Bookkeeper's killer might never share darkest secret after umbrella clue emerges

The loved ones of murdered Suzanne Pilley remain in a state of 'limbo' without a body to lay to rest, while her callous killer, David Gilroy, appears intent on taking the location to his own grave, in what is believed to be a disturbing bid for 'power'
Edinburgh bookkeeper Suzanne Pilley vanished on the morning of May 4, 2010, never to be seen again. And even though her killer has since been caught, her family have never been able to lay her to rest.
After she failed to turn up for work after the bank holiday weekend, a move said to be out of character for the 38-year-old, Suzanne's worried parents, Sylvia and Rob, raised the alarm. An investigation ensued, leading police to the door of Suzanne's colleague and former lover, David Gilroy, who was arrested and charged with her murder.
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Gilroy, now 62, was convicted of Suzanne's murder by "unknown means" in 2012, with the High Court in Edinburgh hearing how the married father-of-two had become infuriated after she'd ended their"turbulent" relationship.
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Although he'd returned to his wife after the split, Gilroy continued to harass Suzanne, bombarding her with hundreds of messages and even tampering with her email. Then, he responded with unthinkable violence, slaughtering Suzanne in the basement garage of the office block where they'd worked together in the city centre.
He then concealed her remains in an alcove while he fetched his car. Callous Gilroy proceeded with a number of seemingly ordinary appointments while her body was stuffed in the boot of his car. He even attended a school play and enjoyed a family dinner out.
From this point on, what happened to Suzanne's body remains a mystery, and one that evil Gilroy appears intent on taking to his grave.
It's believed that Suzanne's body was buried in a "lonely grave" in rural Argyll, with cold-hearted Gilroy having made the drive to the small, historic town of Lochgilphead
Edinburgh CID's investigation focused on the Rest and Be Thankful and Argyll Forrest, where it is suspected Suzanne's body was abandoned. However, despite extensive searching, nothing has ever been found, and her family have been left without a grave to visit.
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Gilroy, who is currently serving a life sentence with a minimum of 18 years, continues to plead his innocence to this day, much to the heartache of her loved ones, who long for "a sense of closure". Speaking after Gilroy's conviction, Sylvia and Robert issued the following emotional statement: "Although the trial has ended, our ordeal goes on, and we hope that one day we can lay our daughter to rest."
However, during a 2019 interview on the podcast Body of Proof, Gilroy made it clear that he wouldn't be giving up his secrets, declaring that he would "fight until [his] dying breath' to prove his innocence. The killer, who has previously lost freedom bids at Edinburgh's Court of Appeal and London's Supreme Court, claimed: 'I think I've been denied justice. I do believe that I have more than enough to prove my innocence beyond any doubt.'
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Although the evidence against Gilroy was entirely circumstantial, each strand resulted in a "compelling" case against him. From the dirt and vegetation on his tyres, to the scratches on his hands he'd tried to hide with make-up, jurors weren't taken in by Gilroy's lies.
And there is one piece of evidence that proved particularly convincing. Officers tracked Gilroy's journey to Argyll through CCTV and spotted an umbrella on the parcel shelf in the car boot. During his return journey, the umbrella was no longer visible, and it's theorised that he placed the item in the boot once he'd disposed of Suzanne's remains.
Explaining why Gilroy will likely never reveal where Suzanne's body lies, Nicole Nyamwiza, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at The University of Law, Nicole Nyamwiza, told The Sun: "Refusing to reveal the location of a body is a pattern we've seen in several high-profile cases. It's often about control.
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"Even after conviction, the offender can still dictate the terms of closure. In the case of David Gilroy, the continued silence keeps the family in a state of suspended grief, and that in itself is a form of harm. This is not unique.
"Ian Simms, who was convicted of murdering Helen McCourt in 1988, never revealed where he left her body. That refusal went on for decades. Despite forensic evidence, despite a conviction, he held on to that final piece of power.
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"For some individuals, particularly those with controlling or narcissistic tendencies, keeping that information back is deliberate. It sustains attention, preserves denial, or simply continues the exercise of control."
Having never given up hope of locating Suzanne's body, her brave family has continued to persevere all these years, even launching Suzanne's Law in her name to stop killers who refuse to disclose where a victim's body is located from being granted parole.
Reflecting on this "important step", Nicole continued: "There is also a wider issue here about what justice really means. If someone can serve a sentence without ever disclosing what happened to a victim's remains, we have to question how we assess accountability or rehabilitation.
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"Proposals like Suzanne's Law are an important step. They recognise that justice involves more than time served. For many families, justice starts with being able to bring their loved one home."
Back in May 2020, on the tenth anniversary of Suzanne's death, Police Scotland renewed its commitment to finding her body, issuing a fresh appeal for information. Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Houston, from Police Scotland's Specialist Crime Division, said: "I am entirely confident that justice was served in terms of Suzanne's murder. However, it is deeply regrettable that, as of now, we have been unable to recover her body and bring a sense of closure to her family.
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"We will continue to revisit this investigation and conduct fresh search activity in the Argyll Forest area whenever we receive new information from the public. So, with that in mind, I'd urge anyone who believes they have any relevant information, but who hasn't yet spoken with police, to contact us immediately."
"Sadly, Suzanne's father, Rob, passed away in February 2019 without ever knowing what happened to his daughter. We remain committed to finding these answers for Suzanne's mother, Sylvia and sister, Gail."
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Meanwhile, heartbroken sister Gail Fairgrieve, stated: "For the past decade we have lived in a state of limbo, waiting for the news that Suzanne's body had been found, but we've never been able to get that closure.
"We accept that Suzanne was murdered and believe that the person responsible is in prison, but we feel we cannot say a proper goodbye until her body is found.
"Both my mother and I want to again thank the public who have continued to contact the police, which has always given us hope that Suzanne has not been forgotten. We understand that only one person can tell us where Suzanne is, but has refused to do so. Police Scotland will respond to any information and are committed to bringing us some form of closure.
"Their investigation can only conclude when Suzanne is found, and so I would plead with anyone who knows something but hasn't come forward to search their conscience and get in touch. Not for our sake, but for Suzanne's. Please let us give her the burial and send-off she deserves."
Those with information are asked to contact Police Scotland via 101. Alternatively, an anonymous report can be made to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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The Sun

