The shotgun-wielding Skye dad who went on a murderous rampage was obsessed with a chilling YouTube video of an artificial human head being blasted with a weapon like his.
Finlay MacDonald was jailed last Friday for the gunshot murder of John MacKinnon, 47, repeatedly stabbing his 34-year-old wife Rowena, who survived, and also attempting to murder his osteopath John Donald MacKenzie and his wife by shooting the couple – both 65.
The dad-of-four will remain locked up for a minimum of 28 years.
Ballistic dummy head made from gel that ‘mimics human flesh’
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how MacDonald showed neighbour Shain Westerman – described in court as the killer’s “only friend in the world” – a disturbing YouTube video on two occasions just weeks before his spree of violence.
In the video, a ballistic dummy head made from a special gel designed to “mimic human flesh” can be seen being fired at with the same type of weapon used by MacDonald to kill his brother-in-law Mr MacKinnon.
The fake blood and artificial brain-filled skull replicate is seen severely damaged after the cartridge is fired.
Watch – the sick video MacDonald watched before his shotgun spree:
Westerman, a 41-year-old self-employed builder, only became a vital witness for MacDonald’s prosecution 11 days before the jury was selected for the high-profile murder trial.
He contacted detectives to give a fresh statement on November 1, telling them that – as he repeated in court – MacDonald had told him “he was going to sort out John Don and when he did he was going to go out in a blaze of glory.”
Westerman explained that the comment was made “more than once” between Spring 2022 and the violent incidents on August 10.
“Them words have played on my mind for two year,” the Yorkshireman said.
‘Guilt’ made key witness speak up
“My first reaction was ‘he has been watching too many cowboy films’,” the witness said, adding: “I thought he was talking a lot of sh***.”
However, Westerman admitted while in the witness box that he didn’t share the information with the police in the wake of the shootings because he “didn’t really want to get involved in anything”.
He added: “Witholding that information from the police about the ‘blaze of glory’ I admit that.
“I felt responsible in some way that I could have stopped him, supported him.
“Knowing what I knew, I’d have started getting the finger pointed at me, you know, ‘why didn’t you tell police?’ I would have been the biggest t**t on Skye.”
Speaking about learning of MacDonald’s trail of devastation in the news, the disappointed friend said he felt “angry” and was in “disbelief” at what had happened.
“I felt a lot of guilt … because he more or less said he was going to sort out the osteopath.”
Local rumours of a hit list
Local rumours that MacDonald had identified a number of other people he wanted to harm on a hit list were traced back to one of his former colleagues, who worked with him in Kyle of Lochalsh.
The Press and Journal’s investigation into MacDonald’s background could not confirm the claim as true.
During the trial, it was said that MacDonald had left the engine of his grey Subaru Impreza WRX running with the keys in the ignition while he went to shoot Mr and Mrs MacKenzie.
Resting on the passenger seat was a 10-12 inch machete-style knife.
In front of it, down in the footwell, lay a toolbox storing 16 unopened boxes of shotgun ammunition, each containing 25 cartridges – 400 altogether.
MacDonald’s defence counsel Donald Findlay KC said it was “enough ammunition to start a small war”.
We’ll never know how many lives hero cops saved in brave take-down
It is understood the two heroic police officers who defied official orders and managed to subdue and arrest MacDonald are in line for bravery commendations.
Off-duty Inspector Bruce Crawford, 40, and 36-year-old Sergeant Christopher Tait, a police constable at the time, tailed MacDonald for at least 16 miles as he travelled from fatally wounded Mr MacKinnon’s home to the MacKenzie’s house in Dornie.
During that time, an Initial Tactical Firearms Commander (ITFC) – responsible for armed responses to sudden incidents with no prior warning – had taken charge.
The ITFC, a female inspector based in the Dundee control room and an officer in an armed response vehicle racing from Inverness to Skye told Insp Crawford and Pc Tait not to stop MacDonald.
But once MacDonald fired shots outside the MacKenzies’ home, the pair – armed with only a baton and a taser – made their own decision to take action.
A police custody mugshot would later reveal bruising, swelling, and lacerations to his bloodied face and head after Mrs MacKenzie struck him twice with a “hefty” metal toilet roll holder and Insp Crawford hit him three times with his baton.
The police watchdog probed the officers’ handling of the Dornie incident.
A report prepared by the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC) for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is currently being considered by Crown officials leading an ongoing investigation.
The P&J previously reported that a senior Police Scotland source had revealed to this newspaper that: “There wasn’t an awful lot in it. There are always learnings but there were no big issues.”
During criminal proceedings against him over the past few weeks, it emerged that MacDonald owned six shotguns and one air rifle he had inherited.
The burning question unanswered by his trial remains how and why MacDonald was granted and retained a licence despite his ongoing mental health struggles and propensity towards anger and violence.
