Twisted revenge plot saw innocent dog walker shot 30 times…how e-bike slip up and duct tape finally snared the killer

WHEN likeable country estate groundsman Brian Low was found dead while out walking his beloved black Labrador, Millie, in the Scottish countryside, it shocked the local community. Discovered by a fellow dog walker, at a place known as Leafy Lane, police and an ambulance were called. Initially police thought Brian had died from natural causes Credit: Family Handout A fellow dog walker discovered Brian’s body Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd The first policeman to arrive believed the injuries were consistent with Brian having fallen and even the paramedic thought he had died after a sudden medical event. Incredibly, it wasn’t until six days later that a medical examination established the injuries were consistent with being fatally shot. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! He had around 30-shotgun pellets to his face and body. When his remains reached the mortuary, shotgun pellets literally fell out of the body bag as it was opened. “I couldn’t get my head around why somebody would want to murder Brian,” says his partner, Pam Curran. “I don’t think he had a bad bone in his body.” The crime scene wasn’t cordoned off until six days after the murder Credit: Alamy David Campbell (pictured upon his arrest) was considered to be arrogant and threatening Credit: BBC With no witnesses to the murder, police looked into who might have had a grudge against Brian. The spotlight fell on his fellow estate worker, 75-year-old David Campbell who prosecution and several people who knew him, believe held an historic grudge against Brian for over six years. Most read in The Sun Proving the case against him was a complex one and is comprehensively detailed in the riveting two-part documentary Murder Trial: Death of a Dog Walker, which focusses on David Cambell’s murder trial and how a bicycle, a hat and some duct tape eventually helped to bring him to justice. Brian Low and David Campbell had been employed at Edradynate shooting estate near Aberfeldy, Perthshire. Campbell was head gamekeeper there from May 1984 to February 2018, and Brian was a groundsman from August 2000 to February 2023. Although accomplished in his work, David Campbell was considered to be arrogant and threatening by many who worked with him. After he was sacked for poisoning birds of prey on the estate, he is said to have blamed Brian for talking to police and planting evidence on the estate to frame him. “I knew Dave and Brian had a serious falling out,” says Pam. Campbell is said to have blamed Brian (pictured) for trying to frame him Credit: BBC CCTV captured an e-bike travelling from the Campbell house to the crime scene Credit: PA “Whatever Brian had said to the police really angered Dave, and they had a right set to. “Brian wouldn’t tell me the ins and outs of it but he was really upset by it. “David Campbell’s whole life was his work. “When it ended, probably sooner than he wanted, he wasn’t happy. But I didn’t think to the extent that he would have killed Brian.” On the morning of Brian’s shooting, 17 February 2024, David Campbell was captured on footage from his own doorbell camera, covering it with duct tape. CCTV from the local area, revealed a mysterious figure on an e-bike with a long bag strapped to their back, on the route from the Campbell house to the crime scene. Was this David Campbell with a shotgun in his bag? He denied it was him but a similar e-bike was found on his farm by police, that belonged to his wife, Elizabeth. Brian’s partner, Pam, couldn’t understand why someone would want to murder him Credit: BBC David Campbell (pictured) was found guilty of the murder Credit: BBC Further CCTV showed a horse startled in a field near the crime scene around the time Brian Low’s mobile phone stopped moving. Was it spooked by the fatal gunshot? Elizabeth Campbell told police that she had not been anywhere near the area for years but later admitted in court that she had cycled there a number of times on her e-bike in late 2023/early 2024. The day after the shooting, David Campbell took his wife’s bike to have new tyres put on, explaining that his wife was cycling with friends the following weekend through a forest. Despite the shop owner telling him that the existing ones were not worn and perfectly capable of such an expedition, he had insisted. Prosecutor Greg Farrell told the court, “The crown case is that he changed the tyres on the bike in order to hide any connection between that bike and the locus [location]. “It’s a muddy path, a good chance that that bike could have left track which could have been matched to those tyres.” A soil analysis report by Professor Lorna Dawson showed that some traces of soil and vegetation recovered from the pedals did support the proposition that the bike, or its rider, had come into contact with Leafy Lane near Brian’s home in Pitilie. The CCTV footage of the cyclist shows the man wearing a jacket with a hood. Elizabeth said that her husband did not have that jacket because he never wore a hat or a hood. After Greg Farrell showed her a picture of David wearing a woolly hat, she remarked, “That is very, very unusual.” A bizarre exchange followed when it was David Campbell’s turn in the dock. At first he argued that it was not a hat but “a woolly top” before settling on a “beanie” but “not a hat.” Several witnesses gave evidence of David Campbell’s threatening behaviour. Leona Forrest, the wife of a groundsman, who both used to live on the estate, recalled when he had shouted in her face that her husband was useless. Countown to murder Timeline of how killer carried out callous shotgun execution Feb 15David Campbell fits doorbell camera to back door. Betty Campbell leaves to visit daughter in Dunfermline. Feb 167.11am – Campbell leaves home by the front door then walks to the rear where his car is parked. Travels in his blue Peugeot Partner to 22 Dunkeld Street. 