10 hours ago

• The Sun

My brother disappeared without a trace when I was 9… cruel schoolkids joked about finding body & I'm racked with guilt

SOPHIE Bryant has grown up with the tragedy of her missing brother hanging over her. She was just nine when Allan jr, 23, disappeared without a trace on a night out in 2013 - but she didn't quite understand then what was going on. 14 14 14 14 The now 20-year-old recalls her mum and dad, Marie and Allan sr, regularly speaking to the police and press, and growing more frantic for answers that have never come. Sophie, from Glenrothes, Fife, said a couple of years ago human remains were found and the family gloomily hoped they belonged to Allan jr. 'It feels bad saying we wish it was him, but if it was him maybe we'd have got a bit of closure,' she told The Sun. 'We think he's definitely… not alive,' she explained with a pause when asked if she still holds out hope. 'It's a good thought to think - that he's alive somewhere - but we know something bad has happened, or he would have been home by now.' Allan jr was picked up on CCTV leaving the town's Styx nightclub at around 2am on November 3 2013. The family has passed thousands of tip-offs over the years to Police Scotland, but ultimately without any luck. There is no video evidence yet released to indicate where exactly the young man went or what became of him. For Sophie, the night Allan jr disappeared started like any other Saturday booze-up for her brother. Him and his pals were pre-drinking at the Bryant home and then headed out for what was the Halloween weekend. They first went to an engagement party at Leslie Golf Club on the outskirts of town, and then to the nightclub. 'I can remember the weekend he didn't come back home,' said Sophie. 'I was just wondering where he went. I can't remember what the last thing was that I said to him. 'You never expect something like that to happen, so you don't necessarily recall that stuff. 'I just always think about what happened.' She went on to say: 'My parents did shield me from it a bit, they kept me out of the public eye when they were originally appealing for information.' Sophie can remember her mum and dad 'always' being on the phone to the police and would sometimes join them on searches as a child. Getting closer to finding out what happened to Allan jr often dominates home life. 14 14 14 'It's pretty much day to day, they're always talking about what they should do to keep him in the public eye,' Sophie said. 'They (her parents) try to live their lives as well, but I think sometimes we feel guilty about doing that.' She said such a feeling is contradictory because of how happy-go-lucky her brother was. 'He wouldn't want us not to be happy,' she admitted. A photo of Sophie aged just nine shows her holding up a missing person poster brandishing her brother's face. To her, Allan jr was her older sibling who teased her and who she play fought with her, but who always looked out for her. 'My memories of him are just really when we were playfighting and carrying on,' she said. 'He was my brother.' Family members have also told her that she shares mannerisms with Allan jr that no-one else does. 'I like that,' she said. A photo taken of the pair of them together on the family's porch is also something Sophie cherishes, but it's bittersweet. 'There's one that I quite like,' she said when asked if she had any photos of her and Alan jr. 'I was really quite young, so I don't remember it being taken, but it's a nice one. I know who 'murdered' my son, 23, on night out a decade ago... cops say he's missing but they need to probe vital clue By Ryan Merrifield A DESPERATE dad says he knows who 'murdered' his son, after he went missing over 12 years ago. Allan Bryant Jr disappeared while on a night out on November 3 2013, but he's never been found and no one ever brought to justice. The then-23-year-old was spotted on CCTV leaving Styx nightclub in Glenrothes, Fife, in Scotland, around 2am - but what happened next remains a mystery. Mr Bryant said he and his family have accepted his son is dead but he, Allan's mum Marie and sisters Amy and Sophie want closure. He told The Sun he's passed thousands of tip-offs over the years to Police Scotland, but ultimately without any luck. Mr Bryant said he 'begged' the force to release a clip of the CCTV video footage, which they finally did months after the disappearance. The determined dad is adamant he knows who killed his boy and hopes it is just a matter of time before someone comes forward with information that could lead to a conviction. He said: 'A lot of people have come forward and it all points in the same direction about what happened to Allan.' In 2015, the family was passed information to police which suggested Allan had gone to a house party after leaving the club. Two years later, cops searched a house in Glenrothes for 33 days as part of the investigation but nothing came of it. Mr Bryant later voiced fears that his son had been in contact with a crime gang weeks before he vanished. He told The Sun this week: 'We believe he went to a houseparty, something happened at a houseparty.' He said on studying the CCTV from the nightclub, it's clear Allan heads in a different direction than if he were going home. Mr Bryant believes those who may have witnessed what happened to his son remain too scared to speak to detectives. 'I believe that without a doubt. We just need that one bit of the jigsaw… everything stems from there,' he said. Mr Bryant and his family moved out of the home they'd lived in with Allan in 2018, but still regularly use the same local shops and haunts. He feels the mystery over his son's death has created a dark cloud over the town, with people avoiding him and even 'stare at Allan's mum' without speaking. The dad claims one person - who he believes witnessed his son's death - has told people while drunk: 'I know what happened to Allan.' Mr Bryant - who has been supported by charity Missing People - said he's met other families in the same position as him, admitting 'it takes its toll'. 'Some families just can't do it,' he continued. 'You're tired and you have bad nightmares. It's like you're digging up skeletons because it's going to be bones we find. 