True Crime All The Time - Caroline Muirhead and Sandy McKellar

Episode Date: July 30, 2026

Dr. Caroline Muirhead, a Scottish forensic pathologist, had a whirlwind romance with gamekeeper Alexander "Sandy" McKellar. It took a horrifying turn after he confessed to helping cover up the death of cyclist Tony Parsons. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Carline Muirhead and Sandy McKellar. Caroline was forced to choose between protecting the man she loved and helping bring justice to a grieving family.You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 519 of the True Crime All of the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in True Crime, Mike Gibson. How are you? Hey, I'm hanging in there, man. Okay. Hanging in. Hanging in. That's all you got.

I could complain. Not doing good, not doing bad, just hanging in. Does it do any good to complain about this damn kidney stone? Nobody cares. Nobody cares. All right, buddy. Let's jump right in. Let's do it.

You ready for this episode of True Crime? all the time? I am. We're talking about Caroline Muirhead and Sandy McKellar. When forensic pathologist Caroline Muirhead met gamekeeper Sandy McKellar on Tinder in 2020, she believed she had found the love for life. Sandy made a shocking confession that forced her to make what felt like an impossible choice. Tinder, is that where you swipe left or right or something like that? Yeah, like you don't know what tender is. I just, you know, want to confirm with you. Now, I don't know what Tinder is. Now, I don't know what tender is because I've been married for 30 years, but I know for a fact, you know what, not now. You don't know what it is now, but you, you might have known what it was at some point.

Might have heard about it. Might have heard of it. In 2020, Dr. Caroline Muirhead was a forensic pathologist working in a mortuary in Glasgow, Scotland. Oh, your homeland. Yeah. You know what I always say? It's not Scottish. It's crop.

Yes, you too. after going through a difficult breakup with a man who was allegedly abusive, she decided to join Tender in the fall of 2020. Now, I've always heard of Tender is more of a hookup app. Oh, okay. But I'm sure people have met on Tender and formed like lasting relationships, right?

I would think. Doesn't mean it has to be like a one-night stand hookup app. I think maybe. maybe by and large it might be that. I don't know. At least that's what I've heard. But this is also around the COVID time, isn't it? Well, yeah, actually, right?

Fall of 2020, we're just kind of getting into the heart of COVID, right? The start of it. In October, Caroline matched with Alexander Sandy McKelley, marking the start of their whirlwind romance. And I, you know, Sandy McKellar seems like a very, very, Scottish name to me. McKellar. The Keller.

Yeah. Sandy was a hunter and gamekeeper on this estate, which was a 68 square mile farm in the Scottish Highlands near a village called Bridge of Forky about an hour away from the city. Sounds like it was probably pretty nice is what I'm thinking. You know, 68 square miles, not small. Up in the Highlands. Are you familiar with the Scottish Highlands? Nothing like the Scottish Highlands.

Spend a lot of time there. You know. Okay. Just like, you know. I just feel brave, brave, brave heartish. I've seen Braveheart. That's as much as I know of the sky shines. On his tender profile, Sandy described himself as a six foot four Highlander,

lonely contractor looking for someone to keep warm on cold nights on the farm. You ever see the movie Highlander? Actually, I did. It's been a while, but. Me too. It's an older movie. And I think they might have made some other ones. But, all right.

So six foot four, he's a, he's a big lad, tall lad. But he's just looking for someone to keep him warm, you know, cold nights on the farm. Well, if you'd wear something besides the kilt, maybe you wouldn't get so cold, you know. Yeah, not great in the cold. From the beginning, Caroline and Sandy had a strong connection. She explained in the docu series, should I marry a murderer? I felt so lonely. and wanted to find someone who didn't want to change me

and someone who would want to start life together with marriage and the prospect of children. And all right, you know, at a certain age, isn't that what everybody's looking for? Right. If you haven't found it by a certain point, most people start to kind of progress out of the party lifestyle and they're maybe looking to settle down,

start a family, something like that. Certain things that are. important to people at that time. Yeah. She agreed to meet Sandy on the farm for their first date in early October 2020. Caroline recalled an unsettling conversation with a friend ahead of the date. She said, I phoned my friend Carla. She was like, what if he turns out to be a murderer? I was like, oh, come on, get a grip. That's not going to happen. Sounds like a conversation some of our really good listeners would have. would have with some of their friends like,

yeah, hey, what if, uh, well, maybe this friend Carla was into true crime. She thought like that. I don't know.

But Caroline and Sandy both bonded over their jobs. Because they dealt with death every day, Sandy seemed relieved to find a partner who understood him. And he seemed interested in her work as a pathologist. I would be very interested in that work. Although I feel like it would be, uh, it's not an easy job.

I'd be interested. I'd want to have some conversations, but not before and not right after dinner. And not during, for sure. Definitely not during. Be like, hey, we'll have this conversation later. But you would think, right, some of these pathologists, they have to have the most amazing stories. Now, some of them, they probably can't share with everybody, but, you know, things being found in places that you wouldn't expect to find things, matchbox cars. I don't know. you know, I've heard of different things found in x-rays. There's two people you want to be really close to at a party. You have a pathologist and a proctologist. I knew that was going to be your second one.

