Split Thread David Gilroy: murder conviction goes to Scottish Review Commission

[NightOfTheDemon]

There are 4 o2 masts (as of 2012) between Tyndrum and (just past) Tarbet.

1 - Tyndrum Upper station
2 - Ardlui retreat
3 - Inversnaid
4 - (just past) the junction of A82/A83 at Tarbet

The locations can be seen in these images.









Image of all four o2 masts 5km radius

 

[Rolfe]

Thanks for that.

 

[NightOfTheDemon]

To summarise :

The Achnafalnich track beyond the gate and the tracks over the bridge leading to Allt Broighleachan are likely disposal sites. But ..........

After more than 8 years we are looking for bones, (assuming wildlife have not dispersed the bones)

There is the possibility of a (Peter Tobin esque) burial in his back garden or he could have disposed of the body on the Tuesday night (4th May 2010) in the Pentland Hills.

He did not have a enough time to dig a deep hole (which would never be discovered) and he did not arrive at Lochgilphead School with mud on his suit and shoes and looking as if he had exerted himself. He took time to ensure he looked exactly as he should look and this indicates to me that rather than a land burial he went for the option of disposing of the body in water. (he would have to ensure the body would never float to the surface)

He would have encountered some complications during a water based disposal but there are many more complications involved in a land disposal.

 

[Rolfe]

If she's in the Pentland Hills I won't know whether to laugh or cry. (I live in the Pentland Hills.)

Bones, and possibly dispersed. But also blankets, overalls or gardening clothes (including gloves) and maybe a garden spade. Old shoes or boots. It's not that hard to get absolutely clarty and then smarten yourself up if you've had the forethought to bring the right gear.

Water is far more difficult than land. We discussed it earlier in the thread. It seems like a good idea until you get into the nitty-gritty detail.

 

[NightOfTheDemon]

When he turned his phone off he was probably not yet on the the A84 but nearer junction 10 of the M9 at Craigforth Interchange (although In this close up of the pdf map the red line points to Rossburn Lane near Blairdrummond Moss)



Assuming he thought that he would not get caught anywhere on CCTV, his thought process could have been "I have just indicated to the police (by turning my phone off before I get to the junction of the A84 and Kirk Lane) that it is possible I have started to drive to Inveraray/Lochgilphead via the A84/Kirk Lane/A811/A82 Loch Lomondside then the police will think I have driven on the A83 past the RABT"

Then he thinks that the police could look anywhere along the A811/A82/A83 for the disposal site so he wants to be more specific in order to deflect police attention from our preferred Glen Lochy/Glen Orchy area disposal site.

With this plan he was not actually on the A811 or A82 Loch Lomondside on the way to Lochgilphead so he could not give the police a clue to a specific area along this route.

He could give the police a clue that he was on the A83 though as long as he only spends about 50 minutes concealing the body in the the Glen Lochy/Glen Orchy area.(he would complete the job later)

After safely hiding the body in the the Glen Lochy/Glen Orchy area then when he gets to the junction of the A819/A83 turn left and drive for about 20 minutes and spend another 20 minutes near the RABT ensuring he gets seen and maybe even interact with a tourist or switch his phone on then off to ensure his phone connected to a mast in the area for a few seconds.

On he goes back to the junction of the A83/A819 and through Inveraray and when he is finished at Lochgilphead school there is no need to return to the RABT area as one trip there for misdirection will be enough.

He then goes back to the disposal site in the the Glen Lochy/Glen Orchy area and has an hour and a half to complete the job.

Then he is off to Tyndrum and he decides to turn right at Crianlarich and when he gets to Ardlui/Inveruglas he decides to switch his phone on.

Was this a mistaken misdirection or an intentional misdirection or did he do this just to confuse the police ?

There was no need for another misdirection and this would have been his first mistake that day so maybe he switched his phone on at Ardlui/Inveruglas because he felt the need to (over)emphasise to the police that "how could I have been on the A83 if you have traced my phone going south from Ardlui/Inveruglas to Tarbet and if I was on the A83 it would have been much quicker to stay on the A83 to get to Tarbet" "It is ludicrous to think I would have doubled back all the way to the A819/A85 to Tyndrum to Crianlarich to Ardlui/Inveruglas to get to Tarbet"

Or by switching on his phone (just for the hell of it and just because he could) he could be playing mind games with the police.

