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00:00There are hundreds of cold cases in the UK.
00:08Killers getting away with their crimes.
00:11George Murdoch, a taxi driver in Aberdeen,
00:14was brutally killed more than four decades ago.
00:17Now you could help catch the killer at last.
00:22Please watch very closely.
00:25Some detail that you see could prove vital.
00:30You know, murder is the most heinous crime.
00:45I've been involved in a lot.
00:49But this one is totally different.
00:55It's taken, you know, the best part of 40 years to get to where we are.
01:07Yeah, I think we're close.
01:22I don't think there's any doubt about that.
01:27Because science is on our side.
01:31This is probably the best chance we'll ever have of solving it.
01:35And I only hope we can get there.
01:38Behind unmarked doors within the walls of almost every police station,
01:48the hidden room holds the weight of the UK's most serious unsolved crimes.
01:54In Aberdeen with its nickname, the Granite City, there's long been a case as tough as stone to crack.
02:00Victims without justice.
02:02Just who murdered taxi driver George Murdoch four decades ago.
02:06Families without answers.
02:09Who carries a cheese wire? Who would do that?
02:12Criminals who think they've got away with it.
02:1531 years on, we've never had that break to find out who was responsible.
02:19The police hung on to every scrap of evidence.
02:24For cold case detectives, these investigations are never closed.
02:28If somebody out there knows something, they don't stop, they'll keep going.
02:32With exclusive access, we follow every buried lead, forensic clue and forgotten whisper.
02:39Following the detectives who refuse to let the past rest.
02:45There's a murder that's haunted Aberdeen for over 40 years that you could help solve.
03:00The story begins at 8.30pm on the 29th of September, 1983.
03:0757-year-old taxi driver George Murdoch is working the West End.
03:14He's hailed down by what will be his last fare.
03:21Just picked up a fare to Cooter.
03:26George drives away from the city's lights, through the mizzle suspended in the night air, towards the countryside.
03:33Just two miles from town, he turns into a narrow secluded lane and stops.
03:42He didn't stand a chance.
03:44The guy came from behind, she's wearing the neck.
03:48It spills onto the road.
03:51Two 16-year-old boys cycling home witness a brutal struggle.
03:57He had his hands around his neck. They were struggling. The man on the ground tried to shout, help me, please.
04:03They cycle to the nearest telephone kiosk to ring the police. But it's too late. George is strangled. Left for dead. His wallet taken. The killer fleeing into the night.
04:22In 1983, Morvan Sherratt is a new addition to the Aberdeen CID. He's determined to uncover new leads and bring George's killer to justice.
04:45I was 25 years of age. This was the first murder investigation that I'd been involved in.
04:58It was unprecedented for the city to have a murder of that nature. This was not like a television drama. This was for real.
05:14This is where George's car was found. By the side of this house. And he was lying on the ground just here. This is just right at the...
05:43Right at the gable end here. But actually being here standing is probably the first time I've done that since 1983. And...
05:53Yeah. It's... It brings it all back. It was a particularly brutal attack using the cheese wire. And then the manual assault that took place when he was outside the vehicle as well.
06:11How obsessed the guy was with what he was doing. To not have noticed the cyclists. He was so intent on assaulting George.
06:23The police were on the scene very, very quickly. They secure the street, comb the taxi, and search for witnesses to find the killer.
06:35A full-blown murder investigation was launched. Everyone thought because of the information that we had, we would get it solved pretty quickly.
06:47The hunt...
06:49The hunt was on.
06:51The evening of Thursday the 29th of September. And the last journey of George Murdoch began. The one certain point about the journey is its end.
07:03Here in the journey of George Murdoch.
07:05Here in the gloom of Station Road, Pitfordos. Which launched one of the biggest police murder hunts seen in the north for many years.
07:11There became a massive search for this person. We knew that two people had witnessed an altercation between George Murdoch and his assailant.
07:21I was sent to cover what was actually happening that morning. Which was police dogs, policemen, people searching the undergrowth all around the area.
07:32Police and an ambulance were here within minutes. But by the time they got Mr Murdoch to hospital, he was dead.
07:38People talked about it a lot. You could sense fear. Because it was so unbelievable, you didn't really know where to look to be safe.
