For more than two months now, this case has been a huge part of my life and still I haven’t reached the end of the police evidence. Almost but not quite. And then I move on to the claims which undermine parts of the official case, but claims which are virtually impossible to substantiate. That’s when my role becomes incredibly difficult and I don’t know how I will handle that.
But there’s time. I haven’t finished with the police and Crown Office yet.
Today I move back to the fateful Friday, 5th April 1985. Good Friday. And the start of Willie’s journey as recorded and released by Northern Constabulary and the Crown Office. What others have said I’ll look at later in this series.
The two documents below are the entirety of the police information, as released publicly, about Willie McRae’s last day as a sentient being. Both documents have very similar descriptions and clearly Annex A was written using the first page of the synopsis as its basis.
I leave you to read the words without comment or question from me.
[Sources: Top – Macrae A syn; Lower – Annex A] 
Every word written may be true. I have no evidence to suggest otherwise.
But the picture painted of McRae could hardly be bettered if one were setting up a murder to be seen as suicide.
A man battling depression and drink; convicted of drink driving with the prospect of prison after an, as yet, untried case.
A man with the means to kill himself – an un-licenced revolver.
A friend so concerned for his mental health that, having failed to contact McRae at his holiday home, phones every police station between Glasgow and Dornie. This is the picture we’re given.
Who could ever doubt that McRae’s subsequent death could be anything but suicide?
The scene set perfectly. It is so easy to read the words as too good to be true; so easy to see the set up.
It is so easy too for the proponents of suicide to rubbish the doubters so strong is the evidence of suicide. The scene set for confusion and antagonism. And there has been plenty of each. It is into this picture that I need to start to bring in the evidence, the views and the thoughts of those outside the police and Crown Office.
Only then can we see a fuller picture.
Only then can we form a better view of how Willie McRae died.
[originally posted 23 February 2015] _________________________________________________________________
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© CalumCarr 2015
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