Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Kim Avis: BBC documentary to reveal ‘untold story’ of rapist who faked death in bid to dodge justice

Kim Avis was jailed in 2021 for a series of crimes after faking his own death off the coast of California.

The story of infamous Inverness criminal Kim Avis is set to be told in a new episode of BBC programme Disclosure. Image: Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock (10348271a)
The story of infamous Inverness criminal Kim Avis is set to be told in a new episode of BBC programme Disclosure. Image: Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock (10348271a)

An Inverness rapist who faked his death in the US in a bid to dodge justice is the subject of a new BBC documentary.

Kim Avis was jailed in 2021 for 15 years after an 11-year campaign of abusing women and women and children in the Highlands.

 

BBC’s flagship Scottish investigative series Disclosure is now set to tell ‘the untold story’ at 9pm on Wednesday March 27.

Kim Avis
The Inverness man was eventually caught by police in Colorado. This came after faking his death off the coast of California. Image: AP/Shutterstock

Dead Man Running is “the extraordinary story of how the darkest of crimes were hidden in plain sight for decades.”

The episode description reads: “A missing man, a hunt across the US and the untold story of an eccentric Inverness street trader who became an international fugitive.

“Did Kim Avis really drown in the waters off California’s infamous ‘Mortuary Beach’?”

How Inverness street trader Kim Avis was caught after faking death

Avis was a well-known street trader and occasional busker in Inverness.

He was known by at least three names – Kim Gordon, Kim Vincent and Kem Avis-Vincent – and was thought to have moved to the Highlands capital in the 1980s.

Avis was first reported missing on February 25 2019.

His then-17-year-old son alerted police after he failed to return from a swim, at Monastery Beach in Carmel, California.

A copy of Kim Avis’ market trader licence. Image: Monterey Sheriff’s Office

The beach is known as ‘Mortuary Beach’ as more than 30 people have died there.

He was originally treated as a missing person – but it was soon revealed that he had failed to appear in court in Scotland to face rape and sexual assault charges.

A manhunt was launched and he was arrested over 1,000 miles away in Colorado Springs five months later.

Avis eventually went on trial at the High Court in Glasgow and was ultimately found guilty of 14 charges on two girls and two women between 2006 and 2017, mainly in Inverness – including at his property called Wolves Den.

He was jailed on June 11, 2021.

Conversation