07:48Just, it can't have happened here. These things don't happen here.
07:53The man they're looking for is five foot seven inches tall, thin, has short dark hair and is clean shaven.
08:00We felt that the whole city was behind us. They wanted the police to solve this crime.
08:06Everyone was dedicated and prepared to do whatever it took to make a breakthrough in this case.
08:14I just assumed that in a matter of days something would be found and that would lead to the culprit.
08:23It never happened. To this day it's impossible to believe that this person literally disappeared into thin air.
08:32The shocking murder of George Dodd Murdoch has been an open investigation for over 40 years.
08:57I know coming into it, it's going to be really difficult. There was a lot of work done in 1983, but it's unsolved for a reason.
09:09Detective Inspector James Callender took over as the senior investigating officer in 2021.
09:16He's solved some of Scotland's toughest cold cases. And the weight of this one now rests on his shoulders.
09:26There has been at least four or five other SIOs over the years.
09:31When you leave an inquiry as an SIO and it's unsolved, you're always going to have unfinished business.
09:39It can beat you up at times.
09:41So the SIOs of yesteryear, if they're still with us, will be looking to me to solve it.
09:48I know the answers are contained within this room.
09:55You know, everything related to the inquiry. There's no question that they'd be kept.
10:00Index cards, 10,000 house to house forms.
10:04There's probably about 7,000 hard copy statements in here.
10:12Everything is contained in the boxes.
10:15The paperwork is...
10:18...colossal.
10:1940 years of investigation, and there's never been a formal suspect for George's murder.
10:38They couldn't prove it, but the original detectives always had their suspicions about a number of men.
10:44One figure, known as the deli guy, raised lingering question marks.
10:51One particular gentleman at the time was known to be a drinker, known to be violent, especially when he was drunk.
11:01We know he worked in a delicatessen.
11:05Crucially, working in a deli could give him access to cheese wires, like the one used in George's murder.
11:15Wife alibied him, yeah.
11:17That was the only alibi, that thing.
11:20You know, this could be the guy.
11:22A real person of interest who, circumstantially, you could probably build a case around.
11:29Over the years, there's been dozens of persons of interest like the deli guy.
11:34Each with their own alibis for the night of the murder.
11:36James now needs to get to the facts.
11:40You do have to take alibis with a pinch of salt, particularly when it comes to a close relationship.
11:49It's unsolved for a reason, because I know it is difficult.
11:57But I'm probably in a better position than any other SIO has ever been in, because I do have something that they've never had.
12:05Working cold cases, it does help to have been around the job for three decades.
12:24You're constantly thinking, what's likely to have already been done?
12:29Where may gaps be?
12:31Why have we not found this person?
12:33Kind of getting deeper into the case and what might be possible.
12:35Killers were once caught with instincts and legwork, but the world marches on.
12:42So, too, does science.
12:45The National Crime Agency have identified a revolutionary new approach that could change everything in the George Murdoch inquiry.
12:54James, where are we? Where's the investigation at now?
12:58To be suddenly presented with a DNA breakthrough, it becomes really exciting.
13:03The George Murdoch murder could be the first familial DNA success in Scotland.
13:11And this feels like a genuine opportunity to solve a case which has been undetected for 40-plus years.
13:16Detectives in Aberdeen are investigating the violent murder of taxi driver George Dodd Murdoch in 1983.
13:34The attack that George endured, it must have been awful for him.
13:46Unravelling a crime means re-examining every detail.
13:50Following a major breakthrough, D.I. Jane's calendar needs to go back to the original post-mortem and forensic evidence.
13:57I don't think you get used to seeing photographs like this because it's pretty grim.
14:06You don't get used to it, but at times I have to. I have no choice.
14:10If you do need any motivation, you just need to go and speak to the family because they're living it day in, day out.
14:17Every time I come here, my mind gets transported back to when I was a kid, strangely enough.
14:37When I was a kid and I had a lot of time spent with my Uncle Dodd.
14:43Not his murder. I try and compartmentalise that and not think about that.
14:52I'm just thinking about the time that we were together.
14:59Known affectionately as Dodd, George's nephew remembers him as a gentle soul.
