Murder accused had been in woods

Elizabeth McCabe's body was discovered in woods in 1980

The man accused of murdering a Dundee nursery worker 27 years ago told police he had been in the city's Templeton Woods the night she disappeared.

Former taxi driver Vincent Simpson gave a statement describing how he had walked his dog there and returned later on his way to another fare.

Elizabeth's McCabe's naked body was found in a clearing in the woods more than two weeks later.

Mr Simpson, 61, of Camberley, Surrey, denies murdering the 20-year-old.

Her body was found in the woods on 26 February, 1980.

In special defences, Mr Simpson has pleaded alibi and incrimination.

His lawyers have drawn up a list of 13 names, saying one or more of the men on the list could be the real killer.

Am I correct in understanding that not one fibre, not one hair, not one bloodstain not one piece of evidence linking Elizabeth McCabe to Vincent Simpson's car was recovered? Defence QC Mark Stewart

Retired detective Lesley Liney, 70, told the High Court in Edinburgh he interviewed taxi operator Vincent Simpson because two witnesses had seen his car in Templeton woods the night Ms McCabe went missing.

In a police statement from 1980 Mr Simpson said he took his dog for a walk there at about 10pm and returned after midnight on his way to collect a fare in Dundee.

He said he had gone back to look for a car he had seen earlier to try to steal from it.

Mr Simpson, who was then 33, told Mr Liney he did not pick up passengers at Teazer's disco - where Ms McCabe left her friends after a night out - and did not recognise a photo of the nursery nurse.

He told the detective he had a heavy gambling habit and admitted he had a criminal record for petty theft dating back to when he was a child, but "no record for violence or sex crime".

Taxi questionnaires

The trial has heard that in 1980, Mr Simpson was operating a private hire taxi business from his home in Newtyle, near Dundee.

Defence QC Mark Stewart suggested that the investigation into Ms McCabe's murder was obsessed with taxi drivers because they thought a cabbie might be responsible for an earlier murder when the body of another young woman was found in Templeton Woods.

Mr Liney agreed that questionnaires had been distributed to Dundee taxi drivers asking about the night Elizabeth disappeared. Simpson had returned one on 29 February, clearly stating he had been in the Templeton Woods area.

The trial heard that at the time of the interview on 2 March 1980 Mr Simpson was considered "a witness" however, his home and Cortina were thoroughly searched.

"Am I correct in understanding that not one fibre, not one hair, not one bloodstain not one piece of evidence linking Elizabeth McCabe to Vincent Simpson's car was recovered?" the lawyer asked.

"Not so far as I am aware, no," Mr Liney said.

Forensic techniques

He told the trial the reason for the interest in taxi drivers was that Ms McCabe of Lochee, Dundee, had been in the city centre on her own.

"She would not have made her way home by any other means than a taxi," he said.

Earlier, the jury heard how forensic techniques had changed in the years since the murder.

Police said protective clothing was not worn when officers removed her body from the woods and that none of the current sterile practices were used to safeguard evidence or protect the scene of crime.

One officer told the court the pathologist at the mortuary did not wear gloves when he removed the ring from Ms McCabe's body.

The trial continues.