- yesterday
Forensics- Murder Case Season 1 Episode 1
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
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.
01:26Because 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,
01:47a hidden room holds the weight of the UK's most serious unsolved crimes.
01:53In 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.
02:08Who carries a cheeseburger?
02:10Who would do that?
02:12Criminals who think they've got away with it.
02:1441 years on, we've never had that break to find out who was responsible.
02:19The police hung on to every scrap of evidence.
02:23For cold case detectives, these investigations are never closed.
02:28Somebody out there knows something.
02:30We don't stop, we'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.
02:53There's a murder that's haunted Aberdeen for over 40 years.
02:57That 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.
03:22Just picked up a fare to Cooter.
03:25George drives away from the city's lights, through the mizzle suspended in the night air, towards the countryside.
03:32Just two miles from town, he turns into a narrow, secluded lane and stops.
03:40He didn't stand a chance.
03:43The guy came from behind, she's wearing the neck.
03:47It spills onto the road.
03:49Two 16 year old boys cycling home witness a brutal struggle.
03:55He had his hands around his neck.
03:57They were struggling.
03:58The man on the ground tried to shout, help me please.
04:02They cycle to the nearest telephone kiosk to ring the police.
04:09But it's too late.
04:11George is strangled, left for dead, his wallet taken.
04:18The killer fleeing into the night.
04:20In 1983, Morvan Sherratt is a new addition to the Aberdeen CID.
04:39He's determined to uncover new leads and bring George's killer to justice.
04:46I was 25 years of age.
04:53This was the first murder investigation that I'd been involved in.
04:59It was unprecedented for the city to have a murder of that nature.
05:07This was not like a television drama.
05:12This was for real.
05:16This is where George's car was found.
05:36By the side of this house.
05:38And he was lying on the ground just here.
05:41It's just right at the gable end here.
05:48But actually being here standing is probably the first time I've done that since 1983.
05:52And yeah, it brings it all back.
05:57It was a particularly brutal attack using the cheese wire.
06:06And 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.
06:18To not have noticed the cyclists.
06:21He was so intent on assaulting George.
06:23The police were on the scene very, very quickly.
06:28They secure the street, comb the taxi and search for witnesses to find the killer.
06:35A full blown murder investigation was launched.
06:40Everyone thought because of the information that we had, we would get it solved pretty quickly.
06:46The hunt was on.
06:53The evening of Thursday the 29th of September.
06:56And the last journey of George Murdoch began.
06:59The one certain point about the journey is its end.
07:02Here in the gloom of Station Road pitfalls.
07:05Which launched one of the biggest police murder hunts seen in the north for many years.
07:12It became a massive search for this person.
07:14We 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.
07:26Which was police dogs, policemen, people searching the undergrowth all around the area.
07:32Police and an ambulance were here within minutes.
07:34But by the time they got Mr Murdoch to hospital, he was dead.
07:38People talked about it a lot.
07:40You could sense fear.
07:42Because it was so unbelievable, you didn't really know where to look to be safe.
07:48Just, it can't have happened here.
07:50These things don't happen here.
07:53The man they're looking for is 5 foot 7 inches tall, thin, has short dark hair and is clean shaven.
08:00We felt that the whole city was behind us.
08:03They 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.
08:13I just assumed that in a matter of days something would be found and that would lead to the culprit.
08:23It never happened.
08:25To this day, it's impossible to believe that this person literally disappeared into thin air.
08:35The shocking murder of George Dodd Murdoch has been an open investigation for over 40 years.
08:47I know coming into it, it's going to be really difficult.
09:02There 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.
09:21And 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.
09:57There's no question that they'd be kept.
10:00Index cards, 10,000 house to house forms.
10:05There's probably about 7,000 hard copy statements in here.
10:12Everything is contained in the boxes.
10:15The paperwork is...
10:18...colossal.
10:3140 years of investigation, and there's never been a formal suspect for George's murder.
10:36They couldn't prove it, but the original detectives always had their suspicions about a number of men.