15:05He was just a normal working man, quiet man. But he enjoyed life. He had a lust for life despite being such a quiet man.
15:16He was married to the love of his life, Jessie. They wanted family, but they couldn't.
15:22So they really looked upon us almost like a son or a daughter.
15:31George's family, from one generation to the next, has always fought for justice.
15:37Now, we're kind of the last generation, the new Dodd.
15:46And once we're gone, that's pretty much it.
15:52We want this solved.
15:54We know he's been attacked from behind with a cheese wire.
16:07We know that it's spilled out of the taxi.
16:11George, thereafter, being strangled.
16:12This type of murder, the brutality of it would have been really unusual.
16:23Brutality always leaves a trace.
16:27In the chaos of a murder, killers can leave behind the very clues that will bring them down.
16:33Without DNA, without forensic science, this case would not be getting looked up.
16:38It has totally turned this case on its head.
16:43Forensic scientists who have been looking at this over the years have never stopped.
16:51Everything now hinges on a DNA profile that has been found of George's killer.
16:57It's the result of decades of persistent, frustrating forensic work.
17:08Often, you'll find that in cold case reviews, there won't be anywhere near the number of items that we have the opportunity to look at in this case.
17:24Forensic scientist Sarah Walker has seen her share of cold cases.
17:30But the murder of George Murdoch?
17:33That was her first.
17:34There was cigarette ends from inside the taxi, there was coins, there was pens, the cheese wire, and George Murdoch's jacket.
17:49The jacket was put into a bag and then kept in a cupboard from 1983 to 2001, when I then opened it and started to take some samples.
18:01It actually doesn't feel like it's been nearly 25 years since I looked at this item.
18:13It almost feels like just yesterday actually.
18:17And I actually can remember the smell, which is really strange.
18:22In 1983, there wasn't any DNA being done in the criminal justice system. It didn't exist.
18:34They didn't know at that point that DNA analysis would be coming along.
18:39Come 2000, DNA analysis that was sensitive enough to pick up cells from having someone just sit on a seat in the taxi.
18:47The National DNA database is established in 1995. By the early 2000s, it's revolutionising criminal investigations, holding nearly 3 million DNA profiles of people arrested for various crimes.
19:04Sarah knows that if she can extract a DNA profile from the crime scene material, it could match to a known offender and identify George's killer.
19:14We know that George succumbed to manual strangulation. So we targeted the clothing of George Murdoch for any DNA.
19:25We're already up to flag number 13 here, which means this is the 13th blood stain off the item that I've sampled for DNA.
19:35We're looking for that individual who we can think, well, if they're present on his clothing, if they're present on the cheese wire and if they're present on samples from within his taxi, well then that DNA profile is likely to be from the perpetrator.
19:51But the DNA has degraded over time. Pieces are visible in 2001, but it's not a full profile. It will take another 17 years of scientific advancement before Sarah and her team can finally get a breakthrough.
20:09Good evening. Police investigating the murder of a taxi driver in Aberdeen say they've identified a DNA profile which could help catch his killer.
20:27The DNA of the murder suspect is known as the male Z profile.
20:39It's a major step forward, but it's a blessing and a curse for detectives on the case.
20:49We've got this male Z profile which we know has came from crime scene material and we believe to be that of the killer.
20:54But that DNA profile is only as good as matching it to somebody.
20:59The police run the DNA through the national database, but there are no matches.
21:05If we had a DNA match, we would have arrested the killer by now.
21:13It means George's killer likely hasn't been convicted, charged or arrested for any other crime in recent history.
21:21And in Aberdeen, it never rains, it pours.
21:27All of the most likely suspects over the years, including the man who worked in a deli and had access to cheese wires, don't match the DNA profile either.
21:39It's quite frustrating when you've got such a good story.
21:44You know, some part of you thinks, right, that's another one ticked off the list, that's good.
21:48But the other side of you thinks, I wish that was him, but it's not.
21:52It is a who's done it, and there has never been one clear suspect, which really does make it, make it a lot harder.
22:01They're back to square one.
22:11The police's last forensic hope rests with a cutting edge laboratory in Oxfordshire.
22:17It can be really frustrating when you can see a good DNA profile, it's just that the degradation of it has wiped out a significant portion of it.
