursday that his body had been found “face down”, suggesting he had been shot from behind as he was walking down a hill.
The resident said he still believed it was an accident: “I’m a country boy and that’s an accident that’s somebody shooting downhill. Shooting at something through the trees [he’s not] seen him — he’s missed whatever he was going for, possibly a deer.
“Up here rifles are de rigour. Farmers, forestry rangers, gamekeepers, rifles are not unusual.”
Police initially assessed the death as “unexplained” but assumed that a medical issue such as cardiac arrest was the cause. Macdougall said: “The circumstances as they presented to the officers at the time didn’t indicate there was any suspicion. It was ascertained as unexplained but suspected to be a medical [reason for the] death.”
Conflicting accounts have been raised around how the fatal wound could go unnoticed. One police source told MailOnline that a shotgun pellet was discovered “lodged” in the victim’s heart, leaving “very little, if any” wounds visible.
Advertisement
Another source, quoted in The Sun, said that the death was a “targeted assassination by a marksman who hit Mr Low in the head from a distance”, adding: “If a shot is fired close up there is scorching, but that wasn’t the case here — meaning it was from a distance away.”
Officers said there was no indication whether Low, who until last year worked as a groundskeeper at the 4,000-acre Edradynate shooting estate, was the target of a personal feud.
DCI Martin Macdougall said on Thursday: “We can’t just decide that it’s targeted or not targeted. So we’ve got to keep an open mind.”
He added that there was “nothing to indicate that Brian was involved in any form of criminality and he’s not apparently known to the police”.