A second PIRC report into that issue was submitted to the COPFS as part of an ongoing investigation by Crown officials.
“The investigation is ongoing and the family of John MacKinnon and those affected will continue to be kept updated in relation to any significant developments,” a spokesman told The Press and Journal.
Police Scotland said it had “fully supported all investigations” but was “inappropriate to comment further” on the circumstances probed by the Crown-directed PIRC enquiry.
Victims’ ongoing trauma
The guilty verdicts and MacDonald’s 28-year minimum prison sentence marked the end of a courtroom drama that involved hearing three weeks of harrowing evidence.
However, the physical and emotional pain suffered by survivors of MacDonald’s terror and those he left bereaved may go on to last a lifetime.
The domestic abuser’s long-suffering spouse, the now-divorced Rowena Fellows, 34, suffered scarring from the frenzied knifing – permanent marks that remind her of the traumatic ordeal.
Fay MacKenzie still has shotgun pellets lodged in her face.
Her now-retired osteopath husband, who was blasted on his left side, today lives with only one kidney.
Mr MacKenzie is also missing 30cm of his bowel, which had to be removed.
‘There are 10 children that have now lost their dads’
In first stabbing his now-divorced wife nine times in front of their children and going on to rob six other children of their father by murdering Mr MacKinnon, Macdonald has ruined the lives of 10 young people.
The judge, Lady Drummond noted that victim impact statements from Mr MacKinnon’s wife and children, which she had considered for sentencing, were “heartbreaking” to read.
In her sentencing remarks, she said they had been left feeling “angry, shocked, sad and in deep anguish” – adding: “the last two years have been unimaginably difficult for them, they miss and grieve for him daily.”
Detective Inspector Richard Baird read out a family statement from Ann McDonnell and Christine Scally – Mr MacKinnon’s sisters – to the media scrum outside the High Court in Edinburgh last Friday.
Following the outcome of his trial, the grief-stricken relatives condemned the callous gun thug’s “evil actions”.
They added: “There are 10 children that have now lost their dads. Finlay MacDonald’s own children are now without a father as a result of his selfish and evil actions.
“John’s six children have been left without his love, support, guidance, security and humour.
“John would be so very proud and full of admiration of his children who have coped so courageously in such awful adversity with the elder children bravely attending court.”
Accused tried to play mental health card
Finlay MacDonald had already been declared mentally fit to stand trial and held criminally responsible for his conduct.
However, MacDonald claimed – through his lawyers – that his ability to determine or control his actions was substantially impaired by abnormality of mind at the time of widowing his sister.
The overstated role that his mild autism spectrum disorder (ASD) played in his offending, along with additional disorders diagnosed by several psychiatry and psychology clinicians, was something jurors refused to believe had any significant bearing on MacDonald’s ability to determine and control his actions.
Advocate depute Liam Ewing KC – the prosecutor – presented a package of compelling evidence that demonstrated MacDonald intended to kill on the day in question and exposed MacDonald’s pre-planning efforts:
- Spring 2022 – MacDonald ranted about osteopath John Donald Mackenzie, telling his wife “I am going to kill him, bloody kill him for ruining my life.”
- Spring/Summer 2022 – He asked his wife to arrange life assurance for them both, but his application was declined due to his dangerous job at sea.
- Spring 2022 until time of spree – MacDonald told his one and only friend, 41-year-old neighbour Shain Westerman, that “he was going to sort out (the osteopath) John Don and when he did he was going to go out in a blaze of glory”.
- 20-25 May 2022 – He researched “410 pump action Mossberg shotguns for sale, how a pump shotgun works” and “loading and shooting a pump shotgun” online.
- 24 May 2022 – According to his internet browsing history, MacDonald watched the YouTube video “410 vs ballistic gel” depicting an artificial head designed to resemble human flesh being shot at with the same type of gun he used in the spree.
- 20 June 2022 – MacDonald legally purchased two shotguns, including the murder weapon (pictured below), and approximately 1,000 cartridges of ammunition.
To readers of The Press and Journal, the Skye shooting murder trial concerned themes of alleged infidelity, family grudges, revenge, guilt, and trauma.
But for the jury of eight men and seven women, the state of MacDonald’s mental health was the only question that mattered.
In the end, they answered that question unequivocally – there was never any doubt that MacDonald knew right from wrong at the time of his horrific crimes.
Read more:
- ‘Doting’ Skye dad unmasked as ‘menacing’ anti-authority conspiracy theorist who always played the victim
- Policing expert – Why didn’t gun licensing system disarm Skye shooter Finlay MacDonald before rampage?
- Skye shooting case: How easy was it for the killer to get a shotgun? And what must change?
- Family of Skye victim hit out at killer’s ‘lies’ and pay tribute to devoted dad and beloved brother
- Skye man guilty of murder and attempted murders after shotgun revenge spree
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