'Terrible evil' in dear green place

By Laura Pettigrew
BBC Scotland news website

Queen's Park in the south side of Glasgow became a crime scene

The brutal murder of Moira Jones shocked people across Scotland, but perhaps none more so than those who used the park where she died.

In May last year a green space in the south side of Glasgow which was normally frequented by joggers, dog-walkers, cyclists and mothers with prams became a 60-hectare crime scene.

The discovery of the businesswoman's body, by a ranger, in undergrowth in Queen's Park sparked a murder investigation that would stretch across Europe.

Police officers descended in their droves to comb lawns, bushes and paths for clues that might lead them to her killer, and the park was closed for more than a fortnight.

And it was evidence discovered in the park, and witness statements from people who used it, that helped eventually secure the conviction of Slovakian Marek Harcar for Ms Jones' murder.

A terrible evil came to this dear green place, but this dear green place is a park for the community, it's a place of life and growth and hope Rev Neil Galbraith Strathclyde Police chaplain

The parents of the 40-year-old said she loved Glasgow. Ms Jones moved to the city in 2003 from Staffordshire, where she was brought up.

She travelled the country working for the Britvic soft drinks company.

On the night she died she had been for drinks with her boyfriend, Paul Thomson, and had gone back to his flat where she planned to stay the night.

However, she later decided to return home and was seen parking her car about 100 yards from her flat in Queen's Drive.

CCTV footage gathered as part of the police investigation showed two individuals heading towards the park, a larger figure "leading" a smaller one.

A dog walker told the murder trial he later heard screams coming from a holly bush and a man talking with an Eastern European accent.

In the days following Ms Jones' rape and murder her parents travelled to Scotland, as did her brother who lives in Australia.

They made an emotional appeal for help to catch her killer.

On the night she died Ms Jones had been out with her boyfriend

Her family were later joined by friends and local people who attended a special memorial service and walk around Queen's Park, after it reopened to the public.

Strathclyde Police chaplain the Reverend Neil Galbraith, who led the service, said: "A terrible evil came to this dear green place, but this dear green place is a park for the community, it's a place of life and growth and hope."

Meanwhile, the police investigation to catch Ms Jones' killer was widening.

Door-to-door inquires in Queen's Park revealed that a Slovakian man, Marek Harcar, had moved to the area from Liverpool just 10 days before Ms Jones' death.

He had been staying at a friend's flat but had fled to Europe in the days following the murder.

DNA matches

The trial heard that on the night Ms Jones was attacked he had been drunk and had told his flatmate and neighbour he was going "looking for a woman".

Forensic material gathered in the park also linked Harcar to the crime and DNA taken from the flat he was staying in matched DNA found at the murder scene.

The back of a mobile phone was discovered in the park. Tests on it revealed DNA that matched Ms Jones' profile.

A European arrest warrant was granted and three weeks after Ms Jones was attacked Harcar was detained by police in the Slovak village of Nalepkovo.

When arrested, he was wearing a leather jacket. He was in possession of a mobile phone, the back of which was missing, and a camera belonging to Ms Jones was recovered from a bag in his house.

Moira Jones' camera was found in Harcar's house in Slovakia

Extradition procedures began and officers from Strathclyde Police brought him back to Scotland in July.

Tests later revealed the businesswoman's blood on Harcar's leather jacket, and forensic expert Carol Weston told the murder trial that the blood stains were in a pattern consistent with the wearer having assaulted Ms Jones.

Semen found on Ms Jones' body also matched Harcar's DNA profile.

Throughout the police investigation and trial the Slovakian maintained his innocence. His lawyers lodged special defences of incrimination and alibi.

Some of Ms Jones' belongings, including her purse and car keys, were removed from the park by other people following her murder. Her credit card was used fraudulently to buy a computer online.

Sex offender

The defence team told the jury that convicted sex offender Jason Mulheron had admitted the murder of Moira Jones.

His former girlfriend, Caroline Daly, said he had told her he had "killed the girl in the park."

However, when she appeared as a witness at the murder trial she claimed that days later he told her that was not true.

Mulheron, himself, also appeared in the witness box.

A tree was planted in Queen's Park in memory of Moira Jones

He said he was a violent man, a liar, and a danger to women. But he denied telling Ms Daly that he had killed Moira Jones.

The jury found Harcar guilty of the rape and murder of Moira Jones on Wednesday.

The conviction may bring her family, who sat through the 19 days of evidence and legal debate, some closure.

But for them, and the people who use Queen's Park, what happened last May will never be forgotten.

Since the park reopened the dog walkers, joggers, cyclists and prams have all returned.

The flowers laid in tribute to a "remarkable lady" have long since been removed.

However, a tree, planted in the days after her death ensures memories of Moira Jones live on in this dear green place.