The man had been out out walking his dog and enjoying the fresh air when a shocking find made him stop in his tracks.
Lying on the open ground that February lunchtime was the bloodstained body of another male.
The dog walker quickly alerted the police who discovered that the victim had been shot through the head.
What wasn’t clear was whether the man had been murdered where he lay or had been killed elsewhere and his body dumped.
The murder scene in 1996 was near the town of Erskine in Renfrewshire and down by the side of the River Clyde.
It was close the M8 at the junction for neighbouring Bishopton suggesting some local knowledge.
It was also obvious that this was no ordinary murder but a gangland execution.
That became clearer when detectives discovered the identity of the victim.
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He was 32 year old Billy Weatherall who was currently on trial at the High Court in Stirling on charges of mobbing and rioting at nearby Glenochil Prison alongwith seven other men.
At the time he had been on bail having completed a five year prison sentence.
Weatherall, who had the nickname Billy Boy, had been attending the court each day and going home at the end of proceedings.
All eight had been accused of taking a prison officer Tom Jones hostage and putting a ligature round his neck during the siege in January,1994.
When Weatherall failed to appear for trial the following day a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He had last been seen near Maryhill Shopping Centre in Glasgow at 10pm the night before.
His body was found 15 hours later shortly before 1:30pm.
It was clear this was some form of professional hit, but by whom and why?
There was nothing in Weatherall’s background to suggest he was big time or involved in any major criminality.
In reality he was a petty thief who had been in and out of jail over the past decade for drugs and bail offences, housebreaking and assault.
During the investigation police met a wall of silence and there was little response from the public for their appeals for information. Something which was quite common in cases where the victim has criminal connections.
The spot where Weatherall was found was also near a lay by and a popular spot for “courting couples” so an appeal was made to them to come forward.
There were a number of theories and rumours as to the reasons for his murder.
It was said that he planned to give evidence against his fellow co accused in return for the charges being dropped against him .
That theory gained some weight when in the following days the trial collapsed and the remaining seven walked free.
However the prosecutor in the case, Bill Totten, said was no evidence that the killing had anything to do with the court proceedings.
Another theory was Weatherall had been murdered for robbing the home of a drug baron’s mum in Maryhill. A third suggested that he had been about to give evidence against an associate of a Paisley gangland Mr Big in another case.
One source said at the time;” Billy Boy believed he was going back to jail after the trial, and was burgling houses non-stop to get some money together. He’d done a right few when he went to the wrong place.” At the time the finger of suspicions as pointed at one of Weatherall’s co accused a feared and violent gangster George “Goofy” Docherty. Goofy, from the east end of Glasgow was 36 and had risen from being a petty criminal to a significant figure in organised crime. It was said that he regularly carried and supplied guns and wasn’t afraid to use them He had also teamed up with a notorious and ruthlessly violent crew from the Paisley area who ran a security firm FCB that received large sums of taxpayers money and was eventually closed down after a public outcry.
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At the time of the riot Goofy was serving seven years for a machete attack on one of the firm’s opponents and was among the seven who later had the charges dropped Ten years he was served some rough justice of his own when he was murdered in a Glasgow street While walking through the Tollcross area of the city in August 2006 he was knocked down by a car which then reversed over him. As he lay bleeding on the ground his assailants jumped out and stabbed him repeatedly in the neck to avoid the stab-proof vest he was wearing. To this day the murder remains unsolved.
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Graeme Pearson, former Director General of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, says cases like that of Billy Weatherall are notoriously difficult to solve, particularly after 30 years. He added:”Even if people were passing by and had information at the time they will have forgotten about it now “It may be those who were courting given the location would not want it to be known they are there at the time. “What you are really looking for is an anonymous phone call from someone one who knows the perpetrator was and would seek to do them harm. “Someone to fill in the blanks for police.”
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A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “The murder of Willliam Weatherall remains unresolved. “Unresolved murders are cases that are never closed and Police Scotland is fully committed to identifying those people responsible for all such cases. :”As with any unresolved murder case, we would review any new information provided to police and investigate further if appropriate.”
Police Scotland say they are also still committed to identifying those responsible for George Docherty’s murder.
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