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Readers’ letters: Gratitude in hope for new murder information

Police Scotland, Det Insp James Callander (Left) with Mr Murdoch's nephew Alex McKay, at the scene of Mr Murdoch's murder, Pitfodels Station Road.   
Picture by Kami Thomson / DCT Media
Police Scotland, Det Insp James Callander (Left) with Mr Murdoch's nephew Alex McKay, at the scene of Mr Murdoch's murder, Pitfodels Station Road. Picture by Kami Thomson / DCT Media

Sir, – In 2015, we made the decision to post a reward of £10,000, in the hope it might encourage new information to come forward to help solve the murder of our uncle, George Murdoch, in 1983.

Last week, on the 38th anniversary of his death, a totally unexpected and overwhelmingly kind and generous offer was made by both local papers, the Evening Express and The Press & Journal. They doubled the initial reward to £20,000.

This just might provide the incentive to produce new information needed to resolve this sad case. Both papers have been very supportive since we approached them in 2015, in helping to bring this cold case back into the spotlight. Their reporters have always done an excellent job, reporting factually and staying on message. No sensationalism.

On this particular occasion though, not only did they achieve the same high standards, they went above and beyond them. To all who participated and were responsible for preparing reports, conducting interviews, producing videos, researching material and achieving this massive increase in the reward, I and my wife Robina, along with my brother Robert and his wife Christine, owe a debt of gratitude and our most sincere thanks.

To the top management of both papers, we also offer our heartfelt thanks for sanctioning this and injecting new life into this case.

Alex McKay.

Why no story on Tory life peer?

Sir, – Your recent full page spread on Scotland’s Covid passport app and comment describing the Scottish Government as a laughing stock left me somewhat bemused!

Just last week I downloaded a pdf file from the NHS Scotland web site that proved my vaccination status, with no anxiety or stress involved. The file can be viewed on any smartphone, with no app required.

What was missing from your paper last week was the news that a Conservative and Unionist Party donor Malcolm Offord (£150k donation) was made a life peer and given a junior minister position in the Scotland Office.

I suggest that this truly newsworthy story deserved reporting with a full page spread, and that you should attribute the label of laughing stock to democracy in the UK under the Conservative and Unionist Party.

William Mackay, Whinpark Circle, Portlethen, Aberdeen.

Passport process was a breeze

Sir, – I read with interest the suggestion from Ms Jane Lax that the covid app was a failure.

I am not quite clear what she means by this sweeping generalisation and would disagree.

After resolving an issue with the camera on my iPhone and allowing the app to access this I sailed through the process and now have my “passport”.

Unlike Michael Gove I will not be visiting any Aberdeen nightspots but if I ever need to evidence my vaccine status all I have to do is touch my phone. My vaccination status is fingerprint protected and you can see in a matter of seconds my status. Should I need to show my passport to any official or doorman this can be seen at a glance.

My international flight passport is also covered.

There was no substantial inconvenience apart for a wait for 24 hours to allow those downloading to reduce so I could access the app. Now I have both NHS apps on my phone.

Peter Macari, Bieldside, Aberdeen.

Mystery of water at Inverness Uni

Sir, – I sometimes go walking in the grounds of the university at Inverness for there’s a lochan there much favoured by birds.

At dusk recently I witnessed an unusual massing of highly charged martins and swallows, flying high above the lochan in such numbers as to be beyond all counting.

I watched the spectacle until darkness fell and the following evening I returned to the lochan in the hope of seeing them again, but not a single bird remained for by then the amazing little characters would have covered many miles southward on migration to Africa.

Incidentally where does the abundance of water come from that, summer or winter, cascades into the lochan? For that matter where does it exit?

One person who’d closely followed the construction of the university from the laying of the first brick informed me there was never any water on or near the site, which only adds to the perplexity!

Keith Fernie, Drakies Avenue, Inverness.