A Killing at Kinky Cottage

This is the true story of a murder which took place in Scotland in 1968. It attracted huge media attention at the time: the crowds of people waiting for seats at the trial were so large that the police were forced to erect crush barriers. No wonder - this case had a beautiful woman accused of murder, bizarre sex, money and a very odd love rectangle. Strangely, this case has since been largely forgotten. Perhaps the reason for this is that, in the most basic terms, there is no mystery here. We know who was murdered and who pulled the trigger and we have a reasonable idea of why. What makes this case so fascinating is that the three people involved in the murder all gave very different accounts of what happened.

Depending on who you choose to believe, this could be the story of a fragile woman, traumatized by the incessant and bizarre sexual demands of her overbearing and violent husband, who sought solace in the company of a besotted young man and was then further traumatized and punished when he unexpectedly took bloody revenge on her husband. But, it could also be the story of a ruthless and manipulative woman who used her sexuality to inveigle a naïve young man to commit murder on her behalf and then discarded him when he was of no further use to her. Or, it could be none of these things.

Let’s take a look at the fascinating case of the killing at kinky cottage and see if we can make sense of the evidence.

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