Thurs Bin A Murdur! ((c) Taggart)

In May 1984, I was piddling around in the West End of Edinburgh, gazing at the newspaper headlines, as I waited to buy something in the newsagents.

My eye was caught by a small column to the right hand side of the paper "Jim Kerr Marries Chrissie Hynde". Pfft! How could he!!! I was right there waiting! Me and the Simple Mind? Me Queueing from 4 am on a cold Edinburgh Morning in February for tickets? End of. No more.

I glanced over the rest of the paper, and my gaze landed on a picture of a man under the main story. As I turned to the counter, something made me turn back and have another look. Yes, I did actually recognise him. I picked up the paper, added it to my purchases, and left the shop.

I headed over to the phone boxes in front of the Caledonian Hotel, (We didn't have mobile phones in those days), and called home.

Mum knew all about it, thur hud bin a murdur!

I recognised the man from the local pubs, "Columbo" was his nickname, drawn from the dirty raincoat which was always present.

His body had been discovered the morning before by gardening machinery left by the green keepers on one of the local golf courses. A murder hunt was underway.

Shortly after, there was one arrest, but the accused was released without charge.

Nothing further was heard about it until 2001. Police announced they were reviewing "new leads".

The story went that a dying man told a story to a clergy man which related to the murder in some way. No new charges or investigations were announced. But the gossip mill in town went into overdrive!

This, is where the body was found. I cycle past it every day, and I always think on Columbo, and how he came to this sad ending. He was a harmless soul, who liked a drink, and bothered no one that I could see; and who knows what he'd done that sparked the attack which led to his death.


RIP Columbo.