Legacy and Suzanne's Law

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PC Richard and Son, the company you can trust twenty ten, a thirty eight year old woman set off for work in Edinburgh, following the same route she had always done. boss sent a quick text to a mom picked up a few bits from the shop and walked the final stretch towards her office door She was seen on CCTV just meters away Then, in the space of a few minutes, she vanished without a trace No struggle was caught on camera No witnesses saw what happened body was ever found. And yet as the days turned into weeks and weeks into months Police became convinced they weren't dealing with a missing person case anymore This was a murder One that had taken place in broad daylight in the middle of a busy city with almost nothing going on In this episode of British Murders with Stuart Blues, we're heading to Scotland's capital to unravel the disappearance of Suzanne Pille. It's a case built on circumstantial evidence, a complex relationship, and a trail that leads far beyond the city's streets into the remote landscapes of Scotland This is a story of a woman who never made it to work. and the rare murder conviction that followed, despite her body never being found Before we get into the case, I've got a quick favour to ask. Please follow the show on your podcast Player of Choice. It doesn't cost a thing, and it really helps British murders reach more people who care about these sort of stories. Ratings and reviews make a huge difference too. so thank you if you've already left one. And if you'd like add free episodes, early access, and a load of exclusive content you want hear over on the main feed, you can find all of that at patreon d. com forward slash British Murders Most murder cases start the same way A the discovery of a body It might be found in a house or out in the woods dumped somewhere remote But wherever it is, it gives detectives something to work with A starting point if you like. Next typically comes a confirmed cause of death following a post mortem, often accompanied by an estimated time of death And there are sometimes even clues about who was responsible. So every now and then there are cases where that first step never happens There is no body crime scene detectives can use as their starting points. clear moment way can say Right? This is where that person's life ended But despite that, someone still ends up in the dock And a jury is asked to make one of the biggest decisions possible. Did a murder actually take place? even though no body has ever been found? These no body murders are incredibly rare, but they do still happen Episode Case is one of them This is the story of Suzan Pill Suzanne was thirty eight years old during this story's main timeline and lived in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh just around the corner from her parents in the Stenhouse area of the city Stenhouse is a suburb with a seemingly rich history dating all the way back to roughly the sixteenth century At the time it was known as Stenop Miln Regarding Suzanne's family, she had a close relationship with her mum and dad, Sylvia and Robert, who were both sixty seven when she disappeared, with her being especially close to her mum. er parents described her as a very proud Scot, which is high praise up there And hobby wise, she loved the great outdoors. Whether she was cycling, walking, or just keeping herself active, she loved to be outside, keeping herself fit and out fit in the process It sounds as though she were a type who seldom sits still for long Suzanne also had a bit of a charitable streak to her character, which speaks volumes as to who she was as a person It wasn't just the odd donation here and there or a couple of direct debits either She actually got stuck in taking part in fundraising and charity events and even once absailed off the Fourth Road Bridge which if you've ever seen it, is no small feat It's a good forty four meters or one hundred and forty four feet high, that thing call it thirteen stories, very roughly Suzanne was single and lived alone, and earned a living working as a bookkeeper for a company called Infrastructure Managers Limited or IML. I've been there for about a year as far as I can tell, and got on well with everyone colleagues said she was popular and easy to talk to her One of them people who fits in wherever they go, adapting easily to new social situations There were no warning signs either when it came to a mental health background She had no history of depression, and there was no suggestion she was unhappy Disappearing was not on her to do list She was very much living her life as normal That's important to note because it's what made what happen next so unsettling Our main timeline began on Tuesday may fourth, twenty ten It was the first day back after the early May Bank holiday that year So for a lot of people, it was a day of trying to get back into their usual routines. Same commute as always, S work day ahead. And Suz Anne's mourorning started exactly like that At twenty AM, she boarded the number two bus on Stevenson Drive. twelve minutes later at eight hundred and thirty two, she got off and made her usual change p in next ono the number four bus at Dowry Road, just opposite Caledonian Terrace Nothing out of the ordinary so far. she was getting back into the swing of things seamlessly At eight thirty eight AM while she was still on that second bus, She sent what would turn out to be the last message anyone ever received from her It was a text to a mum She thanked her for feeding her cat Mercury And then added something a bit more personal She said I think Mark likes me Now that line might seem small, but it'll become important later on