'It takes four to five months for a human body to decompose. 'These thoughts go through your head and it's hard to sleep. Some days are harder than others. It's just getting harder and more difficult.' Mr Bryant said Allan would sometimes stay out for a couple of days at a time, but he always kept his parents informed about where he was. His phone had been smashed a couple of weeks before his disappearance and he hadn't got round to getting a replacement when he went on what was a Saturday night out with pals over the Halloween weekend. Mr Bryant said Allan had his number memorised so would often call off his friends' phones. 'It was weird, I always knew where he was, he'd always let me know - this time when we woke up on the Sunday morning I said 'I've got a feeling something's not right'. 'We just felt something was really wrong. We held out for a day and then we reported him missing on the Monday. 'I just knew in my gut something bad had happened.' On the Saturday evening, Mr Bryant said Allan was 'in a really really happy mood'. He had some of his friends over for pre-drinks before they headed out to an engagement party at Leslie Golf Club on the outskirts of town, and then to the nightclub. 'The last time I talked to him he was about to leave the house, he was with a few friends having a drink,' Mr Bryant recalled. 'I preferred them sitting in the house rather than on the streets. Sometimes I could sit with them and have a laugh. 'He came downstairs all happy. He asked me for some money to go to an engagement party. He was in a really really happy mood.' Mr Bryant said he later spoke to a barman working at the golf club who said he had refused to sell Allan another alcoholic drink as he seemed too intoxicated. He said Allan had instead politely asked for a pint of water. Mr Bryant said his son's bedroom was left as it was for a while but eventually it was cleaned. 'It wasn't in the best state,' he joked, as Allan and his pals had left empty beer cans. 'It took a wee while.' One of Allan's sisters took a piece of the wallpaper from the bedroom when the family eventually moved out, and they kept some of his things, including his beloved Celtic top. Mr Bryant said he feels that police have been difficult ever since Allan vanished. 'They will only give me so much information because I don't think they trust me,' he said. He claims sniffer dogs have never been used and the family even had to hire professionals themselves to scour an area for Allan's remains after a tip off. Mr Bryant continued: 'I had to fight to get the CCTV released. Any other missing person case that would be released straight away. 'I was told it was data protection. I think it would be different if Allan was a woman. If he was a 23-year-old woman in a nightclub it would be released straight away. 'He was just a guy on a night out.' Mr Bryant added: 'I don't know if we'll ever find the truth but you've always got to hope, hold onto that bit of hope. 'I just need to keep Allan's photo out there so people don't forget about him.' A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'Allan Bryant remains a missing person and officers continue to make enquiries to trace him. "Any new information will be assessed and anyone who can assist should call Police Scotland on 101.' 'It is difficult to look back at it though.' Sophie said just going into Allan jr's old bedroom after he went missing was hard for all of them. 'I think we left it for quite a while,' she said. 'We couldn't get rid of his stuff. We've still got it.' She said it was also hard moving house - the family have moved twice since 2013 - and she worried for a while if her brother were still out there he wouldn't know where to find them. Outside of her home life, Sophie has had to shoulder a lot over the years, including the often unwanted attention she receives from people in the town. At school she became known essentially as the girl whose brother disappeared. 'Even people I didn't know would come up to me, talking about it and asking if I'm his sister,' she said. 'There were always stupid rumours,' she continued. 'Just in high school you'd hear people say they've found him in a ditch - things that aren't true, but it's hard to hear. 'It really affected my anxiety when I heard that.' While she preferred to try and ignore the attention, Sophie remembers confronting someone who was making light of her brother's disappearance. 'I did once,' she said. 'I can't remember what I said but they knew I wasn't happy and they never did it again.' 14 14 14 Sophie went to college for a while but dropped out due to her anxiety. However, she plans to return eventually to study psychology. One thing that has always allowed her some peace is riding horses at a local stables. 'That seems to calm me down,' she said. 'I've made a lot of friends there. 'I started when I was 13, I started quite late,' she added laughing slightly. 'Horse riding helps me focus on what I'm doing.' Last week, Sophie posted on Facebook for the first time about Allan jr. 'I've been putting it off for a long time and as I'm older now it just makes sense to write a post,' she wrote. The post goes on to say she 'couldn't fully comprehend' her brother's disappearance at the time, adding: 'The effect it has had on the full family is devastating, I can't even put into words how heartbroken we all are. 'It wasn't until I got a bit older I realised how serious this was.' Sophie went on to write that she feels 'bad' for not having as many memories of Allan jr as her older sister Amy 'but all the memories I do have are all good ones'. 'I just pray that one day people will come forward and we can finally get the closure that we need,' she added. The post finishes: 'Not knowing what has happened to Allan is the worst thing, it's unimaginable for any family to go through. 'It's a living hell not knowing what has happened to Allan.' Asked about her post, she told The Sun: 'I'd been thinking about doing one for a while, I just didn't know how to start it. 'But a lot of people said they were proud of me for doing it. 'I just need one person to come forward who knows something.' 14 14 14 14