Sandy and his twin brother, Robert, who was also a farm worker, they often hosted parties in a barn on Oka State or they went out to local pubs. And again, I don't know if I'm saying all these places correctly, you know, we go, I can't even say all the places in the states correctly. Oh. But the more international we get, the more I, I normally mess up. If you need my help, let me know. Because again, you've seen Braveheart.

I've seen Braveheart. I see Braveheart the movie and also Braveheart the Disney or the cartoon one. Maybe that wasn't Disney. Maybe that was, uh, I don't think that was Braveheart, wasn't it? Yeah, it was called Brave? Just Brave. That is not the same thing as Braveheart, is it? No, but she's, it's a, it's a, it's a,

Scottish princess. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Hey, I got some Scottish knowledge. I'm assuming there's a lot less killing in that one. Yeah.

A lot less. It was during one of these parties that Robert pulled Carolina side and told her Sandy was, quote, not right in the head. All right. So this is your twin brother or your boyfriend's twin brother. Yeah. Saying this. Saying, oh, by the way, my. brother, your boyfriend, is not right in the head. And you need to know this. I don't know what you do

with that information. Caroline was so smitten that she kind of dismissed Roberts' remark. You know, maybe it's, maybe she thought, well, he's jealous or of our relationship. But she did notice some red flags with Sandy. He often became loud and belligerent when he drank too much. And she suspected he drank and used drugs as a crutch during their relationship. which is a problem. Yeah, I mean, but a lot of people do. Yeah. Right?

Why do people drink? Why do they use drugs? Well, for a number of reasons, but some people use them as a crutch, right? To get through things or during stressful times or whatever. Nerves. Nerves. Weeks after meeting on November 28, 2020, Sandy proposed to Caroline. She accepted and was looking forward to starting the next phase of their life together.

So it was pretty short period of time there. It was, and again, did she see some red flags? Yeah, she even admitted that. But she also said, right, she was looking for someone to settle down with. She was smitten with this guy, and she thought he was the one. Caroline's family invited the couple to spend Christmas with them at their home in Glasgow. Shortly after the engagement, as Caroline was preparing for the trip, she asked Sandy, if there was anything from his past that might affect their future. together. I mean, it's always a good question to ask. Is it? I guess it is, but you might not want to

find out what somebody's getting ready to tell you. Yeah. I mean, we, we, you've probably been asked that question. I know I've been asked that question. Why would I be asked that question? I've been married for over 30 years. Oh, yeah. I didn't even have a past, really, when I got married. You were just too young. I was like 22 years old. Your closet was still very empty. It was. There was no skeletons, very few skeletons. But he made a chilling confession to her. He said three years earlier, he killed him. Sandy confessed that he was driving under the influence with Robert in the passenger seat

when he accidentally hit a man with a bicycle. That man was 63-year-old Tony Parsons. Tony was a Navy veteran who lived in Tillakultry in Clack Menonshire. Scotland. Oh, yeah, nice area. You like it? Tony had a wife and two kids, and he was a beloved grandfather. He had also survived prostate cancer.

Tony was an outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing with his grandchildren. He also loved golf and rugby and was involved with coaching and refereeing many and midi leagues, whatever those are. Yeah. In Scotland, I'm assuming it's like pee-wee or say soccer here or. whatever you call it. I don't know. I'm a believe. Oh, that one you don't know nothing about. I'm thinking maybe I'm going to do a golf. Clack Manningshire you know all about. Many and Middilig's out of your, uh, out of my, uh, range of your range. Another one of Tony's hobbies was cycling because he survived cancer. He decided he wanted to give something back. On September 29th,

2017, he joined a 204-mile prostate cancer charity ride from Fort William back to Tilla Coulter. The accident happened late that evening on the A82 Highway near Bridge of Orky. When confessing to Caroline, Sandy said that after hitting the man, they stopped a check on him. But there was no chance he would survive. He and Robert argued about calling the police. but they feared they would be arrested. So they buried the body on Oka State and tried to move on with their lives. I mean, can you imagine that you were in love with someone?

You're now engaged. Yeah. You're planning to get married. And this person drops this revelation that three years ago they killed someone. Now, according to them, it was accidental. Right. But they still covered it. up and they buried this body.

Which would be so shocking to hear. Yeah. I don't know what you do with that information. Well, I know what you should do with that information, but what do you actually do when it's the person that you are in love with telling you that? Yeah. When it's the love of your life, is that something that you say, well, you shouldn't have done that, but I'm not going to tell on you.

Yeah. We're going to find out. What would you do? We're going to find out what, well, I actually don't know. I would love to say that I would terminate the relationship immediately and I would march straight to the police. That's what I would love to say and I would kind of like to hope I would do.

