Man accused of Skye shooting said he would ‘sort out’ osteopath, trial told

A antheral accused of murdering his brother-in-law and attempting to termination 3 different radical told a person helium would “sort out” his osteopath conscionable months earlier allegedly shooting him, a tribunal has heard.

The High Court successful Edinburgh was besides told connected Wednesday that weeks earlier the alleged incident, Finlay MacDonald showed a person a video connected YouTube featuring exemplary quality heads being changeable with a shotgun.

MacDonald, 41, is connected proceedings accused of murdering his brother-in-law John MacKinnon and the attempted execution of 3 different radical including his woman connected August 10, 2022.

It is alleged helium repeatedly discharged a shotgun astatine Mr MacKinnon and murdered him successful the colony of Teangue connected Skye.

He is accused of firing a shotgun astatine joined mates Fay and John Donald MacKenzie and attempting to execution them successful the colony of Dornie, Wester Ross.

He is besides accused of attempting to execution his wife, Rowena, by repeatedly stabbing her successful the colony of Tarskavaig, connected Skye’s Sleat peninsula.

MacDonald besides faces a complaint of possession of a shotgun “with intent by means thereof to endanger life”.

He denies each the charges against him.

Giving grounds connected Wednesday, Shain Westerman, who archetypal met MacDonald aft moving to Tarskavaig successful 2020, said they got unneurotic astir erstwhile a week for a “man chat”.

He said MacDonald experienced a fig of carnal wellness problems successful the months anterior to the alleged incident.

These included, helium said, genu pain, a persistent cough and a atrocious back, which led to him taking clip disconnected work.

He said MacDonald “whinged” and talked astir his information “constantly”, and that helium had became “angry” erstwhile talking astir his osteopath Mr MacKenzie, who helium had been seeing astir his back.

Mr Westerman related a speech helium had with MacDonald aft his archetypal sojourn to Mr MacKenzie, which helium said had made his backmost symptom worse.

“He said helium was going to benignant retired John Don and erstwhile helium did helium was going to spell retired successful a blaze of glory,” helium told the court.

He said helium had not taken the menace seriously, explaining helium thought MacDonald had “been watching excessively galore cowboy films”.

He besides said that “only a substance of weeks earlier the incident”, MacDonald had shown him a YouTube video called “Mossberg 410 (shotgun) v ballistic gel quality head”.

The video showed, helium explained, idiosyncratic with a shotgun “shooting this quality caput made of ballistic gel”, which the tribunal heard was a worldly utilized to “mimic quality flesh”.

The tribunal heard his woman had been connected vacation astatine the clip and MacDonald had not been capable to spell with her due to the fact that of his backmost pain.

MacDonald’s defence lawyer Donald Finlay KC asked Mr Westerman wherefore helium had failed to notation the “blaze of glory” enactment to constabulary successful statements helium gave instantly aft the incident, fixed its relevance to the alleged offences.

The tribunal heard helium mentioned it for the archetypal clip successful a constabulary connection fixed 2 years later.

Mr Westerman said astatine the clip helium thought the substance was an “open and unopen case” and helium had not wanted to “get involved”, but helium decided to notation it 2 years aboriginal aft it “played connected my conscience”.

Mr Findlay besides enactment it to Mr Westerman that successful the months pursuing the incidental helium had stolen 2 cars and a fig of tools belonging to MacDonald, including the Subaru that had been utilized successful the alleged incident.

Mr Westerman insisted MacDonald had fixed him support to instrumentality them, and that the constabulary had pressured him to instrumentality the Subaru aft MacDonald had “bequeathed” it to him arsenic it was accruing “charges”.

MacDonald has lodged a peculiar defence against the execution charge, claiming his “ability to find oregon power his behaviour was substantially impaired by crushed of abnormality of mind”, and a justice said helium could beryllium convicted of an alternate complaint of culpable homicide if the assemblage believed his defence of diminished responsibility.

The proceedings continues successful beforehand of Judge Lady Drummond.