DUNDEE SOCIAL WORKER ANDREW HUNTER SENTENCED FOR WIFE’S MURDER
DECEASED Dundee social worker Andrew Hunter strangled his pregnant wife Lynda with the lead of her pet collie Shep then concealed her body in a wood.Hunter thought he could outwit the police with an elaborate red herring when he reported her missing on this day 35 years ago.
Originally from Paisley, Hunter married Christine in 1973 and had a son three years later before moving to Broughty Ferry in 1977 to work in a Salvation Army citadel.
He eventually became a social worker attached to children’s homes in the city.
In October 1984, Hunter met fellow social worker Lynda Cairns, who lived with her partner, Dr.
Ian Glover, across the road.
His first wife reportedly took her own life just before Christmas 1985 after Hunter started a relationship with Lynda, whom he later married at Barry Church in 1986.
The marriage lasted only nine months before Lynda was also dead.
Hunter went to the police on August 22, 1987, to report her disappearance from their home in Carnoustie.
He claimed he last saw her the day before when she set off to visit her parents in Glenrothes with Shep, citing her history of attempted suicide.
The day after his report, her car was found in Manchester.
Police conducted an extensive investigation, interviewing thousands and following many leads.
Hunter's cover story was discredited when witnesses saw him driving his wife’s car on the morning of August 21.
Her body was discovered six months later in a wood in Ladybank, with Shep’s lead around her neck.
Hunter was arrested on April 10 and charged with strangling his wife with a ligature on August 21, 1987.
During his trial in July 1988 at the High Court in Dundee, Hunter claimed an alibi but was found guilty of murder by a jury of seven men and eight women, being sentenced to life imprisonment.
The judge described him as “an evil man of exceptional depravity,” and he showed no emotion as he was led away.
Hunter died of a heart attack in Perth Prison on July 19, 1993.
He was outwardly respectable and charming, with some prostitutes openly supporting him.
Had he been released, he stood to inherit over £90,000 from Lynda’s estate.
The case revealed Hunter’s ruthlessness, promiscuity, and prior relationships, including a gay lover and a relationship with a prostitute who died of a drug overdose shortly after Lynda’s body was found.
His life ended behind bars, and he was considered a notably depraved individual.