But I don't know how my heart would react. Yeah. Because, you know, everybody can think back about like being engaged. I mean, oh my gosh, you're in kind of la la la. you are right yeah yeah or even just after you get married being a newlywed like the that part of the relationship is always kind of magical this is the kind of stuff that will come out like five years after you've been married like you know what i don't know we even like you anymore and i'm going to go tell the police what you told me five years ago right yeah um man he he's really trusting her yeah he could

have just said no there's nothing in my past nope i'm good just let it go on but i mean at the very least you got to give it up to him that he was honest. Yeah. Now, he did something kind of horrific, but he was honest about it. My other thought is you're really putting a lot on that other person. Because now they, you can't take that back. No. Right. Once that information is out there, once that person knows, they got to do something with it. They have no choice. Because now they can get in trouble too. Absolutely. So Tony's family became worried when he hadn't called them by the evening of September 30th, 2017. Tony's son, Mike, recalled to the BBC years later,

I actually texted him myself with what is my dad and myself's sense of humor. It was a simple text. It said, are you still a lot? Oh, man. Looking back now, it's not nice to know that was the very last thing I texted him, knowing at this point he would have been passed away. But who hasn't done that? Oh, of course, yeah.

You're joking around. Like if somebody's late, you're like, are you still alive? I think you've said that to me before. Yeah. Many times back when I worked with you. Well, some of those were legitimate concerns because of your lifestyle. Are you still alive? It's true.

I mean, this Tony guy sounds like an amazing guy. Oh, absolutely. And everything he overcame for this to happen to him. And he's killed on this charity bike ride for prostate cancer. Oh, man. Tony was reported missing on October 2nd, 2017, after his daughter searched the highway and failed to find him. Police determined that Tony passed through Glencoe Village at 6 p.m. on September 29th before biking to the bridge of Orkey Hotel. It's either Orky or Orchy. I'm going with Orky.

You can probably say Orchie. Orchie. I was careful to put the CH on there. Okay. But, and maybe that's why I went with the other one, just because, but people are going right in, obviously, and tell me if I'm wrong, they always do. He was last seen at the hotel at 1130 p.m. And headed south on the A82 towards Tender. The police searched remote and inhospitable terrain surrounding his last known location, but no trace of Tony was found. The police searched extensively and made national appeals asking the public for help. Tony's son, Mike, a former police officer,

knew that the more time passed, the less likely it was that Tony would be found alive. Still, he lied to his mother to convince her that there was still a chance. And I don't think you have to be a police officer, right, to understand that. Yeah. If somebody's missing, obviously, the more time that passes without them being found, the greater the likelihood that something bad has happened to them. Yeah, and he doesn't want to break his mom's heart right now. No, and I could see where, you know, maybe a little white lie in that situation might not be a bad thing. Yeah.

You're trying to keep that hope a lot. Even though in your heart, you as a former police officer are thinking, oh, this isn't good. This is not good. Yeah. Tony's case had been cold for years when Sandy confessed to Caroline. According to the BBC, the police had actually. spoken to the McKellar brothers previously. They were interviewed in August 2018,

after the police received an anonymous letter stating they were in the bridge of Orky Hotel. The night Tony went missing, but no further action was taken. So again, okay, a lot of people are going to be questions. Yeah. But what are they going to say? Obviously, they're not going to say,

yeah, we ran over this guy and we buried his body. So if they don't give you anything, you don't really have any more to go on than you had before you started talking to. I mean, they're both each other's alibi. That's true as well. That's very true. In June 2020, they were questioned again and confirmed they were in the hotel with a hunting party. But they said they hadn't seen Tony.

After he was done telling Caroline this horrific story, he insisted he wasn't a bad person. I mean, there's an argument there, obviously. I think in his mind, he's probably thinking. thinking, look, I'm a good guy. I just something terrible happened that night and I didn't know what else to do and we did what we did. Yeah, I mean, you can make a case that he's

not a serial killer. He didn't set out to murder someone. But he did cover up an accident if it was an accident. And he did bury the body. On top of that, this information that he's kept quiet

has kept the family from knowing what happened to their loved one. I think that's almost not as bad as killing the guy, but it's up there, right? I mean, you're putting this family in distress because they don't know what happened to their dad, their husband. They have no clue. Well, some people could argue that it's worse. Yeah, you could, I guess. Because if it truly was an accident, okay, a family might understand that.

Yeah. You know, maybe it's dark. Maybe these Scottish roads are not that wide or they're twisty. There's all kinds of different things that could happen. And accidents do occur. What would be hard to explain is that you decided to bury this guy. Right. And completely never talk about it again.

And there's probably some conversation there. Why you're at the hotel. Did you drink too much? Did you drive drunk? Right. And is that why you struck him? Yeah. That's a great point because that would maybe be a reason why.

you would do the cover up. Right. Because then you would be looking at much more serious charges than what would, than what you would be for, let's just say, an accident or something like that. But what happened was, you know, as we kind of mentioned earlier, Caroline was kind of suddenly thrust into a murder case. Yes, she was. Right.

She didn't call the police right away and still decided to visit her family for the holidays with saying. Boy, that'd be so hard because it would just be back here the whole time, you know. On the back of your head or in the back of your mind? Back of your mind. And you're doing a thing where you're going around and around like that. I don't know. Caroline said in the docu-series, my brain wasn't in a position to go to the police. My brain still wasn't accepting what I'd been told. The underlying sense of panic was so massive. I actually couldn't address it in that moment. And I actually kind of understand what she's saying. Yeah.

