Police Scotland has launched a murder enquiry following the shooting of Brian Low, 65, who was out walking his dog on a remote track in Aberfeldy, Perthshire on 17th February 2024 (see here).
Mr Low had worked as a groundsman for the nearby notorious Edradynate Estate for more than twenty years before retiring last year.
As many newspapers have been reporting, Edradynate Estate has been at the centre of multiple police investigations over the years, mostly in relation to the illegal poisoning of birds of prey (some details provided here on former Tayside Police Wildlife Crime Officer Alan Stewart’s blog), although if you read Alan’s book ‘Wildlife Detective’ you learn that there were also allegations of local’s dogs and cats being poisoned, a tenant farmer’s dog being shot, and threatening behaviour towards a local resident who had run over a pheasant.
Despite a handful of prosecutions over the years, nobody has ever been convicted of these offences, although Edradynate Estate was the subject of a three-year General Licence Restriction between 2017-2020 in relation to wildlife crimes (see here).
The estate was in the news again in 2019 when the former Head Gamekeeper was cleared of maliciously damaging crops on the Estate, alleged to have been done in revenge for losing his job (see here).
There is no suggestion whatsoever that anyone from Edradynate Estate is involved with Mr Low’s murder but it’s reasonable to assume, as in any murder inquiry, his long-term employment there will form part of the police investigation into his background and to identify any possible motives for this murder.
Police Scotland have been undertaking local enquiries for the last ten days prior to publicising the news of Mr Low’s murder. I sincerely hope they have been able to identify a suspect and that they find sufficient evidence to convict for this appalling crime.
They have opened a Major Incident Portal where members of the public can provide information directly to the investigating team (named Operation Newlane): CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 13 March 2024: Renewed appeal from Police Scotland following murder of Brian Low in Aberfeldy (here)
UPDATE 13 March 2024: The Daily Mail is reporting suggestions that Brian Low was shot at long range (here).
UPDATE 24 May 2024: Police arrest 75-year old man in connection with murder of Brian Low in Aberfeldy (here)
UPDATE 25th May 2024: David Campbell charged with murder of Edradynate Estate’s former groundsman Brian Low (here)
UPDATE 28 May 2024: Retired Edradynate Estate gamekeeper David Campbell appears in court accused of shotgun murder of Brian Low (here)
UPDATE 4 June 2024: Retired gamekeeper David Campbell accused of shotgun murder is granted bail – Crown Office appeals Sheriff’s decision (here)
UPDATE 8 June 2024: Former Edradynate Estate gamekeeper & murder suspect David Campbell refused bail (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 
Other employees and ex ones must be worried.Wiæl they ever find any new employees?
These estates seem to be run æske little mafia kingdoms.
About time all these places shut down and reused for purposes that benefit local communities and wildlife.At moment these places are stuck in the past in a very dark place.
Condolences to the gentleman’s
family.If only dogs could talk eh’.
[Ed: Thanks for your comment, Ronald but I can’t publish it. Please note, nobody has been arrested or charged yet]
I am somewhat puzzled why it took the Police ten days to “launch a murder investigation” after the emergency services had attended (and only after a subsequent post mortem).
Something not obvious is being withheld…
I’m not surprised that the local community are spooked.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-68413366
so suspects could get rid of evidence??
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Could this have been a ricochet bullet from somone deer stalking a good distance away and they don’t realise what’s happened…..just a thought
Read the Police Scotland press release – they have reason to believe it was murder.
Have you lot got nothing better to do that throw about insinuations? An absolute disgrace the lot of you
What insinuations are those, Sarah?
Perhaps you missed this paragraph:
‘There is no suggestion whatsoever that anyone from Edradynate Estate is involved with Mr Low’s murder but it’s reasonable to assume, as in any murder inquiry, his long-term employment there will form part of the police investigation into his background and to identify any possible motives for this murder’.
There’s been a huge amount of reporting in the press about this case and almost all of them refer to the long history of criminal activity associated with Edradynate Estate. It’s perfectly legitimate.
I am sure the investigating officers will have their job made more difficult by the culture of such land holdings and their activities. I wish them luck in flushing out the perpetrator of this crime..
I don’t think there’s enough public information available yet for any of us to reliably speculate on what has happened here. Murder as opposed to accidental death or suicide is a fairly emphatic conclusion to base the inquiry on, so I think we can be confident the police have enough evidence to suggest that. As to who, why or how it was committed, we’ll have to wait for further information. Linking it to any activities at the estate is tenuous at this stage although I don’t think any of us will be surprised if it turns out there is a link eventually.