Murder Trial | Preview (BBC Two)

Guilty or not guilty? Murder Trial, returns to the Scottish High Courts with the case of a man found dead in the middle of the countryside, with no witnesses, no forensics linking a suspect to the deceased and an accused man who the prosecution say has meticulously covered his tracks.

Former country estate groundsman Brian Low, is found dead by a fellow dogwalker one winter morning in rural Perthshire. Several days later, it’s revealed he has been shot dead. Now, his neighbour and ex-gamekeeper David Campbell stands accused of his murder.

Battling the potential missed forensic opportunities, the prosecution lead a circumstantial case, attempting to link multiple smaller strands of evidence to build a picture of a decades-old feud between victim and accused and how it led to a pre-meditated murder.

A section of Campbell’s home CCTV was deleted on the night in question and his doorbell camera was covered in tape on the morning of the crime. However, the prosecution show CCTV from the local area, revealing a mysterious dark figure on an e-bike carrying a shotgun-shaped bag on the route from Campbell’s house to the crime scene.

Further sightings show a horse startling in a nearby field around the time they believe Low’s mobile phone stopped moving. Does this CCTV show the killer on his way to murder Brian Low and a horse spooked by a gunshot? Can the jury be convinced the man on the bike is Campbell.

With no witnesses to the incident itself and no direct forensics connecting the accused to the deceased, the defence’s role is to expose flaws in the evidence. They will tear apart the prosecution’s timeline – and target flaws in the evidence of the victim’s own partner.

Discrepancy in her memory of when she last saw Brian alive questions her vital testimony and reveals a critical gap in the prosecution’s timeline. In an attempt to raise doubt in the mind of the jury, they will also argue that the CCTV does not show the defendant at all and that he has an alibi.

With both sides also relying on vital witness testimony from fellow estate workers and neighbours, the trial will paint for the jury a picture of a small community ripped apart by old grudges and secrets surfacing in the wake of a killing. As the victim’s family await justice, the accused awaits his fate. 

Murder Trial returns Wednesday 12th August at 9pm on BBC Two.