10:45One 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.
10:57Especially when he was drunk.
11:00We know he worked in a delicatessen.
11:03Crucially, working in a deli could give him access to cheese wires.
11:10Like the one used in George's murder.
11:13Wife alibi'd him, yeah.
11:16That was the only alibi at that time.
11:19You know, this could be the guy.
11:22A real person of interest who, circumstantially, you could probably build a case around.
11:26Over the years, there's been dozens of persons of interest like the deli guy.
11:33Each with their own alibis for the night of the murder.
11:37James now needs to get to the facts.
11:39You do have to take alibis with a pinch of salt, particularly when it comes to a close relationship.
11:50It's unsolved for a reason.
11:53Because I know it is difficult.
11:54But I'm probably in a better position than any other SIO has ever been in.
12:02Because 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?
12:30Why have we not found this person kind of getting deeper into the case and what might be possible?
12:36Killers were once caught with instincts and legwork, but the world marches on.
12:43So, too, does science.
12:45The National Crime Agency have identified a revolutionary new approach
12:50that could change everything in the George Murdoch inquiry.
12:55James, where are we? Where's the investigation at now?
12:57To be suddenly presented with a DNA breakthrough, it becomes really exciting.
13:06The 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.
13:51Following 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 he'd get used to seeing photographs like this because it's...
14:03..it's pretty grim.
14:06You don't get used to it, but at times I have to. I've no choice.
14:11If 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.
15:11But 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.
15:20They wanted family, but they couldn't.
15:23So they really looked upon us just almost like a son or a daughter.
15:28George's family, from one generation to the next, has always fought for justice.
15:38Now, we're kind of the last generation, the new Dodd.
15:46And once we're gone, that's pretty much it.
15:49We want this solved.
16:04We know he's been attacked from behind with the cheese wire.
16:07We know that it's spilled out of the taxi.
16:10George, thereafter, being strangled.
16:17This 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.
16:32Without 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.
16:50Everything now hinges on a DNA profile that has been found of George's killer.
16:56It's the result of decades of persistent, frustrating forensic work.
17:14Often, you'll find that in cold case reviews,
17:18there won't be anywhere near the number of items that we have the opportunity to look at in this case.
17:23Forensic scientist Sarah Walker has seen her share of cold cases.
17:30But the murder of George Murdoch?
17:33That was her first.
17:40There were cigarette ends from inside the taxi.
17:43There was coins, there was pens, the cheese wire, and George Murdoch's jacket.
17:48The jacket was put into a bag and then kept in a cupboard from 1983 to 2001,
17:58when 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.
18:16And I actually can remember the smell, which is really strange.
18:21In 1983, there wasn't any DNA being done in the criminal justice system.
18:32It 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.
18:54By the early 2000s, it's revolutionising criminal investigations, holding nearly 3 million DNA profiles of people arrested for various crimes.
19:05Sarah knows that if she can extract a DNA profile from the crime scene material,
19:10it could match to a known offender and identify George's killer.
19:15We know that George succumbed to manual strangulation.
19:20So 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.
19:36We'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,
19:45and 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.
19:56Pieces are visible in 2001, but it's not a full profile.
20:01It will take another 17 years of scientific advancement before Sarah and her team can finally get a breakthrough.
20:08Good evening. Police investigating the murder of a taxi driver in Aberdeen say they've identified a DNA profile which could help catch his killer.
20:25The DNA of the murder suspect is known as the male Z profile.
20:38It's a major step forward, but it's a blessing and a curse for detectives on the case.
20:45We've got this male Z profile, which we know has came from crime scene material, and we're believed to be that of the killer.
20:54But that DNA profile is only as good as matching it to somebody.
20:58The police run the DNA through the national database, but there are no matches.
21:04If 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.
21:28All 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.
21:40It's quite frustrating when you've got such a good story.
21:43You know, some part of you thinks, right, that's another one ticked off the list, that's good.
