Brother of murder victim Brian McKandie in fresh plea
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THE brother of murder victim Brian McKandie, who was found dead on Saturday, March 12 in Rothienorman has made an emotional plea to members of the public for information which might help the investigation.
As it approaches six months since Mr McKandie was found dead his family have urged anyone who had any dealings with Brian to contact police even if they think that their information bears no relation to the enquiry.
Mr McKandie’s brother William said: "It is still incredibly difficult without him especially given the circumstances in which he died.
"Brian was a hard working, private man and we cannot understand why anyone would want to hurt him.
"He had a quiet and unassuming personality and didn’t have a lot of close friends but he had a great many acquaintances and was very well known in the area having lived there his whole life.
"He was a busy mechanic and he was known for doing a good job and many people came to his property to get work done on their vehicles.
"We would like to directly appeal to the public and in particular to those who knew Brian to contact the police. A small piece of information which may seem irrelevant could make all the difference.
"Somebody must know what happened to Brian and we would ask them to look to their conscience and call the police. We have lost our brother and we just want to know what happened and why."
Detective Chief Inspector Iain Smith said: "This type of crime is very unusual in the north east and has obviously been extremely distressing for Brian’s family as well as the wider community.
"Over the weekend there will be additional patrols carried out in the Rothienorman area and the police incident van will be at Brian’s address. We would encourage anyone with information to contact police or speak to any officer there.
"Brian’s family naturally are anxious to know what has happened and just want answers so they can come to terms with what has happened. Family liaison officers continue to provide support to the family and for their sake I would ask again for anyone with information about this incident to come forward."
"An extensive forensic examination of Brian’s address has resulted in the recovery of forensic evidence. We are keen to identify anyone who knew Brian, was a customer of his or frequented his address for any reason. Despite repeated appeals and being six months on we are still identifying new customers all the time.
"If you are aware of anyone who was a customer of Brian’s, please let us know and we can quickly check as to whether we have spoken to them"
"We have also repeatedly appealed for the information about a boxy red or burgundy coloured estate car seen at Brian’s address on Friday, March 11.
"Following extensive enquires the timeframe for the various witnesses seeing this car has been narrowed to between 1.30pm and 2pm. The persons seen at Brian’s address at that time are broadly described as:-
1 - Older male, possibly 40-50 years old, heavy build with dark hair
2 - Younger male, possibly 20-30 years old, thin build, blonde hair, possible collar length
Although sometimes described as a Volvo style estate car, it could be any old estate car of similar shape and features. This car and persons remain untraced."
Police can be contacted on 101. Crimestoppers has offered a £10,000 reward for information that can lead to conviction and can be contacted on 0800 555 111.