He has played mind games with the police before when he was being driven to St Leonard's police station to be medically examined.

From the appeal https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/judgment?id=fbc08aa6-8980-69d2-b500-ff0000d74aa7

"As the police drove the appellant through the Grassmarket, the appellant had shouted out "There she is", indicating a person who was not the deceased.

He could have been near the RABT/Glen Croe/Hells Glen but only to misdirect the police investigation and divert attention from the Glen Lochy/Glen Orchy area and if he did go near the RABT/Glen Croe/Hells Glen area then he only needed to go there once.

 

[Rolfe]

I see what you mean, but I don't think the timing flies in the first part of that.

First, he has to find a suitable disposal site for the body. Even if it's in his mind that (for example) the Allt Broighleachan track is a pretty good bet and goes straight there, he still has to find a specific suitable spot up the hill in the forest.

The bridge over the Orchy is about five miles up the B8074. That's ten minutes, 20 to go there and back. Then he has to get a couple of miles up the hill on these rutted tracks. That's easily enough another 20 minutes even if he did go fast enough to break his suspension. So, 40 minutes off that 1 hour 51 minutes window.

Then he has to get the car off the road in case someone comes past. Then he has to change into his gardening clothes or whatever he brought. Then he has to get the body out of the car and heave it well out of sight of anyone or anything. That's not trivial. Is he then just going to dump her and leave her there, intending to return? Then he has to get back into his suit and tidy himself up so he looks normal when he gets to the school.

Bear in mind that it's 20 minutes to the Rest and Be Thankful from Inveraray, and then another 20 minutes back. You suggest he spent 20 minutes just hanging around as well, that's an entire hour of his hour and 51 minutes just wasting time. Plus the 40 minutes or so to get up to the real disposal site, you've left him ten minutes to do the unloading of the body and associated palaver.

Why on earth would he prioritise a trip to the Arrochar Alps for misdirection over getting the body buried or at least concealed? Over getting to the school before everyone has gone home? Also, he didn't turn his phone on at all. There were no mast pings in Glen Croe, that was just the Record making stuff up which let's face it they have form on. And although people said they saw a silver car, nobody in the Arrochar Alps positively identified him.

Finally, if you're trying to explain the soil and vegetation on his car, you're suggesting he drove off-road in the decoy journey, so far off-road that he plastered his car with chunks of landscape.

This is crazy behaviour. Far more time and effort spent creating a false trail than actually concealing the body. I don't buy it.

On the way back he still doesn't have very long. An hour and 32 minutes. Take off 40 minutes to get to the disposal site again and you're down to less than an hour. He has to get the car off-road again, change back into the gardening gear, dig a hole or get the body to a hollow, cover it up, do the same for the blankets and whatever he lined the boot with, and prepare a disposal site for the spare clothes, spade, whatever. He has to change back into the suit, conceal the old clothes as well, sanitise the car boot (air freshener) and smarten himself up to meet the police. It's not long enough.

I do take your point about the mind games though. If he made a mistake on the phone turn-on then it was the only one. It's a possible explanation, no doubt about it.

 

[NightOfTheDemon]

This is the o2 masts 5km range. (situated near the Craigforth Interchange)

The masts range does not stretch to the junction of the A84 and Kirk Lane.



Previous post amended to

Assuming he thought that he would not get caught anywhere on CCTV, his thought process could have been "I have just indicated to the police (by turning my phone off before I get to the junction of the A84 and Kirk Lane) that it is possible I have started to drive to Inveraray/Lochgilphead via the A84/Kirk Lane/A811/A82 Loch Lomondside then the police will think I have driven on the A83 past the RABT"

This actually means he switched his phone off at the perfect time (if his plan was to attract the police to search the RABT area whilst distracting the police from searching Glen Lochy/Glen Orchy) as if he passes the junction of the A84/Kirk Lane and continues on the A84 with his phone still on then the A811/A82/A83 route would be (initially) ruled out by the police.