when we get into the trial side of things. So it's worth remembering Suzanne got off the bus near Jenna's department store on Princess Street And from there, she quickly popped into the Sainsbury's local in St. Andrew Square, heading inside at eight forty eight AM and coming back out just three minutes later at eight hundred fifty one Clearly heading to work, perhaps grabbing a quick snack or drink, even a meal deal before starting a shift Her office was on Thistle Street just a short walk away. So loglay she was probably due to star at nine AM At eight hundred fifty five, Suzanne was seen on CCTV outside her office And that was the last confirmed site in Over She were literally yards away from the door of her office premises, within mere minutes of starting a day Hours quickly passed with no sign of her at work And at around twelve forty five PM, Suzanne's mum received a phone call since she never turned up. Straight away alarm bells began to ring. Because that was not like Susanna all. First of all, she was an avid textter, always keeping in touch with people If she were going to be late or decided not to go in all She'd let someone know The same goes for contact with her family She spoke to her mum regularly Exton and Cin throughout the day As we know, based on her text and out on the journey she'd made at work that very morning So to suddenly have nothing compleplete radio silence just didn't make sense The parents understandably feared the worst, even if they didn't want to say it out loud. Police were soon summoned and Suzan was reported as missing Pretty quickly, the concern around her whereabouts and safety started to grow Active Chief Inspector Gary Flanagan, who led the investigation for Lotian and Borders pololice didn't mce his words when he made a public statement. He said they were gravely concerned for Suzanne's safety learplning that his team of officers had already been carrying out extensive inquiries Worryingly, DCI Flanagan added there were strong indications that a criminal act could explain her disappearance Based that on the fact Suzanne was within one hundred meters of her workplace, minutes away from safety, surrounded by her peers before suddenly vanishing without so much as a text being sent At time, Suzan was wearing a light blue waterproof jacket, a red fleece top light blue trousers, possibly jeans and trainers She had a shoulder bag with her and a water bottle With the limited information they had, police began appealing to the public immediately parents also made emotional pleas for information asking anyone who might have seen anything, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant to come forward A huge screen was even set up in St. Andrew's Square, showing CCTV footage from the bus Suzanne had been on in the hope it had jogged someone's memory. Anyone who might have walked the same route, been in the same area or seen something without realizing its importance was urged to contact the police Because at that point, every second mattered As officers dug deeper into Suzan's movements, CCTV became a massive part of the investigation The footage confirmed Suzanne's movements that morning, right up until she reached Thisistle Street But what happened after that remained a mystery More footage was released just under two weeks later And this time, it showed Suzanne walking along North Stt David Street, not far from where a taxi was dropping off passengers Police appealed directly to those passengers to come forward And one of them actually did Aax a customer who'd been on Thistle Street at eight hundred and fifty five spoke to detectives after seeing the appeal But he wasn't charged with anything and was in no way involved in Suzanne's disappearance There were other worrying signs too, which came out soon after Suzanne hadn't used her bank card at all since that fateful morning, which is a huge red flag No withdrawals, no purchases, nothing To that, the fact no one had heard from her whether it be a text, a call, an email, even a brief appearance on social media It was as though she'd just been erased from existence Before long, senior officers made the difficult decision to upgrade the case to a murder inquiry Privately, they informed Suzanne's parents before going publicly tough decision inevitably came because there was no proof of live whatsoever in the days following her disappearance Police also began focusing on a rather strange detail A silver vehicle, described as a family car, had been seen on remote roads across Arg Island and Butte on the afternoon and evening of Wednesday may fifth, the day after Suzanne vanished Officers believed that vehicle could be the key to understanding what had happened to her DCI Flanagan made a direct appeal asking anyone who might have seen the car between one PM and three thirty PM and again between seven and nine PM that same evening to come forward They of course appeal to the driver of said vehicle as well DCI Flanagan even held a press conference at a place called The Rest and Be Thankful which is a pretty famous viewpoint up in Scotland. It's a mountain pass It sits along the Air eighty three and is surrounded by mountains One of those places that look stunning while also being incredibly isolated If something happened out there, you'd be hard pressed to find what you were looking for Meanwhile, back in Edinburgh, detectives turn their attention to Suzanne's workplace. Her office on Thistle Street sat just yards away from a row of garages, and those became a key focus for investigators. Forensic teams in white coveralls were seen combing through the area, searching for anything that might point them in the right direction Five days after Suzanne went missing, a specialist police