22:41But then you go into a different sort of mode, think, OK, but what can we do about it?
22:47Is there any technique that we have at our disposal that can resurrect those parts?
22:52Andrew MacDonald is the lead DNA scientist at Cellmark Forensic Services.
22:58If anyone can help, it's him.
23:01He's been across some of the biggest breakthroughs on the UK's most challenging unsolved crimes.
23:06Massively parallel sequencing is a really new technique to forensic casework.
23:10And it is quite a complicated DNA process.
23:16We can look at the conventional part of the DNA that we do for forensic analysis,
23:21but we also look at lots of other things that might identify somebody's most likely ancestry or other characteristics about them.
23:30Andrew's hope is that he can improve the male ZDNA enough for police to be able to search for a relative of the offender on the DNA database.
23:41Finding the killer's auntie, uncle, son or brother could lead detectives to the killer himself.
23:48If we could just generate a bit more of male ZD's profile, that would just open up lots of other opportunities.
23:55It's just massive for these sorts of cases.
23:57It's just massive for these sorts of cases.
24:10Typical Aberdeen weather.
24:11James has received major news from Selmark. One of his first moves, update George Murdoch's family.
24:20Hi there.
24:21Hello Rabina, how are you?
24:22Good, good.
24:23Nice to see you.
24:24Hello James.
24:25Get a bit wet.
24:26George's nephew Alex and his wife Rabina have waited years for answers.
24:39Now there's a development that could crack the case.
24:40The good news is we've managed to get the profile enhanced and we've had approval to go to familial DNA testing.
24:47Oh that's good.
24:48So that's a huge step forward.
24:49Brilliant news James.
24:51We'll be a lot of work. We'll end up with hundreds of names of people that we need to go and see.
24:58These people that we need to see aren't responsible.
24:59It's purely telling us that they could be related to the killer.
25:04Wow.
25:05It's a huge punch.
25:07Putting the help of William and Henry Janetulle have waited years for answers.
25:11Now there's a development that could crack the case.
25:14The good news is we've managed to get a profile enhanced and have had approval to go to familial DNA testing.
25:15Oh, that's a huge step forward.
25:19Brilliant news James.
25:20Is that just anybody all over the UK?
25:22It's all over the UK.
25:23It's basically anybody that is on the national DNA database.
25:27James, this is a quantum leap forward.
25:30What does history tell you in terms of getting familial, the chances of success?
25:35The chances are actually higher than I expected.
25:38They think about, you know, one in four chance of getting there.
25:43That's incredible.
25:44When an investigation starts, police never know if the crucial break will ever come.
25:51This case has haunted detectives for decades.
25:54But now, after 40 years, they're closer than they've ever been to finally finding George's killer.
26:14James, just a note from the producers there, like genuine fascination that even though it's a very old case,
26:23these developments still happen.
26:25So no case is ever closed.
26:27Any would-be murder suspects out there that think they've got away with it, think again, because things change.
26:33Is that kind of line?
26:34Is that OK?
26:35Yeah, perfect.
26:36Fantastic.
26:37Cheers.
26:38Senior investigating officer James Callender is making an appeal on Crimewatch.
26:46After 40 years, a major breakthrough has reignited the investigation into the murder of George Murdoch.
26:53Hello, Anna, a very warm welcome to you.
26:55This morning, police Scotland are asking for information about a case that we have followed closely over the years.
27:01That's the death of George Murdoch.
27:03James, good morning.
27:04Thank you for joining us.
27:05What can you tell us about this interesting development?
27:07We had a breakthrough in that we hold DNA, a DNA profile recovered from the scene, believed to be that of the killer.
27:15Enhancement in DNA has enabled us to identify 200 possible genetic links, commonly known as familial DNA.
27:24Neither the police nor the family have given up hope for justice being served.
27:29And George's wife, Jessie, dies never knowing who killed her husband.
27:33It's been an unimaginable burden.
27:35And hopefully, as the public can assist us in this next phase of the investigation.
27:50There's no doubt the DNA discoveries are a game changer.
27:54But science is just one piece of the puzzle.
27:57It's the combination of this new evidence and the legwork of the 80s that can close the case.
28:09Familial DNA searching can be very successful.