 

[Rolfe]

I can't see that there's enough time for him to have disposed of the body near Tyndrum/Dalmally and gone into the Arrochar Alps either which way. On the outward journey he has all the extra time it will inevitably take scouting for the place where he's going to leave her. He has to do a good enough job that she won't be found if anyone comes past during the afternoon when he's at the school. His priority is concealing the body, not laying a false trail. When he's done all that is he then going to waste at least 45-50 minutes just going to show his face around the Rest and Be Thankful, and not even turn his phone on? When this means he won't get to the school until nearly everyone has gone? It's a crazy plan and Gilroy wasn't crazy.

On the way back we know he went back to Tyndrum. So he must have had a very pressing reason to revisit the disposal site. Why on earth would he go first into the Arrochar Alps before doing that? I don't buy it at all (and I realise you didn't suggest that.)

If he went into the Arrochar Alps at all, I think the body is somewhere in the Lothians. He only has time to go round by Tyndrum and visit the Rest and Be Thankful, if he doesn't have a body to get rid of. If he doesn't have to do that then the whole thing is mind games and yes, it's not impossible.

 

[Rolfe]

Assuming he thought that he would not get caught anywhere on CCTV, his thought process could have been "I have just indicated to the police (by turning my phone off before I get to the junction of the A84 and Kirk Lane) that it is possible I have started to drive to Inveraray/Lochgilphead via the A84/Kirk Lane/A811/A82 Loch Lomondside then the police will think I have driven on the A83 past the RABT"

This actually means he switched his phone off at the perfect time (if his plan was to attract the police to search the RABT area whilst distracting the police from searching Glen Lochy/Glen Orchy) as if he passes the junction of the A84/Kirk Lane and continues on the A84 with his phone still on then the A811/A82/A83 route would be (initially) ruled out by the police.

Yes, I concur. That was also my thinking, exactly. And the switch-on after Inveraray fits that pattern too. As does the switch-off in Inveraray on the return journey.

It's just the switch-on at Ardlui that's inconsistent. Mind games, you may be right.

 

[Rolfe]

I have a thought about what might have been going on with the return journey.

Let's suppose he did a decent job on the outward journey. Scooted straight to the bridge and up the Allt Broighleachan track and had over an hour there. Not enough time to dig a proper grave, but get the body into a space between tree roots and cover it over. Maybe he got rid of some of what he lined the boot with as well, maybe he left her wrapped in the blankets. But he still had the gardening clothes and the gloves and the welly boots and the spade in his car. He was going to put them through the washing machine, clean them, dispose of them in Edinburgh, whatever.

Then at Lochgilphead he talks to the cops and he's told to go straight to the police station on his way back. Oh hell, he has to get rid of everything. NOW.

So what does he do? The gear he used to do the physical work of disposing of the body is going to be as incriminating as the body. There may be Suzanne's DNA on it. There will be his DNA. Even Gilroy isn't going to imagine he can continue to bluster it out if they find that sort of stuff somewhere in Argyll. A wheelie bin in Furnace isn't going to cut it.

Does he find a second secure disposal site? But it was hard enough to find the first one. And two disposal sites doubles the chance one of them is going to be found. So he goes back to the original disposal site and this time he gets rid of everything (maybe this is what the plastic bags were for) and makes sure the car is clean enough to pass a police inspection.

(I don't know that they did search bins along his return journey. But given what he said about dumping rubbish from his car I reckon they probably ought to have done that.)

 

[NightOfTheDemon]

Maybe he knew exactly where the disposal site was going to be that day when he left Edinburgh.

He could have spent up to 1 hour and 51 minutes visually verifying that the disposal site was indeed suitable but did not actually open the car boot (and if he has any time left he may have considered a bit of misdirection at the RABT)

In this scenario he still has the body in the boot when he gets to Lochgilphead (which was very risky) but there is also a risk of being caught digging a hole or concealing the body at two o'clock in the afternoon. It would be less of a risk to wait until half past seven in the evening when the tourists have moved on.