dog was brought in, a springer spaniel called Buster who was trained specifically to detect human remains Buster proceeded to search the building where Suzanne vanished And according to PC Simon Thompson, who I believe was Buster's handler He gave positive indications. He detected the scent of decomposing human remains, or blood, inside the premises So by this point, things have taken a very dark turn Police weren't just looking for a missing woman now They were starting to build a picture of a shocking murder without a body As the investigation gathered pace, attention slowly began to shift towards someone who at first glance, might not have seemed all that suspicious New links started to emerge between Suzanne's former boyfriend, David Gilroy and the very areas police were now focusing their efforts on Gilroy was forty seven years old at the time, and officers were working on the belief that Suzanne had been killed on the very day she disappeared, with her body then being transportred and dumped somewhere in the west of Scotland By that point, detectives had received more than one hundred separate pieces of information from the public following multiple appeals So many, in fact, that four officers were sent out to Lochgilhead specifically to follow up over eighty calls about sightings of that same silver car I mentioned earlier near the rest and be thankful car was becoming more and more important to the investigation And so was Gilroy He, for his part, strongly denied any involvement in Suzanne's disappearance But detectives continuue to focus on him all the same And they were now concentrating heavily on a huge stretch of Argyile, looking into claims that Gilrooy had been in that area around the same time Suzanne went missing. partarticularly keen to hear about any sightings along smaller quieter roads pllaces like Calendar, Tyndrum, the Argyle Forest, and the routes between Lchgilphead and Inverare They aren't exactly well populated and busy areas if you're not familiar with them. I've not been to any of those places myself, but a brief bit of research indicates that despite them being beautiful There are also the sorts of areas where you could hide something and it might never be found. We're going to take a quick break now when we return, we'll discuss Gilroy's suspicious movements around the time Suzanne disappeared. See you soon Welcome back. let's now carry on with the story Th came reports that added even more weight to the growing suspicion around Gilroy Papers at the time suggested that Gil Roy, who worked for the same company as Szanne had been at a school in Lchgilpad on may fifth paper that didn't actually seem too out of the ordinary because the company had a contract to handle maintenance at that very school And Gilroy, who hadd worked his way up to the role of regional operations manager was known to visit sites like that as part of his job But that particular visit raised eyebrows becausecause it was reportedly an unannounced one Usually the school would be informed well in advance of a visit And when he got there, he seemingly spent a short time inside the premises, picked up a number of bin bags from a cleaner And then left It was hardly the activity you'd expect to see on such a visit. Gilroy had apparently told some colleagues that he had a meeting in Lchgildhead, but the school itself were unable to substantiate that claim They had no idea he were come in It just didn't sit right. And to understand why that matters so much, we must go back in time a little bit Gilroy had started working at IML back in early two thousand nine And as you probably worked out, it was there where we met Suzanne At first, as with so many work relationships theirirs was nothing more than a friendship He'd help her out with bits and pieces outside her work from time to time, but nothing out of the ordinary took place in those early days byy the spring of that year as their bond to continued to grow Things changed and they started an affair Gilroy was married, hence I use the term affair, that's important for context, and had been with his wife Andrea since nineteen ninety two Together they had welcomed two children to the world, and they lived in the Silver Ns area of Edinburgh. But from the outside they seem like a fairly typical family. Yet behind closed doors and seemingly unbeknownst to his wife At some point during the affair Gilrooy actually moved out of the family home and in with Suzanne at her address in Stenhouse He was even listed there on the electoral role So it's not like he didn't spend much time there and only popped in now and again Christmas two thousand nine, he'd return to his wife and family telling her and others that his time away had been work related From what was later understood, Suzanne seems to have struggled to accept that the relationship had ended. Even though she was trying to move on and meet other people, there was clearly still something there It brings us back to that text she sent a m on the morning she disappeared I think Mart likes me There were other people in a love life after Gilroy moved out and realistically that may well have only helped to complicate things Asives continued digging into Gilroy's background, more details were soon revealed about who he was and where he'd come from He'd grreown up in West Pilton in Edinburgh and after leaving school, trained as a bio engineer before going on to serve over a decade in the Royal Navy as an engineer By all accounts, he was capable, disciplined, and someone who'd built a solid career for himself But now it was under intense scrutiny from all angles Neighbourors revealed that police had already searched his home, removing several items, including pieces of cardboard And it