28:12But I firmly believe that the information is in what we've got.
28:17If we get a match to that DNA, we'll be able to find that person in our archive.
28:22This isn't the biggest archived cold case in Grand Payne's history for no reason.
28:28They effectively threw the kitchen sink at it.
28:32In 1983, it was boots on the ground and old school policing.
28:35The tools of a detective were a notebook and a pen.
28:48The entire search process was paper-driven.
28:53It was feet on the ground.
28:54It was knowing the neighbourhood, knowing the people.
28:57It was done with police interviews, witness statements.
29:01You really had to just swamp the houses in the closest proximity and knock on doors.
29:07Boots on ground, knock on doors.
29:09Speak to people.
29:10Ask the questions.
29:12With no CCTV or mobile phone records at their fingertips,
29:16the detectives rely on the city's goodwill, on whispers and local knowledge.
29:24The entire city embraced the investigation.
29:27They were very cooperative with the police in a way that I hadn't seen before.
29:31And we used media to make appeals for witnesses.
29:35Aberdeen's a city, but it's not a big city.
29:38There's more of a town feeling about it.
29:40People knew each other, or they knew somebody who knew somebody.
29:43So bad news travels fast, very, very fast.
29:48The police appeals receive a huge response from the public.
29:51The girls in the typing pool were almost 24 hours collating all of that information.
29:57There had been lots of sightings of different people near or around where George's car was found.
30:07Amongst the flood of tips, two sightings grab the interest of detectives.
30:12At around 8.48pm, a man is seen running from the south to the north pavements of North Eastside Road.
30:20At 9.03pm, another witness sees a man running in the same area.
30:24At 9.30pm, a witness says a man entered Mr. Chip's chip shop on Great Western Road with injuries to his hands and face, asking for plaster.
30:37This was a young man who'd gone to the local fish and chip shop, and that his hands were covered in blood.
30:45I remember thinking, ah, they've got him.
30:50The man in the chip shop becomes a critical lead for detectives.
30:55But the clue comes in 17 days after the sighting, an eternity in 1983.
31:04With memories fading fast, they piece together a photo fit, but the picture remains frustratingly unclear.
31:13This was a photo fit that was done from a witness of the chart that was seen in the Mr. Chips.
31:20In 1983 was a case of putting various noses and eyes and lips and chins and foreheads together with a hairstyle,
31:29whereas today it's CCTV or, you know, digital media and all that sort of stuff.
31:37You're relying on somebody's recollection, which is probably now three weeks old.
31:42So another one from the chip shop, which is somewhat different to the other one, isn't it?
31:50Despite the conflicting descriptions, detectives pursue the lead doggedly.
31:57The chip shop sighting in particular was interesting because of the bloodied hands and the agitated state of the individual.
32:08Obviously, it was going to be crucial to try to identify who this individual was
32:12and either eliminate or otherwise from the investigation.
32:15There's splashes in the local newspapers, appealing for a name for the chip shop man, but it's fruitless.
32:23Out of options, they turn to an unorthodox tactic.
32:28Football.
32:29About a month after the murder, Aberdeen played Celtic Football Club and the strategy was to come along
32:40and have detectives and police officers at every entrance to the stadium.
32:47It gave us a great opportunity to capture, if you like, thousands of young men in the age bracket
32:55that we were looking for, over 20,000 of a crowd.
32:59We had officers at every turnstile.
33:02The plan was to engage with the fans and ask the inspector of hands for injuries
33:08or any signs of somebody that had been involved in a recent fight.
33:15Obviously, the golden bullet would have been to identify someone who was potentially a suspect,
33:20but maybe someone in that crowd might have known something.
33:25The gamble doesn't pay off.
33:31As the net widens, finding the killer becomes increasingly impossible.
33:37Over time, less officers were involved.
33:42Over months, it started to diminish.
33:45And there's a frustration to this day, 41 years on,
33:51that we've never had that break to find out who was responsible.
33:55In Aberdeen, the chip shop man is infamous,
34:11presumed by many to be George's killer.
34:14But nowadays, there's suspicions over how significant he really was.
34:20One of the risks, I suppose, of getting too excited is you can maybe get tunnel vision.
