Alistair Wilson’s murder is one of the most notorious unsolved mysteries in recent history - and is currently being explored in the Channel 5 documentary, Murder on the Doorstep: Who Killed Alistair Wilson? While no one was ever charged for Alistair’s murder, a recent theory has become very popular about exactly what happened. Here’s the planning dispute motive explained...
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Alistair was a 30-year-old banker who was shot and killed at his home in 2004, with the lack of motive baffling the police. However, back in April, police revealed that a planning dispute with a local hotel could have been a factor in his death. He had objected to a decking area outside of the hotel opposite his home over the noise and litter it would cause.
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Speaking to BBC, Detective Inspector Gary Winter said: "Today we believe the most likely motive, based on what was a current grievance in Alistair's life at the time of his murder, was the fact that he had objected in writing about a large decking area that had been built in the pub car park directly opposite where he stayed."
He added: "So, you may have a relatively minor matter that results in conflict and the potential for a level of violence that is totally disproportionate to what happens. These things do happen - fallouts over objections to car parking, planning permission that result in conflict."
Alistair was killed in 2004
The decking was built without planning permission, and Alistair Wilson had sent a written objection to the council. A copy was sent to the hotel two days before he was killed.
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There have still been no arrests made in the case, and the investigation is ongoing. Detective Superintendent Graeme Mackie requested that anyone who may have information should come forward, saying: “We understand through our inquiries that Alistair’s objection was openly talked about in the Havelock Hotel bar.
"We would urge anyone who was present over this period, or knows who was there, to please come forward and speak to us. This would have been the first time Alistair’s objection to a retrospective planning application for the decking would have become public knowledge."
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