Murder-accused could be "obnoxious"
One of the men accused of murdering Robert Rose did not appear to share other Sanday residents concerns over the missing man, the court heard today, Tuesday.
During evidence at the High Court in Glasgow, Sanday hotelier John Sinclair said murder-accused Stephen Crummack, 51, had shown no anxieties about the disappearance of Mr Rose.
QC Donald Findlay, defence agent for co-accused John Campbell, 59, asked Mr Sinclair: "You got no sense from him that he was joining in your anxieties about the apparent disappearance of Bob Rose?"
Mr Sinclair replied: "No."
The court heard that Crummack had been confronted by friends of Robert Rose, who were concerned about the missing 54 year-old.
Mr Sinclair said he and two friends went to Campbell's home where they found him and Crummack.
They asked Crummack if he knew what happened to Mr Rose, to which he replied "no" and "shrugged his shoulders".
Mr Findlay asked Mr Sinclair: "Did he offer any concerns about your concerns?"
The witness replied: "Not to my knowledge."
Mr Findlay later suggested to the witness that Mr Rose had in the past bankrolled Crummack.
In his evidence, Mr Sinclair also told the jury how he had problems with Crummack in the past.
Mr Sinclair had been forced to bar the murder-accused as he could be "obnoxious" and affected business when he drank there.
Mr Sinclair also said he was on friendly terms with Mr Rose, who visited his hotel every Sunday for lunch and played chess with the hotelier.
On June 7, Mr Rose had been due to go there for a meal with a local couple, but did not show.
Mr Sinclair said initially he thought Mr Rose had been busy working on a shelter for his alpacas. But, when he did not turn up the next day, the hotelier told the jury his doubts began to grow.
In the evidence of another witness, the court heard how Crummack was claimed to have been behaving strangely during the weekend of the alleged killing.
Barmaid, Kirsty Feast said Crummack had returned for a drink on the evening of June 6, with his head shaved, but chunks of hair had been missed.
Crummack and Campbell deny murdering Mr Rose in Sanday, on June 6 or 7 last year. They are also deny later burying his body in nearby sand dunes.
They deny the charges.
The trial, before Judge Lord Turnbull, continues. |