Oh, I've never been in that position. But I can't imagine that you're hearing something that is so wild and shocking that you're actually not processing it maybe completely right away. You kind of need some time to step back to put it all in place. Yeah. Or to get the full picture, the perspective. You know, folks, my wife and I, we're dog obsessed. We have two small eight-pound maltises. One is 13 years old, the other is two years old.

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Plus, it's risk-free with their obsession guarantee. That's O-L-L-L-I-E.com slash T-Cat and enter code T-Cat to get 70% off your first box. Ali, feed the obsession. Further explaining her thoughts after the confession, Caroline said, imagine you fell in love with someone who made you feel accepted, wanted, seen, whole, and loved, and just special. Then they said to you, they did this horrible thing, something so vile, it flips your world upside down. To remain in love, you have to keep the secret, even though you know it will destroy you. But if you reveal it, you destroy everything too.

In doing the right thing, I knew I had to hand in the man I loved. You can't help who you fall in love with. It sounds so twisted and dysfunctional, but in some ways he was putting all this trust in me when I'd been lied to before and really hurt. There was this weird sense of someone trusting me was such a big secret that it felt special. Even though I knew it was so poisonously wrong.

My brain couldn't fathom the idea that the man I'd fallen in love with was a murderer. I hated myself. I felt like a rat and I felt like a liar. But you also have to say, shame on him for putting that on me. Like, you know, he decided to tell me about all that. Yeah, did I ask. She did ask.

But I never would have thought that would have came out of somebody's mouth, right? He's probably thinking maybe he's going to mention like, well, I used to, you know, date this one girl, blah, blah, blah, whatever. Not that, well, I kill. somebody. But to put that on her, now she has to harbor that. And I don't, that's not fair. She got to figure out what to do with it, right? Yeah. I mean, if he was like, hey, I'm going to go to the police, don't worry. That's one thing. But he's not. He's not saying that. No. But I also get where she's coming from, right? She's been lied to. She's had bad relationships. Nobody's ever made her feel special and now in some way he's making her feel more special than anybody ever has because he's

trusting her so much yeah with this massive secret even though she knows it's going to rip them apart it's kind of fascinating really you know when you break it down it was during that holiday trip that sandy shocked caroline further by asking her to help him move the body. Okay. That's, you, you went too far to begin with, but now you've really gone too far. I mean, that's, that's crossing the line. If you could say that he didn't already. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's one thing to want to be completely honest in a relationship. You feel like you can trust this person so much. You tell him this awful secret.

But then you're like, oh, by the way, I need you to help me move this. body tough. It is. I mean, I get it. There's a lot of people out there to say they're ride and die, you know, their best friend. We do anything for each other. Would you? Would you actually go and move a body that your friend? Well, I think a lot of people say it. But, you know, sometimes when it comes to the actual part, they don't live up to it. So what he explained to her was that the estate owner was going to build housing on the land where, Tony was buried. Sandy knew she had expertise in autopsies and asked how long it would take to burn a body and if she could help move it. Caroline recalled, you're thinking to yourself, am I being used for my

skill set? Maybe. She said she had pathologist on her tender profile. So she was like, did he choose me specifically because he wanted someone to help him with this. How heartbreaking would that be? Yeah, because if he did, this is a pretty long con. Yeah. Right? They're like three years in or however long. So, but it's not out of the question.

No, it's not. Caroline wanted to end the relationship, but she knew she had to be careful. On December 27, 2020, Caroline called the police and began secretly helping with the investigation. On December 30th, Sandy and Robert were arrested and brought in for questioning. They refused to talk. And because the police didn't have a body or any other evidence linking them to the crime, they were released without charges. But Sandy had no idea.

Caroline was the one who reported it. Oh, man. Wouldn't you be like all nervous if you're Carolyn? Well, you know, she said she had to be careful. And I would say, yes, you do. because this is a person who allegedly didn't kill this man on purpose, but did purposefully cover it up. So in my mind,

what links are they willing to go to to make sure that this secret is not uncovered? It's kind of like that poker match, right? You're either all in or you're not. What are you going to do? Yeah. So now that she knows about it, if he thinks that she's not going to keep his secret, could he potentially harm her? I think it's a very valid thought.

I think so too, especially if he really never loved her because he played her. Oh, absolutely. Through the Tinder thing because of her profession. Yeah. I still think that's a long con. Do you wait three years? Maybe. Oh, long con. So Caroline was afraid for herself, her family, but she continued seeing Sandy and trying to gather evidence. She secretly recorded her conversations with him. in hopes of getting a confession. It was around this time that Robert revealed a new piece of information.

He revealed that the cyclist didn't immediately die after the crash. He was a lot. And the brothers hit him on the side of the road and drove home, changed clothes, and even switched vehicles before returning to the scene. So that changes everything. Everything. I mean, even if you were like, that was just, just bad luck you hit you know i mean oh so tragic i kind of see why you maybe you did what you did but now you hear this and you're like what are you guys monsters yeah you couldn't have called

911 or whatever they have out there and get help maybe save this guy's life yeah it goes from you accidentally killed someone and then you did something horrible by covering it up to you possibly accidentally hit someone, but then you intentionally did not call for help and you left them on the side of the road, you did essentially kill them. Right. And my way of thinking, then if it happened like that. So they returned to the scene. They took the body to the estate and left it in the woods before bearing it elsewhere on the grounds. How do you sleep in night? I don't know. I really don't know. I don't know how some of these murderers do. Now, I kind of understand serial killers because they don't have that thing that the rest of us have, right?

