Court hears dead man's evidence

Elizabeth McCabe's body was found in the woods in February 1980

The Templeton Woods murder trial has heard about possible sightings of murdered nursery nurse Elizabeth McCabe from a labourer who has since died.

Statements which Gordon Stewart made to police hunting Ms McCabe's killer were read to the High Court in Edinburgh.

He said a woman fitting her description was seen at the home of local man Brian Lindsay before her death in 1980.

Vincent Simpson, from Camberley in Surrey, denies murdering Ms McCabe and dumping her body in woods near Dundee.

Brian Lindsay was a potential suspect during the early days of the murder hunt which followed the discovery of Ms McCabe's remains in woodland on the outskirts of Dundee.

The court heard how Mr Stewart volunteered his information after seeing a photo of Ms McCabe in a local paper.

He told police that Mr Lindsay lived next door to him in Logie Street, Dundee.

The court has heard that the flats shared a toilet in the common stair.

I recognised her picture in the paper. I am sure it was the same girl that was killed Gordon Stewart

The day after the 20-year-old's body was found, Mr Stewart said: "Sometime in the middle of January, 1980, a girl called at the door asking for Brian.

"I recognised her picture in the paper. I am sure it was the same girl that was killed."

Mr Stewart also told them he had seen the girl coming out of the toilet in the early hours of the morning after a party at Mr Lindsay's flat.

Retired Inspector Alexander Hirst, 60, was shown a note he had added to the end of the statement saying that Mr Stewart was drunk and incoherent and should be interviewed again.

Three weeks later Mr Stewart spoke to a sergeant with Tayside Police, Duncan Cunningham, and tried to make things clearer.

He described how he was at his kitchen window on a Saturday morning when he saw a girl come out of the toilet on the common stair.

She was wearing a brown oatmeal jacket and carrying a brown leather shoulder bag.

Vehemently denied

He saw her call at a paper shop then walk away in the direction of Lochee - the district of Dundee where Ms McCabe lived.

Mr Stewart said the same girl knocked on his door on another occasion to ask the whereabouts of his neighbour.

Vincent Simpson, 61, who was living in the village of Newtyle, near Dundee, and operating a private hire taxi firm in 1980, says he has an alibi for the night Ms McCabe disappeared.

His defence lawyers have also given the court a list of 13 names who, they claim, are more likely to be responsible for Ms McCabe's death.

Brian Lindsay, 50, - who had a brief fling with Ms McCabe - is one of those on the list.

The trial has heard a suggestion that she might have been planning to visit him on the night she vanished.

Giving evidence earlier in the trial, Mr Lindsay vehemently denied having anything to do with Elizabeth's disappearance or seeing her after she left Teazer's disco.

The trial continues.