Taxi Driver Online

The Scotsman

November 27, 2007, Tuesday

Murder trial hears witness unable to back up casino alibi

John Robertson Law Correspondent

AN ALIBI witness was unable to back up a taxi driver's account of visiting a casino on the night a murdered woman disappeared, the Templeton Woods trial heard yesterday.

Vincent Simpson had telephoned the man to tell him to expect the police, but he stated: "I don't know you... I don't remember."

The jury was told that police had given the witness a description of Simpson, but he said he did not recognise it.

Simpson, 61, of Camberley, Surrey, denies murdering Elizabeth McCabe, in February 1980. At the time, he ran a taxi business from his home in Newtyle, Angus.

Ms McCabe, a 20-year-old trainee nursery nurse, of Lochee, Dundee, failed to return home from a night out on Sunday, 10 February. Her naked body was later found in Templeton Woods, Dundee. She had been strangled.

Simpson has submitted two special defences of alibi and incrimination. One of the places mentioned in the alibi is the Chevalier Casino in Dundee. He blames the killing on one or more of 13 named men.

Frank Brown, 64, a retired police officer, told the High Court in Edinburgh that he had been part of the murder inquiry team. One of his tasks had been to take a statement on 4 March, 1980, about a week after the body was found, from Charles Mathieson, who

, then aged 62 but now deceased, had worked as a doorman at the casino.

Mr Brown read the statement aloud, and Mr Mathieson explained that on 3 March he had noticed a note left for him at the casino, asking him to phone a Mr Simpson at Newtyle. He called, but the man's wife had said he was out. Later, Mr Simpson phoned him at the casino.

"He said that the police might be coming to see me, and said he wanted me to confirm he was in the casino about 1am on Monday, 11 February. I told him I did not know him and could not remember," Mr Mathieson had stated.

He had confirmed to the police that he was working at the casino that night, and officers had given him the full name, Vincent Simpson, who had been a member for around three months, and a description of him. "I do not know the name and I do not recognise the description. I would not be able to say if I saw Mr Simpson at the casino on 11 February unless I saw him face to face. Even then, I do not know if I would be able to remember," Mr Mathieson had added.

Mr Brown said he could not recall the details of taking the statement, but he assumed from one reference that the witness had been asked to comment on a specific piece of information. Mr Mathieson had been noted as saying: "I cannot remember having a conversation with anyone in the early hours of Monday, 11 February, about a man with a beard winning at the casino."

The trial continues.
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December 12, 2007 Wednesday

Girl's killer has kept dark secret for 25 years, Dundee murder trial told

THE killer of a nursery nurse had kept his "awful dark secret" for a quarter of a century, believing he had got away with murder, a court was told yesterday.

In his closing speech to the jury, advocate-depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, asked them to find Vincent Simpson guilty of murdering Elizabeth McCabe, whose naked body was found in Dundee's Templeton Woods in February 1980 - the eve of her 21st birthday.

Mr Simpson, 61, a former taxi operator, denies murdering her, claiming he has an alibi for the night she disappeared and probably met her death.

Mr Prentice told the High Court in Edinburgh that Ms McCabe's killer strangled her, dragged her body into Templeton Woods and concealed it, probably hoping it would never be found.

"The killer kept the awful dark secret within him for quite some time, " he said.

"As time went on, confidence grew in that killer's mind that he would never be charged and - as the years went by - 25 years, a quarter of a century, confidence must have swelled that he would never face a Scottish jury on a charge of murder."

Mr Prentice added: "It is my submission to you, ladies and gentlemen, that the killer sits a few feet away from you now, possibly still harbouring that dark, awful secret."

The advocate-depute said the jury could easily draw the conclusion that a Ford Cortina taxi seen emerging from Templeton Woods on the night Ms McCabe disappeared was being driven by Mr Simpson.

Mr Prentice also said that when Mr Simpson responded to an appeal by Tayside Police for taxi drivers to complete a questionnaire about that night, he had appeared "just a wee bit nervous".

"Maybe he just doesn't like official people at all, " said Mr Prentice. But, he told the jury, it was the first point of contact between Mr Simpson and police after the discovery of Ms McCabe's body.

The jury also heard that the case against Mr Simpson hinged on DNA evidence. Forensic scientists have told the trial that DNA on the victim's jumper partly matched the profile of Mr Simpson.

At one area on the neck of the jumper, where an attacker might have grabbed Ms McCabe, the chances of the DNA coming from anyone else, unrelated to Mr Simpson, were 1 in 320,000.

"I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, to find Vincent Simpson guilty of murder, " said Mr Prentice.

Defence QC Mark Stewart makes his closing speech today.
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another x cabbie was also in the frame for the murder,police had a statement from his mother that he used to beat her leaving her with bruises,police described him as having anger management problems,the murdered girls handbag was found near his flat,twenty years on he still has anger problems, he was fined £500 at dundee sherrif court for arguing with his current wife then forcing her face into a clump of nettles in oct 07

Sounds like a real charmer.

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