Where we feel bad about things. I think a lot of serial killers just don't have that. Yeah. So they probably sleep pretty good. Doesn't bother him. You know, I was thinking Robert told Caroline that Sandy's a little off in the head. Yeah. But it kind of sounds like maybe Robert's there too. Well, he went along with it. Yeah. Maybe it was Sandy's idea and all that, but, you know, he went along with it. Now, you know, there are twins.

Yeah, they are. Would you do that for your twin? I don't know because I never had a twin. Yeah. That'd be an interesting. I wouldn't do it for you. I know that. Like 911?

Yes. Mike Gibson. Come get him, please. Even if I didn't. do it you would probably call me and i did it it had to be him if i just had a suspicion yeah i'd call in on you now what it did you know obviously changes caroline's view sure of this whole thing from what she thought was an accident to now like this was him committing murder oh i bet that night when she learned this i wouldn't think she slept at all i'm pretty sure she was

like, how do I get out of this house? How do I get away from this guy? But I got to play it cool because the police need my help. And I need the police to do what they're going to do because I need him out of my life because otherwise I might be buried out on the farm as well. Yeah. She had to be worried about her, you know, her safety also. Caroline told Sandy she would help him move the body.

But first, she needed to know exactly where it was buried. So, you know, he led her. to the spot and she secretly dropped a Red Bull can to serve as a marker for the police. Very smart. Very smart. Now, I think she was a very intelligent person, right? She was a pathologist. She had gone through all that schooling. She called the police and told them where they could find it. Tony Parsons' body was found on January 12, 2021. During the dig, investigators found a piece of red material that matched the jacket Tony was last seen wearing, it took two days to uncover his remains. Wow.

And prosecutors later acknowledged that the body probably never would have been found without Caroline's health. Oh, I would have to agree with that. Yeah, I don't think Sandy and or Robert, you know, they were going to come forward to police and tell them what they had done. So, you know, if Sandy doesn't tell Carol, line. And if she doesn't make the decision to do the right thing, right, and go to police. And on top of that, continue this relationship to get further information. I mean, there's, if you think about it, she did a lot here.

Yes, she did. To help solve this crime. I mean, shame on Sandy for putting it on or, you know, I mean, he did that to himself. Well, going back to what you said, it makes it even. an even bigger deal. Yeah. Now, right? Once you find all of this out, what he put on her just by that one admission, it must have been like the weight of the world on her shoulders.

And it, my thinking is it got heavier and heavier as time went on. Absolutely. I mean, it kept on getting, didn't get better. No, because at first it was like, well, okay, you're telling me this. It doesn't make you look great, but I get it. It was an accident. To now it's a murder that you completely covered up. And you want me to help you move the body because you're afraid it's going to be uncovered when they build these houses.

And then after the body was found and Caroline had to navigate several days of uncertainty and fear. Oh, I bet, you know, because the body hadn't been found up to this point. he showed her what the body was. So naturally, I think you would have to say, the only person that knew where this was was you and my brother. And I don't think my brother would have told the police. No, because he could have done it at any point up to now. Yeah.

And he didn't. The body's found right after I kind of share this with you and tell you where it is. So yeah, I'm with you. Sandy had to be suspicious of her. According to Caroline, when the news came out that human remains were found, Sandy called her and screamed at her, you fucking little bitch, you fucking did this. I have defended you to everyone and you have handed me in and fucked our lives. Now, this is according to the Scottish son, and obviously they left out the expletives, but this is what he said to her.

Well, look, he can say that, but in the day, he's the one that fuck the. their lives. Well, yeah, I always like it when people do something and then they blame it on the other person. Yeah. Because they did the right thing. That, that always, uh, that always kills me. Caroline recalled the fear she felt when Sandy hung up the phone. Sandy had spare keys to her apartment. And she worried he was going to kill her. And I would say that's a, a very real fear to happen. Yeah. If you're her. Clearly, he has it in his system to do that. Yeah, and he didn't, now he might have felt guilty about it. I don't know, but it wasn't enough not to do it or to come clean later on.

Yeah. So it must have not been too much of a guilty feeling. And then later, Sandy apologized to her. She said, one side of my brain was saying, this is the loving man I fell for. The gentle Sandy. The other side is saying, this guy is dangerous. Dr. Heckel or Dr. Go ahead.

Go ahead. Dr. Heckel. Mr. Hyde. Mr. Jide. Dr. Hekel and Mr. Jide? Yeah, I mean, you really get a sense of it from her perspective, right? She's conflicted. Yeah.

You know, she loves this guy. She thinks she's going to marry this guy. And then all of a sudden there's the bombshell. and then everything that came along after it. And then even after he thinks she's the one who, you know, ratted him out, she's like, you know,

he calls her and says, I'm sorry, I love you. She's still conflicted. Yeah. Yeah. Well, she's in love.