Wales Online

11 hours ago

• Wales Online

He left the country after a £50m money-laundering case. Now he has new life in sun

He left the country after a £50m money-laundering case. Now he has new life in sun The money laundering sparked a stranger-than-fiction chain of events involving a lottery winner, student houses and a bomb plot Half Moon Bay, an Auckland suburb where businessman Gregory Candy-Wallace appears to be based A man who ran companies that a court found laundered vast sums of money in Wales and England appears to have started a new life thousands of miles away. New Zealand authorities are "assessing" whether Gregory Candy-Wallace should be disqualified from managing businesses in the country after we informed them he had been operating there. It comes after the 64-year-old Brit settled a legal claim in the UK last year over his having controlled a network of firms that defrauded the taxman, HMRC, of tens of millions of pounds. There was due to be a civil trial at the High Court in London but the National Crime Agency (NCA) reached a settlement with Candy-Wallace and his companies last June, recovering assets worth £5.8m — a fraction of the more than £50m diverted from the taxman. A judge later said the money recovered was "the proceeds of crime". Now WalesOnline can reveal Candy-Wallace — a water polo enthusiast from Sussex whose companies used addresses in Cardiff for the money-laundering scheme — has more recent ventures in Auckland, where he is a majority shareholder in two companies and owns 49% of a third. We obtained court documents from the UK court case listing Candy-Wallace's address as a detached five-bedroom house in a wealthy coastal suburb of Auckland, with an outdoor pool and picturesque views onto the yacht-dotted Half Moon Bay. The home is valued at around £900,000. The Auckland-based firms are FM Group Ltd, which bills itself as a chemical wholesaler; ACM Environmental Services Ltd, an "environmental consultancy service"; and the curiously named 846361 Ltd, which says it is in the business of waterproofing buildings. Article continues below Candy-Wallace was previously a director of another Auckland company, Amoeba Investments Ltd, which classed itself as being in the "rental of residential property" industry. The firm owned a four-bedroom semi-detached house in Yorkshire, England, which the NCA applied for permission to seize before reaching a settlement. Who is Gregory Candy-Wallace? Candy-Wallace does not appear to be active on social media and — barring coverage of his court case — there is little trace of him on the internet. What can be found is mostly tied to his fondness for water polo, from refereeing in the Sussex league in 2013 to winning a tournament in Guam the same year and playing for a club in Dubai in 2022. Members of Sussex's water polo community told us they were puzzled when Candy-Wallace suddenly "disappeared" from the local scene a few years ago without explanation. Records show Candy-Wallace has been linked to civil tax fraud cases in the UK for two decades. One of his companies, described as a former "CD pressing business", was found to be "connected with fraud" as far back as 2006 in the form of invalid invoices. Another civil case dated back to 2005 when firms owned by Candy-Wallace were found to be linked to the "fraudulent evasion" of VAT by what the judge referred to as "the Malaga cell" of an illicit contra-trading network. WalesOnline's interest in his activities was first sparked last year when we investigated a network of "dormant companies" in Wales and England. There was little online to indicate what these firms actually did, beyond brief descriptions on Companies House such as "combined office administrative service activities" and "payroll services". One director, Damien Paton, was said to be a French national born in 1994. But elsewhere on Companies House his year of birth was given as 1960. In both records he was registered to a French address that was not a real place. Another of the directors was Candy-Wallace. One of the addresses used by the network was in Cranbrook Street, in Cardiff's student heartland of Cathays (Image: Conor Gogarty ) When we scanned through the many companies, a cluster of 12 stuck out. All were based at the same terraced house in Cranbrook Street in Cathays, the student heartland of Cardiff. It turned out the home was being used as a fake address for money-laundering. Landlord Nasser Nazemi told us the home started to be bombarded with letters from Companies House in 2017 after businesses had been registered there despite having no connection to the property. "The cheek of it," said Mr Nazemi. "We had to involve a solicitor to protect ourselves and it ended up costing us about £600 in legal fees." The firms in the money-laundering network were controlled by Candy-Wallace, according to the NCA, which said the "organised crime group" diverted away more than £50m of 'pay as you earn' and national insurance payments by "offering outsourcing services to third-party companies but then failing to pay the appropriate sums to HMRC". The funds were initially moved through a complex network of UK bank accounts before mostly ending up in Hong Kong and Taiwan accounts. Why wasn't he prosecuted? After last year's money-laundering settlement, we raised questions over the NCA's decision not to bring a criminal case against Candy-Wallace, particularly given that only a small portion of the £50m was recovered — on top of his decades-long links to tax fraud. As the NCA's own barrister James Laddie KC put it, the money-laundering ring was a 'deliberate and organised' fraud that featured 'inducements to secure clients'. Mr Laddie also said the settlement was a 'formal acknowledgement' that the funds were the proceeds of crime. Mr Justice Julian Knowles also described the funds in this way and said the network was part of "unlawful" payroll and money-laundering schemes. People are regularly imprisoned for fraud involving comparatively tiny sums of money. When we asked the NCA why it would not be bringing criminal proceedings, its spokeswoman said: "Civil recovery investigations are an efficient way to reclaim funds that have been acquired through unlawful conduct, and are not dependent on a criminal conviction." ‌ Jonathan Nuttall (Image: Press Association ) There was a criminal prosecution of one person involved in the network, but not for money-laundering. In 2023 one of Candy-Wallace's associates, Jonathan Nuttall, was jailed for eight years and two months after being found guilty of orchestrating a bomb plot against NCA lawyers. Nuttall had conspired to plant two explosives in London's legal district after becoming upset at the prospect of losing his stately home in Hampshire as assets were being seized in the civil case. The 51-year-old's wife, Amanda Nuttall — who once won £2.4m from her first lottery ticket — agreed to pay £1.4m and give up the stately home as part of the recent settlement. ‌ New Zealand Companies Office is now "assessing" Candy-Wallace's involvement in the Auckland firms. Its investigations team manager Vanessa Cook told us it is looking into whether his past conduct should disqualify him from directing or managing companies in New Zealand. Candy-Wallace and the Auckland companies were approached for comment. The only response we received was from a construction business whose email address was listed as a point of contact for one of Candy-Wallace's companies. The building firm said: "I don't know Mr Candy-Wallace, haven't had any dealings with him, and haven't seen him before." In the UK, registering sham addresses on Companies House has been a longstanding avenue for fraud. There is no requirement for those setting up a company to prove its legitimacy — and for those who actually live at the address, the fraud can ruin their credit rating due to the activity linked to their home. Article continues below The mass-registering of "burner companies" allows gangs to open UK bank accounts for money-laundering. However, later this year ID verification is finally due to become a requirement to start a company — after more than a decade of the system being abused — though experts have warned the scale of change needed will take time. If you know of a story we should be investigating, email us at

