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Murder of Zoe Nelson
The murder of Zoe Nelson was committed in the Cambusnethan suburb of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland on 22 May 2010. 17-year-old Zoe Nelson's extensively burned remains were found in woodland near a colliery spoil heap known locally as Monkey Hill after her killer constructed a pyre in an attempt to destroy evidence. Forensic pathologist Julia Bell told the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh that the possibilities for a full post mortem were "limited" because the body was too badly burned, but that "some form of throttling or suffocating was the most probable cause of death, which was recorded as 'unascertained'". During their enquiries, police used new media for the first time in a murder investigation, in an effort to reach out to local teenagers who may otherwise have not wanted to communicate with the police. During the trial it also emerged that the victim's sister had withheld the identity of the killer for five days. On 25 March 2011, 21-year-old Robert Bayne was found guilty of her murder and of a second charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice. The judge deferred sentencing for psychiatric and social background reports to be prepared. On 27 April 2011 Bayne was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of twenty years, for the murder and six years, to be served concurrently, for the second charge.
Zoe Nelson was a 17-year-old motor vehicle repair student at Motherwell College, who lived with her mother, stepfather and younger sister at Crindledyke Crescent, Newmains, on the eastern edge of Wishaw. Both Nelson and her 16-year-old sister Laura Anne were involved in relationships with the same man, 20-year-old Robert "Rab" Bayne, who lived with his grandparents in Harper Crescent, Cambusnethan, although the elder sister was also dating another local man, Ross Hemphill.[citation needed] Marieann Nelson, the girls' mother, described how the sisters had argued about Bayne outside the family home at around 5 p.m. on 22 May. She said: "Laura Anne ran out and flicked Zoe's hair and tried to slap her face and the two of them ended up having a fight at the end of the driveway. I split it up. I said 'Go away you cow and don't come back'. She said she wouldn't come back." Isobel Park, Nelson's stepsister, said Zoe and Bayne seemed "a bit intoxicated" and that Laura Anne had been upset as "she was supposed to be seeing Rab as well.[citation needed] Zoe walked off with Bayne, who was drinking from a bottle of tequila, and was not seen alive by her family again. At 5pm on 24 May, after police had announced the discovery of a body, Mrs. Nelson reported her daughter as a missing person.
At 4:20 p.m. on Sunday 23 May 2010 an off-road motorcyclist spotted what he initially described as "a sort of charred tailor's dummy" in woodland at Monkey Hill, near Branchalfield Drive, Cambusnethan, Wishaw.[citation needed] As he approached he realised that it was actually a corpse. In his subsequent testimony he explained: "At first I thought it was a mannequin and what struck me was the leg, possibly the left leg. I could see bone there. Tailor's dummies don't have bones." The body was extensively charred, and he was unable to tell if it was that of a male or female. He immediately went to his nearby home and telephoned the police to report the discovery. When the police arrived he led them to the scene, which Detective Sergeant (DS) Clifford Neil of Strathclyde Police described as "gruesome." The body lay on a makeshift pyre and had heavy duty plastic sheet partly melted on to the facial area. Strathclyde Police launched a murder inquiry, led by Detective Superintendent (D/Supt) Derek Robertson of the force's Major Investigation Unit, on 24 May following the results of a post-mortem examination.
Near the body was the cap from a bottle of "Sierra Silver" tequila, in the shape of a red plastic sombrero, and a corresponding empty bottle was found on the other side of a small path nearby. Near one foot police found another bottle which was tested for traces of an accelerant. Laura Wilcock, a forensic scientist with specialist expertise in examining suspicious fires, concluded that the body could have been burning for up to seven hours, and very little of it was undamaged by the burning.[citation needed] The palm of the right hand remained relatively undamaged and this was swabbed for DNA evidence. The extensive burning of the body hampered pathologists from ascertaining a cause of death, and Dr. Julia Bell, a forensic pathologist at the University of Glasgow Medical School said that the possibilities for a full post mortem were "limited". Bell said she was unable to completely exclude the possibility that setting the teenager on fire had killed her but believed "the findings [were] not suggestive of this": while the natural instinct of a person on fire would be to move, there was no evidence of this, probably because Nelson was unconscious or dead. Examination of Nelson's respiratory tract did not demonstrate soot in the quantities which would indicate she had still been breathing and scientists had been unable to carry out blood analysis which might have provided further proof.
