A woman found murdered at her home in Inverness had suffered a “sustained assault”, police have said.
The body of 60-year-old Elizabeth Mackay, or Muir, was discovered at a house in the city’s Hilton area on Thursday by two of her friends.
Ms Mackay was originally from Nairn and had been living in Inverness for eight years.
Police have appealed to the community in Hilton for help with their investigation into her death.
Det Ch Insp Keith Hardie said the local community would have been “shaken” by the murder but added that it was “best placed” to have noticed anything suspicious or out of the ordinary at the time.
The senior detective said: “Neighbours and the wider community of Hilton will be understandably shaken and upset by this tragic event and officers will continue to carry out patrols.
“Local communities are best placed to pick up on things that are out of place or events out of the ordinary, so we would appeal to anyone who heard or saw anything unusual or suspicious, even if its appears insignificant.”
The house in Kintail Court is the same terraced bungalow where the body of hairdresser Ilene O’Connor, 39, was found in 2006.
Brian Grant, 50, was jailed in 2007 for beating Ms O’Connor to death and burying her body in the garden.
A neighbour of Elizabeth Mackay has revealed she does not feel safe in the neighbourhood.
The resident – who is in her 60s – said she would be moving out of the area in the next few days.
She spoke out as a “house of horrors” remained at the centre of a murder probe – a decade after a hairdresser was brutally killed at the property.
Police are trying to piece-together the last movements of Elizabeth Mackay after she was found dead in the kitchen of her home at 5 Kintail Crescent in the Hilton area of Inverness.
Officers carried out door-to-door inquiries over the weekend in the hunt for the 60-year-old’s killer and appealed to the public for information.
She lived alone in the single-storey, semi-detached council house where Ilene O’Connor was murdered by Brian Grant in 2006 and then buried in the garden.
Police have also stepped-up patrols in the area and collected CCTV footage.
They had initially been treating the death of Ms Mackay – also known as Muir – as “unexplained”.
But the officer leading the inquiry confirmed her death was being treated as murder.
Detective Chief Inspector Keith Hardie, of the major investigation team, said: “We’re at the very early stages of the investigation.
“I’m appealing to anyone who may have seen Elizabeth in the days leading up to Thursday.
“This lady has lost her life and we need to piece-together the circumstances.
“I would encourage anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious to contact police.”
He added that officers would be patrolling the area and anyone with concerns should speak to them.
Ms Muir, who is believed to have been unemployed, celebrated her birthday recently.
Her body was found by friends who visited her home at 4.45pm on Thursday.
A small posy of flowers has been left on the fence outside the house with a card which reads: “Goodnight, God bless, Liz. I’ll miss you, love Kerry.”
The tragedy has shocked neighbours.
Many of them stayed in the area when the house was at the centre of the Ilene O’Connor murder probe..
Few neighbours knew Ms Muir by name and several close said she was a quiet woman “who kept herself to herself” but seemed friendly. One described her as “a loner.”
One local said she was glad she would be moving away from the area in the next few days.
She said: “I’ve lived here for a year and I just don’t feel safe.
“I’ve had my door tried on several occasions and there have been druggies around the corner.
“I first noticed this sort of activity within just a couple of weeks of moving here.”
The woman, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. said she had been too afraid to report crime in the area.
Local Highland councillor Fraser Parr said he was “shocked and saddened” by Ms Mackay’s death.
He said: “Now that they’re treating this as murder it is quite concerning and I’m sure those who live locally will be quite concerned, too.
“Hopefully, the perpetrator will be caught very quickly and dealt with.
“I attend local community council meetings and I’m kind of reassured by the community police officers who attend and say they’ve got the local drug issues under control and offenders are quickly picked up and dealt with.
“But I can only go by what the police officers are telling us.”
Police have urged anyone with information on Ms Mackay’s death to contact them on 101, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.