34:25And that can be quite dangerous.
34:28It's great if you're on the right tunnel.
34:31Yeah, it's a fine balance to be met.
34:40James is looking for clarity from Adam,
34:43a behavioural investigative advisor with the National Crime Agency,
34:47who's been drafted in to help on the case.
34:50There's obviously the story about the chip shop guy
34:55who turned up at the chip shop with scratches his face and cut hands.
35:03It's become part of the story in terms of previous media releases.
35:06For me, I think I'm right in saying that the account kind of came out about three weeks after,
35:15once the house-to-house was extended into a new area.
35:1717 days, I think.
35:18Yeah.
35:18So, I think if you look at the dynamic of that in 2024, 2025 policing,
35:26and knowing what we do about eyewitness testimony
35:28and the potential for people to get slightly confused on days
35:32and for stories to develop...
35:34Yeah.
35:35..then factor in that it's probably 20 minutes after,
35:38it doesn't seem to me to fit with the rest of the offence.
35:42The idea that you would then choose to put yourself in view of people...
35:47Yeah.
35:47..with cuts and bruises.
35:48We know the vast majority of people that commit interpersonal crime
35:51go back to a place of safety immediately afterwards.
35:54Yeah.
35:54So, I would be more inclined to think,
35:55this has happened, it's gone horribly wrong.
35:58Yeah.
35:58He's gone home.
35:59I'm going to hide and not go into a chip shop.
36:01The idea that he's in a chip shop 20 minutes later asking for plasters...
36:04Yeah.
36:04..and just, I can't... I can't reconcile that.
36:08Adam can see what many others can't.
36:11Clues about who the murderer may be
36:13laid bare in the brutality of the crime.
36:16So, there's something really criminally ingrained in this individual.
36:19Those individuals are more likely to have criminal family members
36:25and, therefore, are more likely to have relatives
36:28that are also on the National DNA Database.
36:39James now has the strongest lead there's been for over 40 years,
36:43a long list of possible relatives of male Zed,
36:46the DNA profile police believe to be from George's killer.
36:52Because we know the male Zed profile is not on the database,
36:55we obviously can't search for him,
36:57so we need to search for family members.
37:00There's around 5 million on the DNA database
37:03versus about 66 million in the UK.
37:07Out of the search on the DNA database of 5 million,
37:10we've got over 1,000 names there,
37:13most similar to the DNA profile,
37:15the male Zed DNA profile.
37:17James's team must convince as many people as possible
37:20on that list of 1,000 names
37:22to voluntarily give a new DNA sample.
37:26This is their best chance
37:27to uncover any family link to the killer.
37:30It's physically impossible, probably,
37:33to go and meet or identify every single person.
37:37But it all comes down to our ability to do it and our staff,
37:40and we will do as much as we can.
37:43We need to go and obtain their DNA sample.
37:46You know, the family have hopes and expectations.
37:48Nobody's ever been brought to justice for this crime.
37:53The DNA sample and familial DNA is important
37:55and is the key to solving this.
37:57Detectives are travelling all over the UK,
38:22hunting for relatives of George's killer.
38:24In 1983, it was house-to-house inquiries and witness statements.
38:30Today, it's all about gathering DNA.
38:33We're doing what we call familial DNA testing.
38:38So we've got probably over nearly 1,000 people
38:43to sort of try and make inquiries with all over the country.
38:48Their DNA is similar to that of the killer's.
38:50It's not the same DNA.
38:52It's not the exact match.
38:54It could be a relative.
38:55It could be a very distant relative.
38:57Or it could be just the fact that they have similar DNA.
39:00So, do you know where you're going?
39:03Negative.
39:03The detectives face a steep challenge.
39:17They need to persuade everyone on their list
39:20to voluntarily give them a fresh DNA sample.
39:23Trying to get people in the house is a challenge.
39:28Try to get a hold of them.
39:31Some of them think it's a bit like grassing people in.
39:34All the people we're seeing,
39:36it might be, you know,
39:37a really minor offence that they've committed.
39:39But they're on our database
39:42because they've committed a crime
39:44and their DNA has been kept from that.
39:48Their hard work is paying off.
39:53Hi, Des.
39:54All right?
39:54Desmond.