Examination of the tequila bottle found near the body found a mix of Nelson's blood and adipose tissue on the bottle. Forensic scientist Marie Campbell stated that this was normally the result of a wounding injury causing bleeding and body fat to become mixed, and that similar results were observed on knives examined after stabbings. In this instance, the stains on the tequila bottle "did not have the distinctive pattern she would have expected" if the bottle had been used directly as a weapon. When found, the body had a plastic bag partly melted over much of the face, bruising inside the lip, two black eyes and bleeding inside her skull. Pathologists said "some form of throttling or suffocating was the most probable cause of death" and she may have been suffocated with the plastic bag or there might have been pressure applied to the neck. Bell said: "There were findings at post-mortem consistent with assault, with such a manner of death in keeping with the circumstances in which her body was found. As to the actual mechanism of her death, perhaps the most likely cause has been some form of asphyxia. I cannot exclude the possibility that sharp force injury has been the cause of her death, or blunt force trauma." The cause of death was officially recorded as unascertained.
On 24 May D/Supt Robertson said: "[Zoe] was a popular girl and well known in the area. From our enquiries so far, we know Zoe left home on Saturday evening around 5pm. We would obviously be very keen to find out where she was, and who she was with, between then and 4.20pm on Sunday. She was last seen wearing grey tracksuit bottoms, a white, long sleeved T-shirt and black Nike trainers... We will interview friends, her boyfriend and all her associates."[citation needed] Ross Hemphill, who hadn't seen Nelson on the day of the murder, was interviewed by detectives and ruled out as a suspect. Police began checking CCTV and telephone records as well as interviewing friends and family and carrying out house-to-house enquiries. Witnesses reported seeing a fire on Monkey Hill at around 11.20pm on the night of the murder. D/Supt Robertson said: "We know there was a fire at 11.20pm on Saturday in exactly the spot where Zoe was found. You would need local knowledge to go there. We firmly believe the answers in this case lie in this community... It had only got dark at 10pm and it was the hottest day of the year so there must have been people around this area."
On 26 May police said that there had been "a poor response to their appeals" and launched a dedicated email address and SMS text number, citing concerns that witnesses may have been too afraid to come forward.[citation needed] D/Supt Robertson said: "The response so far has been slower than we would have liked... We hope that by offering new ways to contact the investigation team more people will come forward."
Detective Constable (DC) Jennifer Bell, who had previously been seconded to the Metropolitan Police Service's SO15 Counter Terrorism Command, was brought into the inquiry to examine hours of recovered CCTV footage for sightings of Nelson. DC Bell, who had also used her skills in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 London bombings and the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack, eventually located an image of Nelson taken inside a Scotmid Co-operative store on Manse Road, Newmains at 5.30pm on 22 May. Police also received a confirmed sighting of her at 5.40pm on Cambusnethan Street, walking towards the Cambusnethan area. The CCTV stills of Nelson were released to the public on 27 May to jog potential witnesses' memories and police also announced that they had set up a page on Bebo "in a bid to engage with young people who may know something which could be useful to the inquiry" particularly those teenagers who may have been reluctant to speak directly to police. D/Supt Robertson explained that the police were using new media for the first time in a murder investigation as they believed that many of those who knew Nelson were teenaged or younger and may not have wanted their parents to know where they were at the time or what they were doing. He reassured potential witnesses that: "If there are people out there underage drinking, I don't care. If there are people where they shouldn't be, I don't care. This is a violent murder investigation and we need to solve it."