Yeah. But on the one hand, on the other hand, she knows this guy is freaking dangerous. Yeah. Nine days later on January 21st, 2021, Caroline helped the police locate Sandy.

and Robert, who were both arrested. By this point, she had been through a, you know, a great deal of emotional trauma. In that docu-series, she talks about how she turned to alcohol and drugs to cope. I bet she had to. Well, I think she felt she had to, or at least she felt that's what she needed to do. I feel like there wouldn't be enough wine in the world or, you know, what are you Scotch? You Scotland people drink. Scotch?

Scotch. I don't know. Boy, you're on fire today. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah, drink some bunch of scotch. What do you Scottish people drink? I don't know.

But, again, if you've never been in a situation like that, how can you know, right? How it would affect you what you would have to deal or what you would have to do to cope with that I would have to take something to make myself fall asleep. Yeah. And maybe that was part of the coping process. Yeah. And I can't get to sleep. I need something to help me.

Prosecutors had to wait for Tony's autopsy results to come in before they could file formal charges. In December 2021, Sandy and Robert McKellar were formally charged with murder. The BBC reported that Tony suffered catastrophic, rib, pelvic, and spine fractures from the collision. His injuries were so extensive. He would have only survived 20 to 30 minutes without medical care, but it was unlikely he died instantly.

His most immediate cause of death was rib injuries and a collapsed lung affecting his breathing. But you know what? I'm sure Sandy and his brother didn't know how long he could survive. They were obligated to call rescue, the authorities. to see if something could be done. Well, there's a couple of things here for me. Number one, yeah, they should have called somebody.

Could they have gotten there and saved him within 20 to 30 minutes, right? If that's how long he had or maybe they had longer, we don't know. Right. But then also I'm thinking, okay, that would be a, that must have been a horrible 20 to 30 minutes. That's how long he survived. Amount of pain he had to go through. Yeah. by himself,

nobody helping him. If you're the family, I mean, that's soul crushing. Absolutely. To think that's how your, your husband, your dad,

your grandfather died at the hands of these two guys. The brothers were scheduled to go to trial in July, 2000, 23. Caroline was summoned to appear as a witness, but she didn't show up to court.

She explained in her documentary interview that she panicked and she drove to the highlands in hopes of finding more evidence. She was later arrested for evading court. That's kind of rough, you know. It is. You wouldn't be where you're at today if it wasn't for her. But then you're going to, because she's nervous and scared, she didn't show up and then you arrest her for evading court.

But it is the law, though. So. Yeah, but my thought is, you know, Now, how much did this mess her life up? I think it messed it up a lot. I mean, she had a great job, right? She had gone through all the schooling. And then she meets this guy who she thinks is the one.

And all of a sudden, her life is turned upside down. Yeah. She started drinking. She started doing drugs to cope. And then she's ultimately arrested because she's freaked out about having to testify. on July 26, 2003, Sandy McKellar

pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and attempting to pervert the court of the course of justice. The court accepted Roberts not guilty plead a murder. And he pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert

the course of justice. In court on July 28th of that year, the prosecutor read out an agreed narrative of the case. So on the night of September 29th, 2017, the brothers were out drinking with a German hunting group. Tony stopped at this same village they were in, the bridge of Orki, and was drinking a coffee in the local hotel, but decided to keep cycling rather than stay the night.

Sandy admitted to driving on the A82 highway at excess speed. and when he was unfit due to the fact that he had been drinking alcohol. Drunk driving. Yeah. He admitted he was distracted by oncoming headlights and hit something on the side of the road, which he discovered was a cyclist. He said he panicked. And he said with reckless disregard for the consequences of his actions,

he left Tony by the side of the road in a remote location during the hours of dark. and in inclement weather, which caused his death. Sandy and Robert left knowing Tony was still alive to dump their truck. They returned in another vehicle to move the body to Oka State. I mean, there's a couple of things that are, you know, all kind of coming together. Yeah. One that you mentioned, which was, you know, had these guys been drinking, it turns out, yeah, they had been.

Yep. And I'm sure that played a large part in their decision to try to cover up this crash or, you know, because they knew that they would be charged with it, right? You can't claim an accident, even if it was an accident, if you've been drinking. I mean, it ceases to be an accident. Yeah. At that point. I mean, this is a nightmare.

I mean, this is something you would see it made for TV movie about, right? You're out late drinking. You leave. You know, with your best friend or brother, whoever, maybe you're as are singing some songs driving down this road at high speeds. Next thing you know, something is in front of you, you hit it. And at that point, your whole world changes because you have to make decisions at that moment, right? Right then you have to decide, do we call for help or do we pull the body?

put it to the side, come back and get it and bury it? What do we do? Yeah, do we do the right thing or do we cover our own assets? Yeah. I'm, um, is what I'm thinking. They, they kind of based everything on. And they chose not to do the right thing. They chose to cover themselves. Yeah. Because they didn't, uh, want to get charged with, you know, whatever it would be in Scotland. Yeah. You know, reckless homicide or, um, vehicular mansum. slaughter. I mean, there's a bunch of different things over here. Something related to being drunk, obviously, is what it would be. Not to get too far ahead. My thought here, but if you're Robert, how pissed are you at Sandy right now for telling Caroline? Yeah, it's good point. Because he obviously did something wrong as well. Right. He went along with it. Whoever's, I, let's say it was Sandy's idea.