On the way back to Edinburgh he has 1 hour and 32 minutes to get from the junction of the A85/B8074 to the bridge which leads to the Allt Broighleachan track (this takes 11 minutes each way) then he has 1 hour and 10 minutes to go straight to the disposal site in the Caledonian Forest Reserve and complete the disposal and all the other associated tasks.

He did not have enough time to dig a grave but did have enough time to suitably conceal the body along with whatever else was in the boot under some logs or in a deep crevice never to be seen again.

 

[Rolfe]

I can't see it, to be honest. He doesn't have all the time in the world. He has to be at Lochgilphead by half past four at the latest or the school will be completely deserted. He has to be finished whatever he's doing to conceal the body before dark, so realistically if he's among trees about 8.30 pm.

He knows that time off-piste is both limited and suspicious. His priority is getting rid of the body. Maybe if he has time left over he'll do a bit of misdirection, but it's not going to be the first thing he does before he's dealt with the body-disposal, and it's not going to be something he spends more time on than actually concealing the body. I can't believe that he did a 1 hr 51 minute detour on the outward journey, including (we believe) wrecking his suspension, and didn't actually unload the body.

I can't see any way he both concealed the body and went into the Rest and Be Thankful area that day. Even if he did nothing at all near Tyndrum, simply drove straight to Inveraray and doubled back and actually concealed the body in the Arrochar Alps, he's cut 45 minutes off his time just doubling back. He's left with just over an hour to do everything I said above, including finding a good place to leave the body. This is why I think the police are on the wrong track. It just gets even madder if he does all that detouring in addition to concealing the body somewhere else. (And it's even madder on the way back.)

I'm really firming up my conclusion that he didn't go anywhere near the Arrochar Alps that day, and if he did and that's been conclusively proved, then he went out the previous night and concealed the body somewhere near Edinburgh.

 

[NightOfTheDemon]

This is the outward journey map with three route options from the junction of Kirk Lane and the A84.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/5...2c9999f29e4!2m2!1d-5.4302754!2d56.0287167!3e0

Excluding the M80/M8 route this leaves two route options and if Gilroy wanted the police to think he could have gone on either of these two routes then by turning his phone off just before the junction of Kirk Lane and the A84 this leaves both routes in the in the frame.

He turned his phone off just past Inveraray on the way to Lochgilphead again leaving both routes in the frame.

He turned his phone off just before Inveraray on the way to Edinburgh again leaving both routes in the frame.

Assuming he thought that he would not get caught anywhere on CCTV and he feels the need to misdirect the subsequent police investigation he can turn his phone on during his return route anywhere he thinks will achieve the most effective misdirection.

If we concentrate on Gilroys thought process on the return journey to Edinburgh, then :

He left Lochgilphead school at 17.58 and he should have arrived in Inveraray 33 minutes later at 18.31 but he kept his phone on until just before Inveraray and he knew that the police would later trace his phone signal until he turned his phone off. The police would work out it that it took him an hour instead of 33 minutes to drive from Lochgilphead school to Inveraray.

The disposal site would not be in an area where he had his phone turned on, so the disposal site is not between Lochgilphead and Inveraray.

He gets to the junction of the A83/A819 with his phone turned off, again leaving both routes in the frame.

If he feels the need to misdirect the subsequent police investigation he can turn his phone on at a point which proves (to a certain extent) that he drove on one route and not on the other.

Option 1 - If he turns his phone on at the Green Welly Tyndrum this would create the impression that he went back by the northern route. It would be 21.08 and the police would then take into account that in the time it has taken him to get from Inveraray (18.58 to 21.08 - 2 hours and 10 minutes) to Tyndrum it was still physically possible to go to and from the junction of the A83/A819 to the RABT and back back in this timeframe puting the RABT in the frame as a disposal site.

