Boarhills, June 1991 — a tiny hamlet in the East Neuk of Fife, just along the coast from St Andrews, and only a few miles from where this episode was recorded. Sandy Drummond, 33, a former Black Watch soldier with no enemies, was found face down on a farm track yards from his door — no wounds, no struggle, no blood. Everyone assumed natural causes. The post mortem revealed a strangulation so controlled it left no external mark at all. This week, Tay unpicks Fife's only unsolved murder on file: the spring that changed Sandy, the resignation and the emptied bank account, the blue bag that vanished, the red Morris Marina nobody has explained, the bandaged man on the 2:30 bus — and the journalist's claim that police once found their suspect, too late.

THIS CASE IS UNSOLVED. If you have any information: Police Scotland 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Sources

• The Courier — 25th anniversary reporting (February & June 2016), including DCI Maxine Martin's statement and Michael Mulford's cold-case-review claims

• STV News, June 2016 — Mulford interview ('ju-jitsu stranglehold' characterisation)

• The Courier — 30th anniversary feature, April 2021 (timeline, Effie Drummond's 1993 interview, Crimewatch 1998 detail)

• BBC Crimewatch reconstruction, 1998; David Wilson's Crime Files (case overview)

Appeal

Police Scotland: 101 | Crimestoppers (anonymous): 0800 555 111

*music by leberch from pixabay

Thea June Wilson of Greenock lived for nineteen days. She was healthy, thriving, and — in her grandmother's word to the High Court — perfect. On 14 July 2023, her mother, Nicole Blain, killed her, then spent nearly three years blaming another young child while posting tributes online. This spring, a jury in Glasgow convicted Blain of murder; on 28 May 2026, Lord Scott sentenced her to life with a minimum of nineteen years, dismissing her account as "absurd" and finding not a shred of remorse.

Tay covers this devastating, very recent case under the podcast's strictest harrowing-case protocol: the evidence stated once and clinically, no graphic dwelling, no amateur psychology — and Thea, her family, and the truth at the centre. Also in this episode: what Scots law means by "wicked recklessness"; why the judge's words — "struggling… but she had not accepted help" — are the moral centre of the case; the modern phenomenon of self-published, performed grief; and a closing message for any new parent at the end of their rope.

Content warnings: murder of an infant, child death, grief. Injuries referenced once, clinically. Listener discretion strongly advised, particularly for new or expectant parents and bereaved parents.

If you need support:

• Children 1st Parentline (Scotland): 08000 28 22 33 — support for any parent or carer who is struggling

• NSPCC helpline (concerns about a child): 0808 800 5000

• Cruse Scotland bereavement support: 0808 802 6161

• SANDS (baby loss support): 0808 164 3332

• Samaritans: 116 123 (free, 24/7)

• If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 999

Key sources for this episode: contemporaneous court reporting of the trial and sentencing (STV News, The Scotsman, Sky News syndication, May–June 2026); Police Scotland statements following conviction and sentence; sentencing remarks of Lord Scott as reported.

Editorial note: the young child whom Blain attempted to blame is not identified or described in this episode in any way, and we ask listeners to extend that child the same protection in comments and discussion. No appeal had been confirmed at time of recording; we will report any developments with full sourcing.

*music by universfield from pixabay

In April 2005, 27-year-old Emma Caldwell vanished from Glasgow, days after telling her mother she wanted to go to rehab and come home. Five weeks later her body was found in remote woodland forty miles away. Within weeks, police interviewed the man who would eventually be convicted of her murder — and then let him walk free for nineteen years.

In this fully updated episode, Tay takes you through the whole case, conversationally and unflinchingly: Emma's life and the grief that shaped it; the deposition site that should have solved the case; the multi-million-pound investigation that chased the wrong men; the six interviews with Iain Packer; the journalists at the Sunday Mail and BBC Scotland who dragged the truth into the light; Packer's astonishing decision to go on camera to "clear his name"; the six-week trial that convicted him of 33 charges against 22 women; Police Scotland's apology — and the judge-led public inquiry, chaired by Lord Scott KC, that formally got underway in December 2025 and is examining the failures right now.

This is a story about institutional failure and misogyny — but more than that, it's about the people who refused to give up: the women who kept speaking, the detectives who broke ranks, the journalists who wouldn't drop it, and above all Emma's mother, Margaret.

Content warnings: murder, sexual violence, drug addiction, sex work, police failings. No graphic detail.

Support resources:

• Rape Crisis Scotland helpline: 08088 01 03 02 (daily, 5pm–midnight)

• Victim Support Scotland: 0800 160 1985

• Scottish Drugs Forum: sdf.org.uk

• Samaritans: 116 123 (free, 24/7)

Key sources for this episode: Police Scotland official statement following conviction (Feb 2024); BBC Scotland News reporting and the Sam Poling documentaries; The Emma Caldwell Inquiry official website (emmacaldwellinquiry.scot); Scottish Government announcements (gov.scot); contemporaneous court reporting of the 2024 trial; The Guardian and Sunday Mail reporting.

A note on the public inquiry: evidential hearings are still to come at time of recording. Some accounts of decision-making inside the 2005 investigation remain allegation and testimony rather than findings of fact; we've flagged these in the episode and will cover the inquiry's hearings and final report in future episodes.

*music by leberch from pixabay