Robert went along with it. Yeah. And he didn't tell anybody. So you're right. He's probably got to be pretty upset at Sandy for running his mouth. Yeah. And saying, hey, you didn't need to ever tell anybody about this and we would have got away with it. I thought you said we were taking this to the grave.

You didn't hold your bargain. Yeah. A pathologist determined that Tony sustained extensive injuries. Injuries? Injuries. Yeah. That kind of came out. Yeah.

And it was unlikely he would have survived. Using an excavator. The brothers buried the body on the estate and a peat bog where animal carcasses were disposed of. Okay. It's that peat bog, I think, or that peat. Yeah. That they used to make all that good scotch. You got to have Pete.

Pretty sure. That's what makes all that good scotch over there. What you don't know is there's a guy named Pete that works to Pete Boggs. You know, that way is his name spelled P-E-A-T? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. So they buried his body. Then they hid Tony's body behind a waterfall on the estate.

This bike has never been found. After the guilty pleas, Tony's family released a statement that was published by Police Scotland. Tony was a much loved husband, dad, and granddad when he said goodbye and set off on his charity cycle from Fort William that Friday. none of us expected. It would be the last time we would be able to see or speak to him. Yeah. Throughout the six years since he went missing and then the subsequent criminal investigation. We had been left with many unanswered questions and it's been heartbreaking for each and every member of the family being unable to get these answers.

As you can imagine, not knowing what has happened to someone and then the devastating news that we were provided has taken a toll on all of us as a family. At last, justice has been done, and we would like to thank not only the court officials and officers from Police Scotland's major investigation team, Fourth Valley Division, and other Police Scotland departments who worked on this case, but all the volunteers and mountain rescue teams who tirelessly searched for him in the earlier stages of the inquiry. as a family we would like to request privacy at this time so that we can finally grieve and come to terms with the outcome of the trial and a life without Tony yeah and your heart goes out to them sure no doubt about it they went um a number of years having no idea what happened to Tony to then

finding out that you know he was dead and then ultimately finding out that you know these These people had a hand in it. Yeah. And exactly what they did to cover it up. Very tough for them. On August 25th, 2003, Sandy was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and Robert received a sentence of five years and three months.

Sandy's lawyer, Brian McConaughey, read a statement on his behalf in court. He said he accepts that while catastrophically injured, Mr. Parsons was alive. at the time. The only explanation which he offers is simply fear and panic. Using his words, he says he was too much of a coward to come clean. When he met Caroline and she went to the police, he fully accepts that ultimately she made the right decision in doing so. It's a fair statement. It is. I mean, it's more than we've heard a lot of people say. Yeah. You know, he is basically

calling himself a coward. Yeah. And that's what he was. He was. Right? He gave in to fear and panic and he chose to do the wrong thing because he was a coward. It's interesting to hear him say that Caroline did the right thing in going to the police. Sandy wanted to apologize for the trauma he caused to the family.

He said he's not an evil man. And his lawyer said he acknowledges that he's done. a terrible thing, which has caused untold stress to the Parsons family. He would do anything he could to alter the decision he took in September 2017, but he cannot rewind the clock. And those to me are, I don't know, those could just be worse, to be honest with you. Because if he could go back and redo it, would he? I don't know that he would.

Yeah. If he could go back and not tell Caroline, would he? Absolutely. And I think the answer to that would be yes. I think so too. And those are two different things. Very different. In my opinion.

I mean, to me, some of this stuff is easy to say once you're caused and you're sentenced, then you know what your fate is. But, you know, given that, even some people don't do this. They go the other way, right? And they say bad things about the victim. Oh, yeah. The victim's families. They cuss at them.

And they do all that. I mean, in this case here, I mean, I hope he really does feel bad and sorry and regrets what happened. And, you know, there's no way to make amends for what happened. No, but, you know, the thing is neither one of these guys got a ton of time. No. They're both going to get out and be able to live their lives. Sure. Yeah.

So they're going to be able to prove, you know, at some point in time, whether or not they can live a good life. life and not do anything like this again. Robert's attorney John Scullion said his client had misplaced loyalty towards his brother in trying to cover up the death and he bitterly regrets his callous and cowardly actions. Or he regrets getting caught. Yeah. One of the other. Regrets his brother.

Or both. Opening in his mouth and telling him. Or that. Caroline Muirhead has since moved to the Scottish coast and is seeing a psychiatrist she has a new partner she's sober and has a better relationship with her family well good now she go ahead i just say i mean if it wasn't for her this case probably would have never been solved yeah probably not i think that's a fair thing to say now caroline has made multiple complaints against police scotland she told the daily record in 2003 from the word go the police they were saying if i didn't

cooperate with them, I could end up in trouble myself. I put so much trust in them and they promised anonymity, support. Yet the minute you give them what they want, you're hung out to dry. They suggested from the start that I could also end up in trouble with assisting a criminal, wasting police time, aiding and abetting. And that's rough. If that's what they did to her. Now, I get it. If she goes through with helping move the body. yeah, she's going to get in trouble. But it sounds like to me, she was told something,

she went to the police, and then she even helped them get the information they needed. Sounds like when she went to them to tell them what she learned, they wanted her to do more for them and because she was scared and also in that weird spot of,