Option 2 - If he turns his phone on at Crianlarich it should be 21.14 (21.08 plus 6 minutes) this would create the impression that he went back by the northern route. The police would then take into account that in the time it has taken him to get from Inveraray (18.58 to 21.14 - 2 hours and 16 minutes) to Crianlarich it was still physically possible to go to and from the junction of the A83/A819 to the RABT and back in this timeframe puting the RABT in the frame as a disposal site.

Option 3 - If he turns his phone on at Lochearnhead at the junction A84/A85 it should be 21.36 (21.08 plus 28 minutes) this would create the impression that he went back by the northern route. The police would then take into account that in the time it has taken him to get from Inveraray (18.58 to 21.36 - 2 hours and 38 minutes) to Lochearnhead it was still physically possible to go to and from the junction of the A83/A819 to the RABT and back back in this timeframe puting the RABT in the frame as a disposal site.

Option 4 - If he turns his phone on at Ardlui it should be 21.25 (21.08 plus 17 minutes) (although it was 21.34) and this would create the impression that he went back by the northern route. The police would then take into account that in the time it has taken him to get from Inveraray (18.58 to 21.34 - 2 hours and 36 minutes) to Ardlui it was still physically possible to go to and from the junction of the A83/A819 to the RABT and back in this timeframe puting the RABT in the frame as a disposal site.

In all four options he has time to divert to the RABT area but option 4 adds another dimension in that anyone (including the police) would find it inconceivable that he chose to drive over 60 miles the long way round when he could have driven 4 miles on the shorter route to get to Tarbet.

Rolfes map highlights the insanity of taking such a route.



All 4 options get the same result (that it was physically possible in the timeframe to divert from the junction of the A83/A819 along the A83 to the RABT and back to the junction of the A83/A819) but by going for option 4 Gilroy has made an extra effort to divert attention from the A83.

 

[Rolfe]

I can't help thinking we're overthinking this a bit. He had time to plan but not that much. He would inevitably have been focussing on the actual disposal of the body. Where and how and how to get in and out without being seen and so on. How to do all this and still appear clean and tidy afterwards. How to prevent Suzanne's DNA getting on to his car. How to cope with her weight and rigor mortis and so on.

I'm not saying he wouldn't have tried for a bit of misdirection, but any scenario that has him in the Arrochar Alps and driving round by Tyndrum both times has him spending more of his precious time driving than actually concealing the body, regardless of where he actually concealed it. If we simply take the Rest and Be Thankful as his "destination", he drove 93 miles further than necessary, driving for two and a quarter hours. Further and longer if he went into Glen Croe or as far as Ardgartan.

I don't believe it. I don't believe he was in the Arrochar Alps at all, and if he was they need to look for the body within about 20 miles of Edinburgh.

 

[Samson]

I must say it is interesting to see an impossible plan work, and only fail because there is no possible alternate suspect.
I do realise this was not a plan for financial gain with elaborate planning, but this guy looks to have done uncommonly well.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, it's an interesting one. I first got interested because I'd read an article about miscarriage of justice pressure groups which pointed out that all the pressure groups in existence seem to believe pretty firmly that their subjects are factually innocent. Nobody seems to be going to bat for people who might possibly or even probably have done it but have been convicted despite the evidence not reaching the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard. I wondered if this was such a case. Probably did it, but how could they convict BRD under these circumstances? (Also the murder happened more or less on my doorstep.)

Then I looked at the evidence and decided I'd have voted guilty too if I'd been on the jury. I suspect he was labouring under the misapprehension that if the body was never found he couldn't be convicted no matter how suspicious his behaviour. Then my curiosity turned to, so where did he conceal her body and why are the police so sure she's somewhere in the Arrochar Alps? That makes no sense at all.

It's not so much that what he did was impossible as that it was a very difficult situation to get out of. He'd just strangled his girlfriend at 9 am in their place of work and he didn't even have his car with him. And yet he first hid the body while he went to get the car, then got it into the car and out of the city centre, and then managed to hide it where it has never been found.

He's not an idiot, that's for sure.

