A reward for information to help detectives catch the infamous Cheese Wire Killer who murdered an Aberdeen taxi driver in 1983 has risen to £25,000.
George “Dod” Murdoch, 58, was found dying on the ground outside his sky-blue Ford Cortina taxi on the evening of September 29 1983.
He’d travelled towards Peterculter after picking up his last fare on Aberdeen’s Queen’s Road.
Mr Murdoch was then viciously attacked on Pitfodels Station Road where a cheese wire – used as a garrotte – was also discovered.
Now the taxi firm Mr Murdoch worked for, which is now part of Rainbow City Taxis, has generously increased the existing £20,000 reward to £25,000.
Managing director Russell McLeod said he hoped a larger sum of money might help to entice someone to come forward with new information that could crack the case.
He said: “It would be a glowing tribute to George’s family, even after all this time, if someone was brought to justice.
“It would be very fitting if in some small way this was to help to bring a conviction.
“I was very well aware of the case at the time. I was in the taxi trade but I worked out in the Shire at the time. It was a shock to even drivers who were not Aberdeen city drivers.”
The reward for information that could lead to the confirmed identity of the killer stands at £25,000, after George’s relatives first put forward £10,000 and it was matched by Aberdeen Journals last year.
George’s wife Jessie died in 2004 without knowing why her husband was killed but nephew Alex McKay and his wife Robina have continued to keep the case alive.
Mr McKay said: “If there was no reward, fewer people would be talking about the case and maybe less information could be coming through.
“We’re looking for quality over quantity. There’s been information that’s come in. It’s been decent information that the police are following up.
“Time will tell if it’s quality or not.”
Fresh lines of inquiry
In March, the BBC television programme Crimewatch Live aired a reconstruction of the night that George Murdoch was brutally murdered.
The episode featured an emotional interview with Mr Murdoch’s nephew Alex McKay.
After the broadcast, Police Scotland confirmed that the Crimewatch hotline received three phone calls while the detective leading the inquiry was still in the studio.
At the time Detective Inspector James Callander said that one of the calls came from as far away as the Midlands of England.
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/crime-courts/4053518/cheesewire-murder-crimewatch-response/
In a fresh interview ahead of next month’s 39th anniversary of the murder, Det Insp Callander said: “We’re trying to trace people that stay in the Midlands of England. It just takes time to do that. It’s the nature of a cold case review.
“What we are looking at from the Crimewatch broadcast and the appeal last year is all promising stuff – nothing concrete and nothing that’s going to crack the case open for us immediately, but it’s all positive stuff and it gives us hope that there is somebody out there that does know something.”
How to get the reward
The senior investigating officer welcomed Alex and Robina McKay’s efforts to increase the reward.
“I’m fully behind what they’re doing. I think it’s a good thing. If you tell us information and it gets us to the right person, you get the reward. It’s as simple as that.
“I just hope that the local companies of Aberdeen come together and get behind the appeal.”
He confirmed that people have previously come forward with information and attempted to claim the reward but said they had offered “nothing relevant” to the inquiry.
“The people that we are looking to come forward are family members who, on the night in question remember their brother, their father, whoever, coming home in a panic and making some disclosure to them.
“Those are the people that we would imagine would come forward, or a good friend that somebody’s confided in,” the Det Insp explained.
Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team continues to believe that the motive for George’s murder was theft.
The killer took his wallet and that evening’s takings from the taxi which amounted to anywhere between £21 and £35.
Businesses wishing to contribute towards the reward can contact the family by sending an email to: jdhallfield@mail.co.uk
Can you finally solve the mystery? Email Police Scotland or call on 101 with any information or private message the George Murdoch Murder Facebook page.
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