21:49But the other side of you thinks, I wish that was him, but it's not.
21:53It is a who's done it, and there has never been one clear suspect.
21:58Which really does make it, make it a lot harder.
22:06They're back to square one.
22:08The police's last forensic hope rests with a cutting edge laboratory in Oxfordshire.
22:33It can be really frustrating when you can see a good DNA profile.
22:36It's just that the degradation of it has wiped out a significant portion of it.
22:43But then you go into a different sort of mode and think, okay, 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.
23:11And it is quite a complicated DNA process.
23:15We 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.
23:27Andrew's hope is that he can improve the male's DNA enough for police to be able to search for a relative of the offender on the DNA database.
23:39Finding 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 Zed's profile, that would just open up lots of other opportunities.
23:54It'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.
24:16One 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.
24:45George's nephew, Alex, and his wife, Rabina, have waited years for answers.
24:51Now there's a development that could crack the case.
24:56The good news is we've managed to get the profile enhanced, and we've had approval to go to familial DNA testing.
25:04Oh, that's good.
25:05So that's a huge step forward.
25:08Brilliant news, James.
25:09It'll be a lot of work.
25:10We'll end up with hundreds of names of people that we need to go and see.
25:13These people that we need to see aren't responsible.
25:15It's purely telling us that they could be related to the killer.
25:19Wow.
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, that's 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.
26:01John, just a note from the producers there, like genuine fascination there.
26:08Even though it's a very old case, these developments still happen.
26:12So, no case is ever closed.
26:14Any would-be murder suspects out there that think they've got away with it, think again.
26:15Because things change.
26:16Is that kind of light?
26:17Is that okay?
26:18Yeah, perfect.
26:19Fantastic.
26:20Cheers, sir.
26:23Senior investigating officer James Callender is making an appeal on Crimewatch.
26:26After 40 years, a major breakthrough has happened.
26:28The case is a very old case.
26:29The case is a very old case, these developments still happen.
26:31So, no case is ever closed.
26:32Any would-be murder suspects out there that think they've got away with it, think again.
26:34Because things change.
26:35Is that kind of light?
26:36Is that okay?
26:37Yeah, perfect.
26:38Fantastic.
26:39Cheers, sir.
26:41Senior 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.
26:54Very warm welcome to you.
26:55This morning, Police of 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?
27:08We had a breakthrough in that we hold DNA, a DNA profile recovered from the scene, believed to be that of the killer.
27:15Enhancements 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, died never knowing who killed her husband.
27:33It would be an unimaginable burden.
27:36Hopefully, as the public can assist us in this next phase of the investigation.
27:39There's no doubt the DNA discoveries are a game changer.
27:55But science is just one piece of the puzzle.
27:58It'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, but 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.
28:23This isn't the biggest archive to cold case in Grand Payne's history for no reason.
28:28They effectively threw the kitchen sink at it.
28:31In 1983, it was boots on the ground and old school policing.
28:36The 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, speak to people, ask 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.
29:52The 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 grabbed the interest of detectives.
30:13At 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.
30:28At 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.
30:49The man in the chip shop becomes a critical lead for detectives.
30:54But the clue comes in 17 days after the sighting, an eternity in 1983.
31:04With memories fading fast, they piece together a photo fit.
31:09But the picture remains frustratingly unclear.
31:12This was a photo fit that was done from a witness of the chart that was seen in the Mr Chips.
31:21In 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.
31:35You'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.
31:55The 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.
32:16There's splashes in the local newspapers appealing for a name for the chip shop man, but it's fruitless.
32:23Out of options, they turned to an unorthodox tactic.
32:28Football.
32:34About a month after the murder, Aberdeen played Celtic Football Club
32:39and the strategy was to come along and have detectives and police officers at every entrance to the stadium.
32:46They gave us a great opportunity to capture, if you like, thousands of young men in the age bracket that we were looking for.
32:57Over 20,000 of a crowd. We had officers at every turnstile.
