Retired Met detective heading north in bid to solve murder
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AN ex-detective claiming to be close to solving the murder of Nairn banker Alistair Wilson is heading to Nairn.
Retired Metropolitan Police officer-turned-author Peter Bleksley will visit the town to pursue his own inquiries that will feature in a book due to be published next year.
He has also contacted local police and is waiting to hear back from them.
As the 13th anniversary of the killing approaches, Mr Bleksley believes he has sufficient information to merit a "re-investigation." Police say the inquiry remains active.
No motive for the shooting has yet been established and no-one has been arrested in connection with the case.
Mr Wilson, a 30-year-old business manager with the Bank of Scotland, was shot three times on November 28, 2004, on the doorstep of his mansion in Crescent Road, where he lived with his wife Veronica and their two young sons.
It was Mrs Wilson who initially answered the door as Mr Wilson was getting the boys ready for bed.
She told police a stranger in a baseball cap asked for her husband by name and presented a blue or green envelope for him. She then shouted for Mr Wilson who went to the door and was shot.
He was rushed to Raigmore Hospital but doctors were unable to save him.
The gun, a 1920s German pistol, was sucked out of a local drain several days later by council workmen.
Mr Bleksley (57), a former Detective Constable who worked undercover for many years with the London force, is now a writer and broadcaster.
He claims he never worked on an unsolved murder case and is using past underworld contacts for information. He says he has established a motive for the murder but has declined to say any more just yet.
He believes the mystery envelope, which disappeared after the killing, is "key" to the inquiry.
Mr Bleksley told the Courier: "I am pretty convinced that this potential motive is credible. It joins a lot of the dots but I have work to do.
"I have others to see, people to reach out to. I’ve got to try and put some flesh on the bones and bottom it out.
"If you establish a credible motive, I think you’re closer to finding the murderer – if not the man who pulled the trigger then maybe people who had a motive for having him killed."
Detective Superintendent Gary Cunningham said: "The investigation remains active and ongoing.
"We will continue to consider all forensic and investigative opportunities as well and appeal to anyone who has any information about Alistair’s death which could help this inquiry to come forward.
"We remain absolutely committed to tracing the person responsible and remain in regular contact with Alistair’s family through a family liaison officer and provide support and updates as the investigation continues."
While in Nairn, Mr Bleksley intends to distribute hundreds of leaflets appealing for information through the doors of homes and businesses.
He aims to revisit the killing for a book about five unsolved UK murders.
He described the Wilson murder as "the most mystifying murder in Britain of the 21st century."
Since that fateful Sunday night, police have taken almost 3000 statements from witnesses and more than 200 DNA samples.
At one stage, 63 officers worked around the clock on the case.