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Murder of Zoe Nelson
The murder of Zoe Nelson was committed in the Cambusnethan suburb of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland on 22 May 2010. 17-year-old Zoe Nelson's extensively burned remains were found in woodland near a colliery spoil heap known locally as Monkey Hill after her killer constructed a pyre in an attempt to destroy evidence. Forensic pathologist Julia Bell told the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh that the possibilities for a full post mortem were "limited" because the body was too badly burned, but that "some form of throttling or suffocating was the most probable cause of death, which was recorded as 'unascertained'". During their enquiries, police used new media for the first time in a murder investigation, in an effort to reach out to local teenagers who may otherwise have not wanted to communicate with the police. During the trial it also emerged that the victim's sister had withheld the identity of the killer for five days. On 25 March 2011, 21-year-old Robert Bayne was found guilty of her murder and of a second charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice. The judge deferred sentencing for psychiatric and social background reports to be prepared. On 27 April 2011 Bayne was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of twenty years, for the murder and six years, to be served concurrently, for the second charge.
Zoe Nelson was a 17-year-old motor vehicle repair student at Motherwell College, who lived with her mother, stepfather and younger sister at Crindledyke Crescent, Newmains, on the eastern edge of Wishaw. Both Nelson and her 16-year-old sister Laura Anne were involved in relationships with the same man, 20-year-old Robert "Rab" Bayne, who lived with his grandparents in Harper Crescent, Cambusnethan, although the elder sister was also dating another local man, Ross Hemphill.[citation needed] Marieann Nelson, the girls' mother, described how the sisters had argued about Bayne outside the family home at around 5 p.m. on 22 May. She said: "Laura Anne ran out and flicked Zoe's hair and tried to slap her face and the two of them ended up having a fight at the end of the driveway. I split it up. I said 'Go away you cow and don't come back'. She said she wouldn't come back." Isobel Park, Nelson's stepsister, said Zoe and Bayne seemed "a bit intoxicated" and that Laura Anne had been upset as "she was supposed to be seeing Rab as well.[citation needed] Zoe walked off with Bayne, who was drinking from a bottle of tequila, and was not seen alive by her family again. At 5pm on 24 May, after police had announced the discovery of a body, Mrs. Nelson reported her daughter as a missing person.
At 4:20 p.m. on Sunday 23 May 2010 an off-road motorcyclist spotted what he initially described as "a sort of charred tailor's dummy" in woodland at Monkey Hill, near Branchalfield Drive, Cambusnethan, Wishaw.[citation needed] As he approached he realised that it was actually a corpse. In his subsequent testimony he explained: "At first I thought it was a mannequin and what struck me was the leg, possibly the left leg. I could see bone there. Tailor's dummies don't have bones." The body was extensively charred, and he was unable to tell if it was that of a male or female. He immediately went to his nearby home and telephoned the police to report the discovery. When the police arrived he led them to the scene, which Detective Sergeant (DS) Clifford Neil of Strathclyde Police described as "gruesome." The body lay on a makeshift pyre and had heavy duty plastic sheet partly melted on to the facial area. Strathclyde Police launched a murder inquiry, led by Detective Superintendent (D/Supt) Derek Robertson of the force's Major Investigation Unit, on 24 May following the results of a post-mortem examination.
Near the body was the cap from a bottle of "Sierra Silver" tequila, in the shape of a red plastic sombrero, and a corresponding empty bottle was found on the other side of a small path nearby. Near one foot police found another bottle which was tested for traces of an accelerant. Laura Wilcock, a forensic scientist with specialist expertise in examining suspicious fires, concluded that the body could have been burning for up to seven hours, and very little of it was undamaged by the burning.[citation needed] The palm of the right hand remained relatively undamaged and this was swabbed for DNA evidence. The extensive burning of the body hampered pathologists from ascertaining a cause of death, and Dr. Julia Bell, a forensic pathologist at the University of Glasgow Medical School said that the possibilities for a full post mortem were "limited". Bell said she was unable to completely exclude the possibility that setting the teenager on fire had killed her but believed "the findings [were] not suggestive of this": while the natural instinct of a person on fire would be to move, there was no evidence of this, probably because Nelson was unconscious or dead. Examination of Nelson's respiratory tract did not demonstrate soot in the quantities which would indicate she had still been breathing and scientists had been unable to carry out blood analysis which might have provided further proof.