33:01The plan was to engage with the fans and ask to inspect our hands for injuries or 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, but maybe someone in that crowd might have known something.
33:23The gamble doesn't pay off.
33:29As the net widens, finding the killer becomes increasingly impossible.
33:36Over time, less officers were involved. Over months, it started to diminish.
33:46And there's a frustration to this day, 41 years on, that we've never had that break to find out who was responsible.
33:55In Aberdeen, the chip shop man is infamous, presumed by many to be George's killer.
34:15But nowadays, there's suspicions over how significant he really was.
34:19One of the risks, I suppose, of getting too excited is you can maybe get tunnel vision, and 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.
34:33James is looking for clarity from Adam, a behavioural investigative advisor with the National Crime Agency, who's been drafted in to help on the case.
34:50There's obviously the story about the chip shop guy who turned up at the chip shop with, scratched his face and cut hands.
35:03It's become part of the story in terms of previous media releases.
35:07For me, I think I'm right in saying that the account kind of came out about three weeks after, once the House to House was extended into a new app.
35:1617 days, I think. Yeah.
35:18So, I think if you look at the dynamic of that in 2024, 2025 policing, and knowing what we do about eyewitness testimony, and the potential for people to get slightly confused on days and for stories to develop.
35:34Yeah.
35:35Then factor in that it's probably 20 minutes after, it 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 with cuts and bruises.
35:48We know the vast majority of people that commit interpersonal crime go back to a place of safety immediately afterwards.
35:54Yeah.
35:55So I would be more inclined to think, this has happened, it's gone horribly wrong.
35:58Yeah.
35:59He's gone home.
36:00The idea that he's in a chip shop 20 minutes later asking for plasters.
36:04Yeah.
36:05Just, 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, laid bare in the brutality of the crime.
36:16So there's something really criminally ingrained in this individual.
36:20Those individuals are more likely to have criminal family members, and therefore are more likely to have relatives that are also on the national DNA database.
36:30James now has the strongest lead there's been for over 40 years.
36:44A long list of possible relatives of male Zed.
36:47The DNA profile police believe to be from George's killer.
36:51Because we know the male Zed profile is not on the database, we obviously can't search for him, so we need to search for family members.
37:01There's around 5 million on the DNA database, versus about 66 million in the UK.
37:07Out of the search on the DNA database of 5 million, we've got over a thousand names there, most similar to the DNA profile, the male Zed DNA profile.
37:17James' team must convince as many people as possible on that list of 1,000 names, to voluntarily give a new DNA sample.
37:26This is their best chance to uncover any family link to the killer.
37:31It's physically impossible probably to go and meet or identify every single person.
37:37But it all comes down to our ability to do it and our staff, and we will do as much as we can.
37:42We need to go and obtain their DNA sample.
37:45You know, the family have hopes and expectations.
37:48Nobody's ever been brought to justice for this crime.
37:52The DNA sample and familial DNA is important, and is the key to solving this.
37:57I've never been to Liverpool before.
37:58Detectives are travelling all over the UK, hunting for relatives of George's killer.
38:12In 1983, it was house-to-house inquiries and witness statements.
38:27Today, it's all about gathering DNA.
38:30We're doing what we call familial DNA testing.
38:34So, we've got probably over nearly a thousand people to sort of try and make inquiries with all over the country.
38:46Their DNA is similar to that of the killers. It's not the same DNA. It's not the exact match.
38:53It could be a relative, it could be a very distant relative, or it could be just the fact that they have similar DNA.
38:59So, do you know where you're going?
39:02Negative.
39:03One, two, three.
39:05You're going up there.
39:14The detectives face a steep challenge.
39:17They need to persuade everyone on their list to voluntarily give them a fresh DNA sample.
39:25Trying to get people in the house is a challenge. Try 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, it might be, you know, a really minor offence that they've committed.
39:39But they're on our database because they've committed a crime and their DNA has been kept from that.
39:48Their hard work is paying off.
39:53Hi, Des.
39:54All right.