had also been briefly interviewed by detectives not long after the investigation was upgraded to that of murder People describe the Gilroy family as fairly private themselves to themselves but we're always pleasant enough whenever you saw ' them and exchangeed a good morning Let's now talk about that silver car again Before long, it was believed to have been seized by the police Though even with that revelation, they still needed to piece together exactly where it had been and when Another neighbour recalled seeing a silver coloud car parked in the driveway at the Gilroy home in Silver N before it moved out And it wasn't seen after it left I took from that that the cow was his And with that, all the information gathered was slowly starting to form a picture. Not a complete one just yet but enough to raise some serious questions On Friday may twenty first, Gilroy spent six or seven hours speaking with police voluntarily, helping him with their inquiries. But just over a month later Things escalade Towards the end of june twenty ten, it was revealed that Gilroy had been detained by police and charged in connection with the suspected murder of Suzanne He was also charged with breach of the peace at that time. And as you can imagine with such bad press, he was sacked from his job shortly after On june twenty fourth, he appeared in private at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, but was later released on bail after his application was successful. then in another twist, I'm sure not too many people saw coming, Police arrested his wife, Andrea charging her with attempting to pervert the course of justice She too was released on bail pending further inquiries At this stage, detectives believe they were closing in on the truth about what had happened to Suzanne. Yet frustrraight in L, they still didn't know the whereabouts of her body With the legal side of things in full swing, a massive search operation got underway in mid august twenty ten Over the weekend of the fourteenth and fifteenth, around a hundred police officers, alongside more than seventy volunteer Mount and Rescue specialists descended on the dense Argyal forest near Loch Lomond, roughly thirty miles northwest of Glasgow The search focused on the Glen Crow area, in the heart of the Arka Alps It's a rugged, remote stretch of land filled with thick woodland and difficult terrain, which forms part of the Grampian mountains Search teams were split into small units, each assigned a sector along a six and a quarter mile stretch of forest methodically working through the area They walked one step at a time, carefully looking for any sign of Suzanne Before the search went ahead, her dad Robert gave an emotional interview He said that finding his daughter, even after all that time, feel likeike winning the lottery That's why I hadd come to for him But finding his daughter's body was all he had justust so they could bring her home one way or the other Despite the scale of the search and all the effort put in No trace of Suzanne was found And after that, Things went quiet for a good while There were no major breakthroughs or significant developments that the public were aware of, at least, based on what's open source and readily available to find And it would remain that way until january twenty eleven In that month, police released some new CCTV images, hoping to identify two people they believed could, emphasis on could, being p witnesses The footage showed a man and a woman both walking separately along Thisttle Street on the morning Suzanne disappeared. The woman was thought to be between eighteen and thirty years old and was wearing a black and white scarf, a black waist length jacket, a short skirt tights and black knee high boots She had a bag over her right shoulder and was believed to have entered Thisisttle Street from Hanover Street Police thought she may have been heading towards a small blue car, possibly a Volkswagen polo, which drove off shortly after she arrived The second person was a man aged between twenty and forty with short dark hair He was wearing a brown waistlength jacket and blue jeans and carrying what looked like a small green plastic bag, possibly from Marx and Spencer He was seen walking along Thisisttle Street before entering Prospect House at number five, which was an office building Yet no further progress was made, even with all the footage, the searches, interviews and appeals Suzanne was still missing And the case was now building towards what I alluded to at the top of the episode A murder trial without a boder. Before we get there though, if we fast forward just a touch to november ninth, twenty eleven, eighteen months after Suzanne disappeared Gilroy stood in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow for a preliminary hearing That was the day he was formally told he would be going on trial in early twenty twelve, accused of Suzanne's murder Prosecutors claimed he attacked Suzanne by means unknown causing injuries that led to her death. No exact method was mentioned And still, there was no confirmed location for either the murder or deposition site Yet they were still saying this was murder. On top of that, they accuse Gilroy of going to extreme lengths to cover it up sixteen separate steps according to the prosecution. all to avoid detection, arrest, and of course, prosecution That included allegedly hiding Suzanne's body for a period within the premises of Infrastructure Managers Limited on Thistle Street They said that on the day she disappeared, Gilroy bought a quantity of air fresheners and was repeatedly going down into the basement and garage areas of the building despite having no reason to do so From there, it was alleged he later transported