Brother's appeal in Brian McKandie murder case
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THE brother of murder victim Brian McKandie has made a direct appeal to anyone with information that might help the investigation to come forward.
A photograph showing Brian McKandie within a bank in Turriff on Friday March 11 has also been released.
Speaking about his brother’s death, William McKandie said: "It’s been almost two weeks since Brian has died and it’s just been a total shock, especially as police believe that he was attacked.
"My sister and I are now left with questions about why someone would want to hurt him, what did they want?
"He was a 67 year old man who lived alone, who worked hard as a self-employed mechanic and was friendly to anyone who spoke to him. How could someone do this to him?
"I would ask that if anyone thinks they have information about what happened to my brother, they may have seen something or heard something, to contact police.
"Somebody somewhere must know what happened to Brian. I would ask them to look to their conscience and call the police. We are finding this whole situation really hard to come to terms with. We have lost our brother and we just want to know what happened and why."
Detective Chief Inspector Iain Smith said: "As highlighted yesterday, we now believe that Brian was attacked with a weapon in his home on Friday March 11.
"We are still keen to speak to men seen talking to Mr McKandie at various points on Friday March 11.
"Two men were seen talking to him between 1pm and 2pm on Friday in his driveway. The first man is thought to be in his fifties, with a heavy set build. The second man has been described as younger. At the time they appeared to be beside a burgundy or maroon coloured estate car which was parked in Mr McKandie’s driveway leading up to his house.
"Earlier this week we also appealed for two men seen talking to Mr McKandie between 5pm and 6pm on Friday 11 March 2016. One man is believed to be aged in his twenties and the other aged in his thirties or forties.
"It may be that the second set of men we are looking to speak to are the same as the first two or it could be another pair however we are appealing for these men to come forward or to anyone who may have seen them talking to Mr McKandie.
"If anyone knows who they are or has information that could help us trace them we would ask that they come forward.
"This type of crime is highly unusual in the North East, but especially all the more rare in a rural community in Aberdeenshire, such as this. We have a dedicated team investigating this incident plus the assistance of a number of specialist officers and departments, however information from the public will be key to us solving this case.
"I would again appeal to anyone with information to come forward. Someone might have seen something at the time or might have heard or have come to know something since that weekend. I would urge them to contact us with that information.
"Also, if anyone was driving on the B9001 between Rothienorman and Forgue at any point on Friday March 11 who was using their dashboard camera, I would ask them to copy the footage from that part of their journey, especially as they were driving through Badenscoth, save it to disk and hand it into their nearest police office.
"The information within the footage will potentially help us progress the enquiry forward.
"I would like to conclude by saying that this has been a shocking incident for the local community and deeply upsetting for Mr McKandie’s family. Family liaison officers are providing support to the family at this time.
"Brian’s brother and sister are obviously desperate for us to catch whoever has done this to their brother so they can get the answers they want and start to try to come to terms with what has happened. For their sake I would ask again for anyone with information about this incident to come forward."