39:55Desmond.
39:56Yeah.
39:57I'm Tom from the police. How are you doing?
39:58Nice to meet you.
39:59Thanks for having us around this afternoon.
40:00All right.
40:01Is it all right to come in?
40:02Yeah, of course.
40:03Yeah, awesome.
40:04Cheers.
40:06You've obviously had DNA taken before, so what was that for?
40:09Drink driving.
40:10Drink driving, Dean.
40:11Right, okay.
40:12All right.
40:13One silly bad decision, was it?
40:14About 20, 28 years ago.
40:16Oh, man.
40:17Didn't let that.
40:18So, was it similar to this?
40:19Was it just two scrapes in the mouth?
40:22With a swab?
40:23Yeah, I think it was, yeah.
40:26The more samples the detectives gather, the more likely they are to find a relative of male Zed, George's killer.
40:35Cool.
40:36Right, cheers.
40:37Thanks very much.
40:38Good to see you.
40:42There's never been a familial DNA successful case in Scotland, but there has been in England.
40:49This will be like a first if it works.
40:51So, hopefully, it does.
40:54Because it's a lot of work.
40:56If that murder happened nowadays, there would be CCTV everywhere, there would be ring doorbell cameras everywhere.
41:03It probably wouldn't have come to this.
41:06If this crime happened today, I'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, they weren't a thing.
41:25But if police could get to a witness just after they'd seen something, that was the next best thing.
41:32So, for me, the most significant sighting for the whole inquiry was the runner man.
41:44There's quite a number of statements about the runner man over the years.
41:47One, two, three, four, five, six, seven or eight people who've came forward to speak about the runner man.
41:59That 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 at nine o'clock on a Thursday evening.
42:09And he's running away from when a murder's taking place.
42:12So, hugely significant back in 1983 and indeed to this day, but obviously he has never been identified.
42:21Decades of dead ends and it always comes back to him, hidden in plain sight.
42:27The running man.
42:30Could it be the person that killed George Murdoch?
42:33Out of all the stories over the years, it's the most plausible.
42:37Who is the running man?
42:48For weeks, James's team have been carrying out familial DNA testing across the UK.
42:55PHONE RINGS
43:00Tom, how you doing?
43:02Yeah, not bad boss, how are you?
43:03Yeah, good, good. What are you saying?
43:06The girl we've just been to see.
43:09She was a bit taken aback because her relative is actually in jail at the moment.
43:13For a murder of a taxi driver a few years ago.
43:16Whereabouts was that like, Tom?
43:18This was Yorkshire, yeah.
43:20Yeah.
43:21And what was his nearby?
43:22What was his MO, Tom?
43:24She didn't go into it, but we had an open source kind of check on it after.
43:28And the taxi driver has picked up a requested fare.
43:33Driven out to, you know, a nearby kind of quiet B road.
43:39And then he stabbed him multiple times and then used a hammer on him.
43:45And then he's basically ransacked his clothing and stolen all his money.
43:48The crimes share chilling similarities.
43:52And remarkably, a family member of the Yorkshire taxi killer has similar DNA to that of George's murderer.
44:03Could he have evaded justice only to strike again, targeting another taxi driver years later?
44:10After 41 years of hitting brick walls, the police's luck may have finally changed.
44:16The police's luck may have finally changed.
44:24Join me, Kirsty Wark, next time when we move one step closer to finding out who killed George Murdoch.
44:31I'll be joined by the senior investigating officer, James Callender.
44:37And together we'll be looking at your insights.
44:40What do we need to hear from you?
44:42What are the vital details and clues which could bring us to George Murdoch's killer?
44:47The George Murdoch's killer.
44:48The George Murdoch's killer.
44:54Transcription by CastingWords
Recommended
45:09
|
Up next
43:05
1:33:45
42:54
37:09
1:00:47
42:01
42:56
1:25:45
1:56:25
1:24:09
1:28:59
1:28:39
46:33
44:35
1:37:03