Daily Mirror

11 hours ago

• Daily Mirror

Bookkeeper's killer might never share darkest secret after umbrella clue emerges

The loved ones of murdered Suzanne Pilley remain in a state of 'limbo' without a body to lay to rest, while her callous killer, David Gilroy, appears intent on taking the location to his own grave, in what is believed to be a disturbing bid for 'power' Edinburgh bookkeeper Suzanne Pilley vanished on the morning of May 4, 2010, never to be seen again. And even though her killer has since been caught, her family have never been able to lay her to rest. After she failed to turn up for work after the bank holiday weekend, a move said to be out of character for the 38-year-old, Suzanne's worried parents, Sylvia and Rob, raised the alarm. An investigation ensued, leading police to the door of Suzanne's colleague and former lover, David Gilroy, who was arrested and charged with her murder. ‌ Gilroy, now 62, was convicted of Suzanne's murder by "unknown means" in 2012, with the High Court in Edinburgh hearing how the married father-of-two had become infuriated after she'd ended their"turbulent" relationship. ‌ Although he'd returned to his wife after the split, Gilroy continued to harass Suzanne, bombarding her with hundreds of messages and even tampering with her email. Then, he responded with unthinkable violence, slaughtering Suzanne in the basement garage of the office block where they'd worked together in the city centre. He then concealed her remains in an alcove while he fetched his car. Callous Gilroy proceeded with a number of seemingly ordinary appointments while her body was stuffed in the boot of his car. He even attended a school play and enjoyed a family dinner out. From this point on, what happened to Suzanne's body remains a mystery, and one that evil Gilroy appears intent on taking to his grave. It's believed that Suzanne's body was buried in a "lonely grave" in rural Argyll, with cold-hearted Gilroy having made the drive to the small, historic town of Lochgilphead Edinburgh CID's investigation focused on the Rest and Be Thankful and Argyll Forrest, where it is suspected Suzanne's body was abandoned. However, despite extensive searching, nothing has ever been found, and her family have been left without a grave to visit. ‌ Gilroy, who is currently serving a life sentence with a minimum of 18 years, continues to plead his innocence to this day, much to the heartache of her loved ones, who long for "a sense of closure". Speaking after Gilroy's conviction, Sylvia and Robert issued the following emotional statement: "Although the trial has ended, our ordeal goes on, and we hope that one day we can lay our daughter to rest." However, during a 2019 interview on the podcast Body of Proof, Gilroy made it clear that he wouldn't be giving up his secrets, declaring that he would "fight until [his] dying breath' to prove his innocence. The killer, who has previously lost freedom bids at Edinburgh's Court of Appeal and London's Supreme Court, claimed: 'I think I've been denied justice. I do believe that I have more than enough to prove my innocence beyond any doubt.' ‌ Although the evidence against Gilroy was entirely circumstantial, each strand resulted in a "compelling" case against him. From the dirt and vegetation on his tyres, to the scratches on his hands he'd tried to hide with make-up, jurors weren't taken in by Gilroy's lies. And there is one piece of evidence that proved particularly convincing. Officers tracked Gilroy's journey to Argyll through CCTV and spotted an umbrella on the parcel shelf in the car boot. During his return journey, the umbrella was no longer visible, and it's theorised that he placed the item in the boot once he'd disposed of Suzanne's remains. Explaining why Gilroy will likely never reveal where Suzanne's body lies, Nicole