THE family of Malcolm Webster's murdered wife have demanded a personal apology from the officers who caused them to grieve twice for their loss by originally ascribing her death to an accident.

Webster, who evaded justice for 17 years, was last night facing life in prison after a High Court jury found him guilty of the murder of Claire Morris in a car fire in Aberdeenshire in 1994, after which he claimed more than £200,000 in life insurance.

He spent the money within six months, with a yacht and Range Rover among his purchases.

The psychopath, a former nurse and son of a detective, went on to plan the murder of his second wife in New Zealand and a bigamous marriage to a third, Simone Banerjee, of Oban, to gain access to her estate with a cold-hearted plan in which he faked terminal cancer to win her affection.

In total, he attempted to gain around £1 million by the deception of those he pretended to love most.

Last night, the brother of Ms Morris was “elated” that the truth had been revealed about Webster, but said an apology from the police who originally failed to identify his sister’s death as murder was now due.

Peter Morris, 48, said: “The fact of the matter is that in 1994, a murder was not detected.” He added he was hoping those who made mistakes in 1994 would have the honesty “to apologise to my mother and myself”.

He added: “I am not asking Grampian Police for an apology, I am asking the people who made mistakes to apologise. I understand that people have reputations to protect, but my sister lost her life and I feel that is more important.”

The car fire that killed Ms Morris, 32, in Tarves, Aberdeenshire, was reported as accidental with police forensic officer Eric Jensen finding the blaze was most likely to have started in the engine compartment of Webster’s Daihatsu, possibly by a spark caused by a collision. This was backed by the Crown Office.

It is now known Webster rendered his wife unconscious by drugging her with sedatives before driving the car down an embankment and pouring petrol over it before setting it alight.

Mr Jensen, now retired, said: “I don’t say there was no evidence of foul play, just that my examination didn’t reveal anything.”

He said he “understood” the Morris family’s demand for an apology, but had stood by his findings for the past 17 years. “I wouldn’t change a thing. You can’t manufacture evidence. If it’s not there, there’s nothing you can do.”

Mr Morris, who moved to Glasgow from Kent to follow the 70-day trial, the longest of its kind for a sole accused, said he had nothing but regard for the Grampian officers, headed by Detective Chief Inspector Phil Chapman, who started to reinvestigate the case in 2008 after a scientific breakthrough.

Since then 1200 witness statements were taken across numerous countries, an investigation second only in scale to the Lockerbie bombing case.

The case was revived after the sister of Felicity Drumm, who was also targeted by Webster, visited the UK in 2006 and shared concerns about him with a police officer, a move which chimed with forensic developments that allowed Ms Morris’s tissue samples to be retested for sedatives.

Mr Chapman said: “The technology hadn’t been there before. This has been a five-year investigation, with up to 25 detectives working on it at one time. We would never have reasonably expected that we were dealing with this crime when presented with the circumstances we had in 1994.”

The judge, Lord Bannatyne, has requested information about Webster’s financial situation with a view to awarding “a penniless” Ms Drumm compensation.

Mr Morris said the verdict had freed him and his family from the “psychological sadism” inflicted by Webster.

He added: “I hope this will apply to anyone else involved with Malcolm Webster -- that they also feel relieved and elated by the conclusion arrived at today. They are now free from the web of deception he had created.”

Webster will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh in July.