 

[NightOfTheDemon]

I have stopped trying to work out why he went to Ardlui from Crianlarich as it makes trying to work this out more complicated. If we take into account that on the way back to Edinburgh he was determined to show that he went back via Crianlarich. (by switching his phone on at Ardlui he is confirming that he did just pass Crianlarich)

The options he had on the way back to Edinburgh ensuring he passed Crianlarich are:

A - Go to the RABT then double back to the junction of the A83/A819 and onto Crianlarich via the A819/A85 and Tyndrum.(this is what the police think he did)

B - Go to the RABT continue east to Tarbet then north to Crianlarich on his way back to Edinburgh. (the Tyndrum camera confirmed he did not do this)

C - Do not go to the RABT and go to Tyndrum via the A819/A85 and then on to Crianlarich and spend the extra 92 minutes near Glen Orchy/Glen Lochy. (this is what I think he did)

A takes 84 minutes, B takes 62 minutes and C takes 42 minutes.

A reduces his extra 92 minutes by at least 42 minutes (84 minus 42 =42) to (probably less than) 50 minutes for disposal time.

B reduces his extra 92 minutes by 20 minutes (62 minus 42 =20) to 72 minutes for disposal time.( minus

C gives him 92 minutes of disposal time.

The Green Welly camera confirmed that B did not happen so we are left with A which leaves him with less than 50 minutes for disposal or C where he has 92 minutes for disposal.

The Tyndrum camera.

There are two road cameras at Tyndrum, one faces north pointing towards the Green Welly and the other faces south pointing towards the Tyndrum Inn.

From the Traffic Scotland website https://trafficscotland.org/faq/#faq019

"Each live traffic camera image that appears on our website is captured from the video stream coming from the camera, as a static image, and held for approximately 5 minutes before being overwritten by the next image captured."

The image of Gilroy passing Tyndrum both times on the traffic cameras would be overwritten and would not be available to the police.

This is the street view of the Traffic Scotland cameras in Tyndrum (This image was taken in April 2011 but in March 2010 the cameras were not there so it is unknown if the cameras were there in May 2010)

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@56.4...W3VeW9Ig!2e0!5s20110401T000000!7i13312!8i6656

Traffic Scotland website for A82 Tyndrum north and A82 Tyndrum south cameras.

https://trafficscotland.org/livetrafficcameras/

It is more likely the CCTV image that caught Gilroy came from the Green Welly here

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@56.4...EJ0-_33g!2e0!5s20100301T000000!7i13312!8i6656

It is unlikely that Gilroy would have known that the Green Welly camera was there and even if he did he could have assumed that the images of him passing twice would have been overwritten by the time the police got round to checking the CCTV at the Green Welly.

Gilroy could have easily found out that the traffic camera images get overwritten after 5 minutes.

So I dont think he went to Tyndrum on the way back to Edinburgh to purposely get caught on CCTV and I dont think he went to the RABT area in the evening losing at least 42 minutes (although I still think he went to the RABT for a reccy in the afternoon then decided not to return there in the evening) which means the disposal site is somewhere in the Glen Orchy/Glen Lochy area.

 

[Rolfe]

1. Why do you think he went to the Rest and Be Thankful in the afternoon? I don't mean, what do you think his reason was for going there, I mean, what makes you think he went there at all? Other than that the police think he did?

My thesis is that the police are mistaken, and he didn't do that at all.

2. His detour south on the A82 from Crianlarich is the only thing we know for sure he did that can't be explained. I think if we knew why he did this we'd be a lot further forward. I think it's key.

I have only two rational suggestions. One is that he intended to leave a mobile phone connection trace that would imply he had come over the Rest and Be Thankful from Inveraray to Tarbet but for some inexplicable reason switched the phone on too early. The other is that he was playing random mind games with the police.

If he did go into the Rest and Be Thankful either time, and if his motivation in driving down the A82 in the evening was to play mind games with the police, I think the body is near Edinburgh.

 

[NightOfTheDemon]

"Two disposal areas just double the chance something is going to be found."

Assuming there is one disposal site for the body and everything else in the boot then he has to decide whether to -

A - dump everything in his boot on the way to Inveraray.

