EDINBURGH MAN GETS LIFE FOR MURDERING AND DISMEMBERING EX-PRISON FRIEND
A convicted rapist was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday for murdering and dismembering a former history teacher he befriended while in prison.Ian Sutherland, 33, murdered Alan Wilson by strangulation before dismembering his body and disposing of the limbs in a shallow grave in Edinburgh's west end.
He was reported to have relaxed by watching a video of the film Natural Born Killers after carrying out the gruesome act.
Sutherland initially attempted to blame Tracy Scott, a sauna worker and his former lover, and was taken into custody protesting his innocence.
The jury of eight men and seven women at the High Court in Edinburgh unanimously found Sutherland guilty of the murder and dismemberment.
Lord Dawson, the trial judge, stated, 'No words of mine can bring Alan Wilson back to life.
No words of mine adequately express the public revulsion at your behaviour in this whole affair.
All I can do is reflect that revulsion by imposing the only sentence which the law allows.' He ordered that Sutherland serve at least 15 years before being eligible for parole, with an additional five-year sentence for dismembering the body.
The incident happened close to the home of crime novelist Ian Rankin, who plans to incorporate aspects of the case into his next book.
During the trial, Ms Scott recounted hearing Sutherland's saw cutting Mr Wilson's limbs before they sat down to drink and watch videos.
Mr Wilson was a convicted paedophile, jailed for 18 months in 2000, and met his killer in Edinburgh's Saughton prison.
The victim was 51 years old and had been found guilty of eight sex assaults on three boys between 1994 and 1999, while serving as a history teacher at James Gillespie's High School.
Sutherland had previously been imprisoned for seven years for raping a prostitute.
Months after his release, he met Ms Scott in a pub while sharing the flat of Mr Wilson off the Royal Mile.
A legal challenge prevented the jury from hearing allegations that Sutherland had attacked Mr Wilson for making sexual advances towards him, with the prosecution claiming it was a snapped response.
Keith Stewart, advocate depute, compared the case to a detective story but emphasized that there was no mystery—the evidence clearly pointed to Sutherland as the murderer.
Mr Wilson, a bank manager's son, author, and co-founder of Mercat Tours, was also known for his ghost stories, including a book titled Haunted Edinburgh.