her body in the boot of a car. That silver one we've discussed several times already moving it across various locations in Scotland He also, according to prosecutors, lied to the police He told him his relationship with Suzanne had ended back in december two thousand nine and that he'd encouraged her to move on and date other men He also claimed to have seen her two days after she was last seen alive And then, during an interview at Lothian and Boulderers Police HQ It was alleged he had applied makeup to himself to try and hide some injuries on his hands Prosecutors also pointed to that visit to Lockgil Head High School on may fifth, the day after Suzan vanished They claim there was no legitimate reason for him to be there and that he'd ask for bin bags before leaving shortly after. Alongside the murder charge, there were many others, including allegations that he'd assaulted his wife Andrea on various occasions between january two thousand nine and may twenty ten It was also claimed he'd threatened two children It's not made clear if they were his own and that he'd assaulted and threatened to stab and kill a man in Edinburgh in november two thousand nine That latter incident, according to the victim happened outside his flat in the same apartment building as Suzanne He said he heard banging noises and saw an outside light come on So we went out to investigate claimed he confronted a man, Gilroy, in his garden only to be told to mind his own business before the man allegedly threatened to stab him. Gill Roy's defefense led by Jack Davidson QC entered not guilty pleas to every single one of the seven in total. And with that, the trial was set to begin at the High Court in Edinburgh on february twentieth, twenty twelve and was expected to last up to six weeks When the trial got underway, the court began to piece together Suzanne's final days through witness testimony One of the first key witnesses was a man named Mark And if you're a keen listener, that name will ring a bell He was someone Suzanne had recently started seeing before she disappeared after they'd met on an internet dating site They'd only gone on two dates together, so it wasn't a serious relationship or anything But one of those dates had taken place on the night before she disappeared Susanne had gone to see him at his flat in Edinburgh. told the court she'd brought a bottle of gin with her and that the evening had been a relaxed one Bennet chatting, joking and watching a film before falling asleep on the couch together Nothing sexual happened between them according to Mark, and he described it as been a pleasant night He also told the court that Suzanne seemed to be enjoying herself But in the days leading up to that date, he had got the impression that her love life had been a bit complicated of late That night though appeared happer called her saying she were gonna switch off her phone after texting her mum to check on her cat. And the next morning, may fourth Mark gave Suzanne a lift arm He dropped her off just after six forty five AM on Whitson Road, around two hundred meters from her flat before heading off to work himself in Livingston He said she wave goodbye was smiling and seemed very uer. That was the last time his sewer puts that text to a momum later that morning while on the bus into context I think Mark likes me. We're going to take one final break here On the other side, we'll discuss the testimony of Suzanne's mum during the trial Back soon I'm Greg Richard. It is hot outside and now it's time to cool down. At PC Richard and Sun, we have the largest selection of air conditioners all at the guaranteed lowest prices. Come see our knowledgeable salespeople to help get you the right air conditioner today Welcome back, right then. Let's continue with the final part of this episode Suzanne's mum Sylvia also gave evidence, and her testimony painted a very different picture when it came to Gil Roy She described their relationship as being on off and turbulent, rather than stable and straightforward There had been arguments, fallouts, reconciliations constant cycle which continually repeated itself She told the court that shortly before Christmas, two thousand nine, Suzanne had actually changed the locks on her flat That followed an incident where Gilroy had supposedly thrown her belongings out of her kitchen window Sylvia said his behavior could be strange For example He would refuse to go into the flat unless Suzanne was there by Ain live there and being named on the electoral roll. Sylvia described a pattern where Suzanne would pack his clothes and send him away only for him to apologize and come back How often have we heard that before on British murders At one stage during the trial, the jury were taken out to retrace Suzanne's final movements, physically walking that fateful route she took that morning They started at the bus stop near Jennerss on South St. David Street at two PM From there, they followed the path along St. Andrew's Square and into Thistle Street Fishing at around two forty PM They even went inside the building where she worked, including the garage areas Gil Roy was there too And alongside them, they heard from a witness who believed they'd seen Suzanne during that short walk from Princess Street to her office She brought into focus just how short that journey was and how close she got to safety Back in court, more details about Gilroy's behavior began to emerge It was confirmed that not only had he been in the office on the day Suzan disappeared But it also asked a colleague if another staff member was at work Then there was his wife, Andrea She had been cired as a prosecution witness, which in itself says a lot But when she took the stand, the judge made it clear