B - dump the body on the way to Inveraray and keep everything else in the boot until he has finished at Lochgilphead school and then return to the same disposal site in the evening to dump everything else.

C - keep everything in the boot and arrive at Lochgilphead school with it all.

In scenario A I dont think he could have resisted returning to the disposal site in the evening to check everything was how he left it in the afternoon.

In scenario B he has to return to the same disposal site to get rid of everything else in the evening but he is taking a big risk by not clearing everything from his car boot.

Can you imagine if Lochgilphead police turned up at Lochgilphead school and asked to see in his car boot and found a spade and muddied overalls.(or even a dead body)

I think he opted for A as if the police did turn up at Lochgilphead school he would have been able to open his car boot and say "I told you officer - theres nothing in there"

Option C is just madness and option B is riskier than A.

I assume he went for option A and he could not have resisted returning to the disposal site in the evening.

He may have underestimated how many bags he needed when unloading everything on the way to Inveraray and thought to himself that he could not leave some things just lying out in the open.

He collected more bags from Lochgilphead school.

He returned to the disposal site and gathered all the other stuff, bagged it and disposed of everything at the body disposal site.

Assuming he did take option A the detour to the RABT area twice takes up too much of his disposal time.

He possibly went there once for misdirection as hanging about the RABT car park area is just asking to get noticed on a sunny day in May.

This adds more weight to the theory that the disposal site is near Glen Lochy/Glen Orchy.

 

[NightOfTheDemon]

"1. Why do you think he went to the Rest and Be Thankful in the afternoon? I don't mean, for what reason do you imagine he went there, I mean, what makes you think he went there at all? Other than that the police think he did?"

I dont think he went off road near the RABT, he just went there (only in the afternoon not in the evening) to misdirect the police into thinking that the RABT area is the disposal site and to deflect attention from elsewhere.

The police must have decided that the witness sightings were accurate enough to justify spending so much time and money searching the RABT area.

A witness could have photographic evidence of him at the RABT or he could have interacted with someone (possibly at the snack van if it was parked at the RABT that day) or he acted strangely enough to draw attention to himself.

If he was spotted in the RABT area it would be more than likely it was when he was parked up and not whilst he was driving.

Why park in area known to be frequented with lots of tourists if he is trying to stay off the radar ?

If the disposal site was in the RABT area he would not have wanted to get seen. He would have quickly got to the disposal site, dumped everything and got back to Inveraray without stopping as this means less chance of getting spotted and uses less of the extra time he had.

So I think he went off road somewhere near to Glen Orchy/Glen Lochy, dumped everything, went to the RABT area for misdirection, went to Lochgilphead school, returned to the Glen Orchy/Glen Orchy area and completed the disposal.

The RABT detour does reduce his disposal time on the outward journey by about an hour but he knew he was going back to the Glen Orchy/Glen Lochy area on the way back and he allocated an hour and a half to complete the disposal there.

The soil type in the RABT area matched the soil on his car which would be an unfortunate (but possible) coincidence for the police to have spent all that time and money on the search in the RABT area thinking the soil was collected in the RABT area when the same soil type was collected elsewhere.

The police must have had some doubts about the RABT area as a disposal site as they checked elsewhere along his route from Tyndrum to Inveraray but the amount of time and money the police spent searching the RABT area indicates to me the police had some solid evidence from witnesses that he was actually in the RABT area at some point that day.

He could have been playing mind games with the police by purposely getting seen at the RABT area then denying that he went there.

He gave the police the Ardlui phone clue to enable the police to work out his route from Inveraray to Ardlui and therefore they could work out that he spent an hour and 32 minutes more than necessary driving from Inveraray to Ardlui. He would know the police would realise that he had enough time to go to the RABT area and double back to the junction of the A83/A819 from the RABT. (rather than continue on the A83 to Tarbet.)

He would then hope the police would accuse him of being in the RABT area and he could (overly) insist he was not, prompting the police to think he was actually there and in addition to the witness sightings/photographs/interactions and the soil types matching the police then assumed the RABT area was the disposal site.

Possibly some over thinking being done in this post but it makes some sense to me.