POLICE looking for a missing financial adviser found a burned shoe during a search of the grounds of a property, a jury has been told.
Lynda Spence was 27 when her disappearance was reported in May 2011 and dozens of officers searched for the woman, described as a "high-risk" case by a police officer at a murder trial.
Detective Sergeant Aileen Boyle told the High Court in Glasgow searches were carried out at a number of properties, including two at the home of a Brian Wade in Dalry, North Ayrshire, in August and September that year.
The officer, who was involved in the searches, told jurors that on the first occasion a search was carried out and the slurry tip was gone through.
It was heard that two areas of burning were found in the grounds.
At one, a burned shoe and some carpeting were discovered in the grounds.
The second time the area was searched a burnt-out chair and a burnt-out mattress were found, she added.
Solicitor General Lesley Thomson, QC, asked: "Are you sure these items were not there the first time the property was searched?" and she said: "Absolutely."
Ms Boyle was giving evidence at the trial of David Parker, 37, Paul Smith, 47, Philip Wade, 42, and Colin Coats, 42, who deny abducting, torturing and murdering Ms Spence, from Glasgow.
They are charged with abducting her from Broomhill Path, or elsewhere, in Glasgow, on April 14, 2011, and driving her to a house in West Kilbride.
It is alleged they detained her against her will between April 14 and 28, last year, in West Kilbride. They are also alleged to have severed the tip of one of her fingers, cut off her thumb and cut off and crushed her toes with loppers between April 14 and 28, 2011.
The four are accused of murdering Miss Spence on April 28, 2011, after torturing her to obtain financial information, cutting off her head and disposing of her body.
They are also alleged to have punched her on the head and body, burned her with cigarettes and struck her on the body with a hammer and golf club.
They are accused of intent to defeat the ends of justice and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by washing and cleaning the flat, lifting and removing carpets and floorboards, cutting the head off the remains of Miss Spence and disposing of her body between April 14 and June 2, 2011.
Wade and Coats are alleged to have sent threatening email and text messages to Miss Spence.
Coats is also charged with assaulting Miss Spence between March 14 and April 14, 2011, at Broomhilll Terrace, Glasgow.
He is also accused of trying to extort £12,000 from a John Glen. It is alleged Coats showed Mr Glen a human thumb and stated it belonged to Miss Spence.
Wade is accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice, and Smith is alleged to have attempted to pervert the course of justice by trying to prevent people giving statements.
Smith, Wade and Parker face drug supply charges.
They deny the charges. The trial continues.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article