39:55Yeah.
39:55I'm Tom from the police.
39:56How are you doing?
39:56Nice to meet you.
39:57Thanks for having us around this afternoon.
40:00Is it all right to come in?
40:01Yeah, of course.
40:01Yeah, awesome.
40:02Cheers.
40:02So you've obviously had DNA taken before,
40:08so what was that for?
40:09Drink driving.
40:10Drink driving, Dean.
40:10Right, OK.
40:11Right.
40:12One silly bad decision, was it?
40:14About 20, 28 years ago.
40:16Oh, man, I don't like that.
40:17So was it similar to this?
40:19Was it just two scrapes in the mouth?
40:21With a swab?
40:22Yeah, I think it was, yeah.
40:23Yeah.
40:26The more samples the detectives gather,
40:28the more likely they are to find a relative of male Zed,
40:33George's killer.
40:34Good.
40:35Right, cheers.
40:36Thanks very much.
40:36Good to see you.
40:42There's never been a familial DNA successful case in Scotland,
40:46but there has been in England.
40:48This will be like a first if it works,
40:50so hopefully it does.
40:53Because it's a lot of work.
40:55If that murder happened nowadays,
40:59there would be CCTV everywhere,
41:00there would be ring doorbell cameras everywhere.
41:03It probably wouldn't have come to this.
41:11If this crime happened today,
41:13I've no doubt in my mind that it would be detected by now.
41:16I don't think there's any doubt about that.
41:19In 1983, CCTV dash cam footage,
41:23they weren't a thing.
41:24But if police could get to a witness
41:26just after they'd seen something,
41:29that was the next best thing.
41:33So for me,
41:35the most significant sighting
41:37for the whole inquiry
41:38was the runner man.
41:44There's quite a number of statements
41:45about the runner man over the years.
41:47One, two, three, four, five, six, six, seven or eight people
41:55who've came forward to speak about the runner man,
41:58that he wasn't in trainers and shorts and t-shirt.
42:02You know, nine o'clock on a Thursday evening.
42:04You wouldn't see many runners
42:05at nine o'clock on a Thursday evening.
42:06And he's running away from
42:10when a murder's taken place.
42:12So hugely significant back in 1983
42:14and indeed to this day,
42:16but obviously he has never been identified.
42:21Decades of dead ends
42:22and it always comes back to him,
42:25hidden in plain sight,
42:27the running man.
42:29Could it be the person
42:30that killed George Murdoch?
42:31Out of all the stories over the years,
42:36it's the most plausible.
42:40Who is the running man?
42:48For weeks,
42:49James' team have been carrying out
42:51familial DNA testing across the UK.
43:00Tom, how are you doing?
43:01Yeah, not bad, Ross, how are you?
43:03Yeah, good, good.
43:04What are you saying?
43:06The girl we've just been to see.
43:08She was a bit taken aback
43:09because her relative is actually in jail at the moment.
43:12For a murder of a taxi driver a few years ago.
43:16Whereabouts was that like, Tom?
43:18This was Yorkshire, yeah.
43:21Yeah, not nearby.
43:22What was his MO, Tom?
43:24She didn't go into it,
43:25but we had an open source kind of check on it after
43:27and the taxi driver has picked up a requested fare.
43:33Driven out to, you know,
43:36a nearby kind of quiet B road.
43:39And then he stabbed him multiple times
43:42and then used a hammer on him
43:44and then he's basically ransacked his clothing
43:46and stolen all this money.
43:52The crimes share chilling similarities
43:54and, remarkably,
43:56a family member of the Yorkshire taxi killer
43:59has similar DNA to that of George's murderer.
44:03Could he have evaded justice
44:05only to strike again,
44:08targeting another taxi driver years later?
44:10After 41 years of hitting brick walls,
44:15the police's luck may have finally changed.
44:23Join me, Kirsty Wark,
44:24next time when we move one step closer
44:27to finding out who killed George Murdoch.
44:32I'll be joined by the Senior Investigating Officer,
44:35James Callender,
44:36and together we'll be looking at your insights.
44:40What do we need to hear from you?
44:41What are the vital details and clues
44:44which could bring us to George Murdoch's killer?
44:48What do we need to hear from you?
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