she had the right not to give evidence against her husband when she chose not to Just like that, she was free to go Another key witness was Simon Peck, the director of IML and a friend of Gilroy outside of work He told the court he'd gotten a se Gillrooy four days after Suzanne disappeared He described the meeting as emotional saying the two men hope Gil Roy spoke candidly about the affair According to Simon, Gilroy said he'd spent around eight grand on Suzanne during their relationship including carrying out repairs on a flat. But then the prosecution asked about something more serious bllackmail Simon confirmed that topic had come up during their conversations and that Gilrooy felt he was being blackmailed by Suzanne Now I did struggle to find out more details about this alleged blackmail So let's press on Gil Ry's own account of events was then laid out in court He said he'd seen Suzanne over the early May Bank holiday weekend, including the evening of Sunday may second According to him, they'd agreed to end things properly and even carried out what was described as a Buddhist style ritual in some woods They basically wrote down their feelings on paper. before burning it They then spent the night together at a flat But Gil Roy said they did not have sex. claimed on Monday the third, he left in a way he believed drew a final line under things a way which indicated to both of them that it was over He said Suzanne tried to contact him afterwards by text and phone But he ignored her even resorting to switching his phone off He then went home and agreed with his wife to try move forward with their marriage together The next day Suzan vanished But the phone records told a slightly different story to the one Gilrooy was recounting The court heard that in the month leading up to Suzanne's disappearance, Gilroyd had sent her over four hundred text messages They're in contact almost every single day On one day alone, there were sixty four texts sent and four calls made by Gil Roy O another fifty seven texts and seven calls That doesn't sound like a relationship that had neatly ended in Christmas two thousand nine The final contact between their phones was on may third, when Gilrooy sent fifteen messages and left a voicemail. After that, once Suz Annard disappeared There was suddenly nothing Then came the evidence about his movements CCTV showed Gilroy's car in Inverre and then in Tyndrum on may fifth The two sightings were around two hours apart, two hours and thirty eight minutes to be precise which is crucial to note becausecause the journey between those locations should normally take about forty minutes max. His car had also used far more fuel than expected for such a trip And when it was examined, there were signs it had been driven off road There were fractures to three suspension coils, which is unusual in itself plastic under tray had been scraped too And there was vegetation stuck underneath clearly hadn't just been driven along normal roads Forensic evidence or the lack of it, also played a big part A scientist from the Scottish Police Services Authority told the court she'd carried out DNA testing both at Suzanne's workplace and in the boot of Gilroy's car but she found no DNA evidence linking Suzanne to either location However did say that when she opened the boot of his car shortly after Suzanne disappeared, she noticed a fresh smell stating it could have been air fresh or or a cleaning product Other witnesses then added even more pieces to this complicated puzzle A friend of Suzanne said she'd been worried that Gilroy was accessing her emails after hacking into her hotmail account She also said Suusanna told her that Gilrooy had accused her of seeing other men Then there was Sergeant Paul Granger who interviewed Gil Roy just after midnight on may sixth at Kfin police station He told the court that Gilroy admitted he had lied to his wife in the past, saying he was working when he was actually seeing Suzanne He also described noticing injuries on Gilrod during the interview included a mark on his forehead, partly hidden by his hairline and what appeared to be scratches on his neck Several photos were later shown of injuries to his hands, which included scratches described as parallel curved marks on the back of his right hand and wrist. According to a forensic pathologist, those kind of marks could be consistent with someone being scratched while in the process of strangling someone Defensive wounds from a victim, essentialor There were also marks present on his chest And then there was another voicemail A message Gilroad left Suzanne on may first, just days before she disappeared, where he sounded worried and pleaded with her to meet him Play that voice smile for you now takeake a listen. ' hest Stehen Ke up there For inv back, please use a listid acid um, you know, what it Finally, on march ninth, twenty twelve, after weeks of evidence, witness testimony, and a case bill almost entirely on circumstance prosecution finally closed its case In doing so, they dropped three of the charges against Gilroy Pace, assault, and an offence under the Computer Misuse Act. So regarding those, he was acquitted. The main charge, the one that really mattered, the murder of Suzanne, was still very much on the table. A few days later, on march thirteenth, the jury retired to consider their verdict And you can imagine the weight of that decision body had been recovered, and there was no definitive crime scene Just a chain of evidence that when put together told a convincing story didnn't Two days passed before the jury returned to court on march fifteenth and by a majority verdict, Gilroy was found guilty of murdering Suzanne Just over a month later, on april eighteenth, he