Nyamwiza, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at The University of Law, Nicole Nyamwiza, told The Sun: "Refusing to reveal the location of a body is a pattern we've seen in several high-profile cases. It's often about control. ‌ "Even after conviction, the offender can still dictate the terms of closure. In the case of David Gilroy, the continued silence keeps the family in a state of suspended grief, and that in itself is a form of harm. This is not unique. "Ian Simms, who was convicted of murdering Helen McCourt in 1988, never revealed where he left her body. That refusal went on for decades. Despite forensic evidence, despite a conviction, he held on to that final piece of power. ‌ "For some individuals, particularly those with controlling or narcissistic tendencies, keeping that information back is deliberate. It sustains attention, preserves denial, or simply continues the exercise of control." Having never given up hope of locating Suzanne's body, her brave family has continued to persevere all these years, even launching Suzanne's Law in her name to stop killers who refuse to disclose where a victim's body is located from being granted parole. Reflecting on this "important step", Nicole continued: "There is also a wider issue here about what justice really means. If someone can serve a sentence without ever disclosing what happened to a victim's remains, we have to question how we assess accountability or rehabilitation. ‌ "Proposals like Suzanne's Law are an important step. They recognise that justice involves more than time served. For many families, justice starts with being able to bring their loved one home." Back in May 2020, on the tenth anniversary of Suzanne's death, Police Scotland renewed its commitment to finding her body, issuing a fresh appeal for information. Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Houston, from Police Scotland's Specialist Crime Division, said: "I am entirely confident that justice was served in terms of Suzanne's murder. However, it is deeply regrettable that, as of now, we have been unable to recover her body and bring a sense of closure to her family. ‌ "We will continue to revisit this investigation and conduct fresh search activity in the Argyll Forest area whenever we receive new information from the public. So, with that in mind, I'd urge anyone who believes they have any relevant information, but who hasn't yet spoken with police, to contact us immediately." "Sadly, Suzanne's father, Rob, passed away in February 2019 without ever knowing what happened to his daughter. We remain committed to finding these answers for Suzanne's mother, Sylvia and sister, Gail." ‌ Meanwhile, heartbroken sister Gail Fairgrieve, stated: "For the past decade we have lived in a state of limbo, waiting for the news that Suzanne's body had been found, but we've never been able to get that closure. "We accept that Suzanne was murdered and believe that the person responsible is in prison, but we feel we cannot say a proper goodbye until her body is found. "Both my mother and I want to again thank the public who have continued to contact the police, which has always given us hope that Suzanne has not been forgotten. We understand that only one person can tell us where Suzanne is, but has refused to do so. Police Scotland will respond to any information and are committed to bringing us some form of closure. "Their investigation can only conclude when Suzanne is found, and so I would plead with anyone who knows something but hasn't come forward to search their conscience and get in touch. Not for our sake, but for Suzanne's. Please let us give her the burial and send-off she deserves." Those with information are asked to contact Police Scotland via 101. Alternatively, an anonymous report can be made to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.