Examination of the tequila bottle found near the body found a mix of Nelson's blood and adipose tissue on the bottle. Forensic scientist Marie Campbell stated that this was normally the result of a wounding injury causing bleeding and body fat to become mixed, and that similar results were observed on knives examined after stabbings. In this instance, the stains on the tequila bottle "did not have the distinctive pattern she would have expected" if the bottle had been used directly as a weapon. When found, the body had a plastic bag partly melted over much of the face, bruising inside the lip, two black eyes and bleeding inside her skull. Pathologists said "some form of throttling or suffocating was the most probable cause of death" and she may have been suffocated with the plastic bag or there might have been pressure applied to the neck. Bell said: "There were findings at post-mortem consistent with assault, with such a manner of death in keeping with the circumstances in which her body was found. As to the actual mechanism of her death, perhaps the most likely cause has been some form of asphyxia. I cannot exclude the possibility that sharp force injury has been the cause of her death, or blunt force trauma." The cause of death was officially recorded as unascertained.
On 24 May D/Supt Robertson said: "[Zoe] was a popular girl and well known in the area. From our enquiries so far, we know Zoe left home on Saturday evening around 5pm. We would obviously be very keen to find out where she was, and who she was with, between then and 4.20pm on Sunday. She was last seen wearing grey tracksuit bottoms, a white, long sleeved T-shirt and black Nike trainers... We will interview friends, her boyfriend and all her associates."[citation needed] Ross Hemphill, who hadn't seen Nelson on the day of the murder, was interviewed by detectives and ruled out as a suspect. Police began checking CCTV and telephone records as well as interviewing friends and family and carrying out house-to-house enquiries. Witnesses reported seeing a fire on Monkey Hill at around 11.20pm on the night of the murder. D/Supt Robertson said: "We know there was a fire at 11.20pm on Saturday in exactly the spot where Zoe was found. You would need local knowledge to go there. We firmly believe the answers in this case lie in this community... It had only got dark at 10pm and it was the hottest day of the year so there must have been people around this area."
On 26 May police said that there had been "a poor response to their appeals" and launched a dedicated email address and SMS text number, citing concerns that witnesses may have been too afraid to come forward.[citation needed] D/Supt Robertson said: "The response so far has been slower than we would have liked... We hope that by offering new ways to contact the investigation team more people will come forward."
Detective Constable (DC) Jennifer Bell, who had previously been seconded to the Metropolitan Police Service's SO15 Counter Terrorism Command, was brought into the inquiry to examine hours of recovered CCTV footage for sightings of Nelson. DC Bell, who had also used her skills in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 London bombings and the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack, eventually located an image of Nelson taken inside a Scotmid Co-operative store on Manse Road, Newmains at 5.30pm on 22 May. Police also received a confirmed sighting of her at 5.40pm on Cambusnethan Street, walking towards the Cambusnethan area. The CCTV stills of Nelson were released to the public on 27 May to jog potential witnesses' memories and police also announced that they had set up a page on Bebo "in a bid to engage with young people who may know something which could be useful to the inquiry" particularly those teenagers who may have been reluctant to speak directly to police. D/Supt Robertson explained that the police were using new media for the first time in a murder investigation as they believed that many of those who knew Nelson were teenaged or younger and may not have wanted their parents to know where they were at the time or what they were doing. He reassured potential witnesses that: "If there are people out there underage drinking, I don't care. If there are people where they shouldn't be, I don't care. This is a violent murder investigation and we need to solve it."