returned to the High Court in Edinburgh for sentencing. He was handered a mandatory life sentence with a minimum term of eighteen years And what made that moment even more unusual? was the fact it was filmed In a rare move, the judge, Lord Bracadale, allowed television cameras into the courtroom. something that had almost never been seen before in British legal Isistra Not only that, but the footage was cleared for immediate broadcast for the first time ever So people at home could actually watch the sentencing play out That was unprecedented at the time After sentencing concluded, district prorocurator fiscal Stephven McGowan spoke to the press He described Gileroy as a deceitful and controlling individual bardered Suzanne with hundreds of messages before killing her when she made it clear their affair was over But despite the verdict, the case didn't end there Later that same month, Gilroy lodged an appeal against his conviction on three separate grounds First that he'd been interviewed as a witness between may sixth and eighth, twenty ten When according to the defense, he should have been treated as a suspect and given a formal caution, which he wasn't Second, that members of the jury had seen an unreddacted expert witness report, which included material the defense argued was prejudicial particularly related to the interesterest shown in photographs And third Issues surrounding the judge's directions to the jury about hearsay evidence during the trial The first two grounds were taken forward to a full appeal hearing on december twentieth, twenty twelve Appeals were rejected. Gil Ry's legal team then tried to take things further seeking permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court That request had to wait until a written opinion was published in january twenty thirteen But when it was, permission was refused in March of that year They didn't stop there though appeal was still submitted under what's known as a devolution issue. Devolution, devolution, I'm not sure if the where you say that word, but It's essentially a route that allows cases involving human rights arguments under the European Convention to be heard. even without the usual permission from Scottish courts. But on february second, twenty fourteen tempt was also shut down The court issued a short rejection stating that the legal point being raised had already been dealt with in a previous case, meaning there was nothing new to consider Gilroy's family strongly disagreed with that, saying they believed his situation was different in key ways Even so Legally That was the end of the road. Or at least it almost was Because in january twenty fifteen, it was announced that the case would be reviewed by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission or SCCRC That's usually seen as a last chance, a Hail Mary As there a body that looks at potential miscarriages of justice For Gilroy's family, it offered a bit of her But in june twenty seventeen The review was closed be no referral back to the appeal court and no new proceedings This brings us to the question that still lingers even after his conviction Gil Roy actually kills Suzanne. Legally speaking, a jury has already answered that He was found guilty and he's serving a life sentence But outside of the courtroom, there are still people who strongly believe that verdict was wrong. One source I recommend you check out if you want to learn more about this case is a website called gilroyfamily. info, which I believe is run by members of his family It's been online since june twenty fifteen, and it lays out their case for his innocence in quite a bit of detail They've never wavered on that stance And in fact, on may fourth, twenty twenty, exactly ten years on from Suzanne's disappearance, Gilroy's dad and his stepmum wrote directly to the chief constable of Police Scotland In that letter, they argued that what the case needed now was a fresh set of eyes There is two main points First, they questioned why their own expert hadn't been given reasonable access to the original CCTV footage used in the case And second, they called for a new officer to lead any ongoing review rather than someone involved in the original investigation They want someone completely independent Because according to them, there are flaws in how that CCTB evidence was analyysed. They specifically pointed to footage from around St. Andrew' Square in Edinburgh suggesting it wasn't properly scrutinized as a whole before the twenty twelve trial They also believe that parts of the footage from Argyle could tell a different story if looked at again. They even claim that when the case was reviewed by the SCCRC Some of those concerns weren't fully explored But what's interesting is how they framed it They said they were committed to finding answers notot just for themselves But for Suzanne's mum, Sylvia and a sister Gaail Even now, more than a decade on That search for answers hasn't stopped In october twenty twenty four, there was a fresh crime watchatch appeal, again asking for information that might finally lead to Suzanne's body being found But once more Nothing came of it Till this day No one knows where she is and Gil Ry has never revealed anything. As we approach the end of this episode, it's important to highlight how this case has had a lasting impact on the legal system in Scotland. In september twenty twenty five, members of the Scottish Parliament voted to abolish the controversial not proven verdict, something that had been debated for years That decision formed part of a wider reform under the Victims Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill When it came into effect on march twenty fifth, twenty twenty six, not long ago, as I recall this