7.33am – Leaves Dunkeld Street and returns home in his car. 7.35am – Filmed placing duct tape over doorbell camera on back door before returning inside via the front door. 10.09am – David Campbell manually switches off home CCTV system. 10.13am – Removes tape from doorbell and is heard talking about camera in phone call with daughter Sarah Aitchison. 10.19am – Campbell leaves home with pal Pat Spicer and travels to the bowling club before returning home around one hour later. 11:10am – Campbell places duct tape over the doorbell camera for a second time. 3.41pm – Campbell makes a 14 minute-long call to council planning department. 4:12pm – Hooded cyclist believed to be Campbell first observed on CCTV travelling north on Burnside, Aberfledy, close to Campbell’s home. 4:14pm – Cyclist seen passing Aberfeldy Business Park towards Spirit of Wood delivery track. 4:18pm – Cyclist goes out of view 140 yards before track leading to Leafy Lane. 4.52pm – Activity ceases on Brian Low’s mobile phone at Leafy Lane where his body is later found. 5.01pm – Cyclist reappears 140 metres after the junction for the delivery track. 5.04pm – Cyclist passes Aberfeldy Business Park. 6.41pm – After disappearing from CCTV for more than one and a half hours, cyclist appears at Mill Street close to David Campbell’s home. 7.32pm – First footage recorded on doorbell camera since tape placed over it as door is seen being opened from inside. 7.33pm – David Campbell filmed in boiler suit walking out back door and returning inside two minutes later. Feb 17 At around 9am – Brian Low’s body is found. “I could feel his spit on my face,” she says. “And he said was going to kill my husband.” Former estate worker Richard Wright said that Campbell had once told him, “I’ll f***ing shoot you one of these days.” Richard added, “He was always threatening somebody.” Adrian Weber, who had worked on the estate after David Campbell had left, said that Brian had mentioned to him that David had threatened to kill him. When asked how David Campbell and Brian Low got along, local farmer, Sally Crystal, commented, “At first it wasn’t noticeable, but as time went on, there was a coldness. “On one occasion I had been talking to Brian in the morning and David walked past me and said, ‘I f***king loathe that man, I hate him.’ I was quite taken aback at that because I couldn’t understand why anybody would loathe Brian. “He was what I consider a gentle man.” David Campbell’s defending KC, Tony Lenehan, flipped all of this on its head. In an interview with the documentary team he reasons, “The Crown led those charges to show that David Campbell was threatening. “But ironically, those charges supported the conclusion that even if he had ill will towards somebody at some point, he didn’t do anything about it.” The murder weapon was never recovered. Police discovered shotgun cartridges in Campbell’s home, the same size as those used to kill Brian, but he was known to use a shotgun at work. In the witness box David Campbell admitted that he and Brian Low didn’t get on – “He didn’t like me. I didn’t like him,” – but he denied ever threatening to shoot anybody. The explanation about why he covered over his doorbell with duct tape confused everyone. He said, “As far as I was aware, somebody stole the front door camera and I phoned my wife to tell her that I’ve taped up the back door camera. “So, there’s only one camera working, and you’ll be able to see who has it and where it is.” Greg Farrell remarked, “The whole chapter about the doorbell camera being taped up was quite difficult to understand. “A common-sense explanation of why he did that was that he wanted to hide his movements. “As for his explanation, I struggled to follow it.” Battling the potential of missed forensic opportunities – the crime scene was not cordoned off until six days after the murder – the prosecution led a circumstantial case to build a picture of a decades-old feud between the victim and the accused that led to a pre-meditated murder. They had put a good case but Brian’s family feared that the jury would accept there was reasonable doubt. There followed three tense days of deliberation before they came to a verdict. “That was the longest three days of my life,” says Pam. “You try to be normal and chat to your friends and say that you’re okay, but you’re really not. “You’re panicking inside. “I’ve gone two years through hell waiting on this day to get Brian justice. “Surely, it’s obvious that he’s guilty. “I couldn’t go in for the verdict because I didn’t know how I would react. “That verdict is not going to make it better, but it could make it a hell of a lot worse.” David Campbell was found guilty. He received a life sentence with a minimum of 19 years. Judge Lord Scott, commented, “David Campbell, you’ve been found guilty of the murder of Brian Low. “It may be that given serious errors in the early stages of police inquiries, you thought initially that you had literally got away with murder. “If so, you were wrong.” “You don’t feel happy because you think it’s lives ruined,” says Pam. “It’s not just my life. “He’s ruined his own family’s life.” Like Pam, Brian’s older brother, Douglas, was in court every day. “Brian meant so much to us,” he says. “My elder brother John and myself thought we’d be the only two, then my mother became pregnant again. “She wanted to have a girl but Brian came along. “She got over the disappointment of him not being a girl, and he was a little bit spoilt. “He had this cheeky little grin and he was just loved by everybody. “I went from treating him as my sort of pesky little brother to actually enjoying his company. “I remember when my father died of a stroke. “As he was dying, I promised him I would look after Mum and Brian. “Obviously, I didn’t do a very good job of that.” Murder Trial: Death of a Dog Walker, BBC2, Tuesday and Wednesday 11th August at 9pm. 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