Highland Council was unable to say last night what the future holds for an Inverness house that has been the scene of two horrific murders within the space of a decade.
The local authority faces a dilemma over whether to bulldoze 5 Kintail Court, which has been dubbed the “house of horrors” by neighbours.
Elizabeth Mackay was found murdered at the single-storey, semi-detached house in Hilton in March last year after being battered to death by pensioner Michael Taylor.
The 60-year-old had been was one of the first tenants to live in the council house after Brian Grant, who murdered hairdresser Ilene O’Connor and then buried her in the garden a decade ago.
Grant was jailed for life in January 2007 for the “savage and brutal” attack on the 39-year-old hairdresser, who was missing for two weeks before police discovered her body.
Her injuries included brain damage, 26 rib fractures and a smashed breast bone.
The judge branded Grant was a “significant danger to the public” and ordered that he serve at least 14 years behind bars before being considered for release.
The detective leading the inquiry into Ms Mackay’s death, Detective Chief Inspector Keith Hardie of the police’s Major Investigation Team, said he had never encountered two unrelated murders happening in the same home before.
He said the two crimes had “no connection whatsoever” and a potential link between them was never a serious line of inquiry.
Highland Council could not confirm whether the house would be re-let in the future.