I love this guy, I don't know what I should do. Sounds like, according to her, they put some pressure on her. and maybe even threatened her with possible charges if she didn't help them out further, which is not what you should do. No, it's pretty rough, to be honest with you. In the docu series, Caroline said she trusted the system would stand by me and keep me safe

when I was at my most vulnerable, but that wasn't my experience. I hope by speaking out and sharing what happened to me, we can start an honest conversation about greater protection for victims and witnesses and why a far deeper understanding. a mental health within the police and court system is so desperately needed. All too often, the impact of trauma and abuse is overlooked or dismissed entirely. And this means people like me are being left high and dry to pick up the pieces alone. And there's a couple of really good things there. You know, the first one is protection for victims and witnesses.

Right. We talk all the time about wanting people to come forward. Yeah. people do not want to come forward if they believe there's a chance they're not going to be protected and even more so be hung out to dry yes the worst thing that you could uh have them think it's going to happen to him which is what caroline said happened to her and then yeah the the impact of trauma and you know what happens to some of these people who in her case she did the right thing she did but still experienced such a negative end result that that's kind of heartbreaking.

After a five-year investigation, the majority of Caroline's complaints were not upheld, and the police maintained that they offered Caroline appropriate support. Despite everything that happened, she has no regrets about coming forward and reporting Sandy and said he wasn't convicted of murder, but he did take an innocent man's life. so for me he is a coward and he is a killer yeah now there's a there's a part of me here Gibbs that thinks what if he never tells her she ends up marrying a guy who killed somebody and covered it up yeah and maybe he wouldn't have told her maybe he just whatever reason that she didn't ask that question maybe it never came out and maybe they have a great life and maybe he never does

anything bad again? I don't know, but it wouldn't have changed the fact that he did this and he covered it up. In January 2025, BBC reported that Sandy's insurance company settled a civil case out of court and issued a six-figure payment to the Parsons family. And that's great that they got some money, but, you know, six figures, it doesn't replace a life. It doesn't. There's no way around it. But no amount of money is. No, I mean, there's no dad, no granddad, no husband anymore, you know. Yeah.

In August 2025, Tony's son, Mike, said down for an interview with the BBC. He said about the McKellar brothers, what they did was inhumane. And you wouldn't do that to animals. They killed him by not seeking any medical treatment. He's right. I believe that. I truly do. I mean, that was a farm animal.

Aminol. It was a farm animal that you hit. You probably would have went back and put it down. Yeah. So it wouldn't suffer. They didn't even do that. They didn't even do that. And even if they did that, that would have been wrong on their part.

But what they did was even worse. They left this guy to suffer in agony. In the dark and the cold. 30 minutes or maybe even longer. We don't know for sure how long it was. Mike noted that Caroline had remarkable foresight, being brutally honest, I'm not so sure if I was in the same situation, I would have done and thought the same way. From my perspective, I have nothing but massive amounts of gratitude for that because had she not done that and put herself into these positions, then we would never have found my dad's body. Absolutely.

This whole thing centers around what Carolyn's actions did. Yeah. Yeah, there's no doubt about it. Mike also told the BBC that no sentence would ever be enough, but he would like his father to be remembered for the good things he did rather than how he died. He said, for me, he was a grumpy old dad who you had your run-ins with every now and then, but I'd like people to remember him as the guy who wanted to help everybody. Yeah, you want him to remember for all the good things he did in his life. Yeah. Not for. you know, how he died and what ultimately happened for him. But I feel for the family because, gosh, they, they, for a long time, right, as we wrap this episode up, they didn't know what happened to Tony. Yeah. And then once they found out, they had to have been unbelievably shocked. Oh, yeah. You know, a lot of thoughts probably go through your head, foul play, maybe, maybe just an accident and he got hurt and maybe he's attacked by an animal or he got lost in the woods

and succumbed to the elements. Yeah. All kinds of different things. But is one of them that two people willingly let this man die and then buried his body? Never would have thought, right? Probably not. I mean, this is a guy that fought and beat cancer, right? Yeah.

How tough that had to be. And then he's trying to do some good things for awareness around. it helping out of charity yeah to be hit and left on the side of the road to die it's just it's tragic yeah and then you know for me like you said the central character here is is caroline and what she did and and the sacrifices she made because i really do think they were sacrifice they were you know her life was upended completely and i think she made the right decision but even in doing the right thing she suffered like some really serious consequences. She did.

She really did. She lost this man who she thought was the love of her life. Yeah. I don't know. Her life seemed to crumble a little bit. Yeah. Using drugs and alcohol to cope with everything that was going on. Now, it does sound like she's back on track.

She's doing well, but... Which is good. You just feel bad for her because she, like you said, how selfish for him to put her... in that position. Yeah. Yeah. It really,

really was. But a fascinating story all the way around. But that's it for our episode on Caroline Muirhead and Sandy McKellar. And that's it for another episode of true crime all the time. So for Mike and Gabi.

Stay safe and keep your own time ticking.