Templeton accused's 'dark secret'

The jury was told Ms McCabe's killer sits a few feet from them

A murder trial has heard that the man accused of killing Elizabeth McCabe strangled her, dumped her body and kept the secret for a quarter of a century.

In his closing speech at the High Court in Edinburgh, Alex Prentice QC said the killer was sitting a few feet away.

Vincent Simpson, 61, from Camberley in Surrey, denies murdering the nursery nurse and claims he has an alibi.

Ms McCabe's body was found in Templeton Woods in Dundee in February 1980, on the eve of her 21st birthday.

Mr Prentice, advocate depute, said: "The killer kept the awful dark secret within him for quite some time.

"As time went on, confidence grew in that killer's mind that he would never be charged and - as the years went by - 25 years, a quarter of a century, confidence must have swelled that he would never face a Scottish jury on a charge of murder."

He urged the jury to consider the evidence given by Dr Jonathan Whitaker, who concluded that DNA profiling results provided very strong support for the assertion that genetic material from Ms McCabe's jumper had originated from Mr Simpson.

DNA evidence is critical in this case Alex Prentice QC Advocate depute

At one area on the neck of the jumper, where an attacker might have grabbed Ms McCabe the chances of the DNA coming from anyone unrelated to Mr Simpson, were 1:320,000.

Mr Prentice told the jury: "DNA evidence is critical in this case. If you reject the DNA evidence and the conclusions the Crown ask you to take, that is the end of the case."

Defence lawyers have suggested that items of evidence were contaminated while they were stored by police.

Mr Simpson was living in the village of Newtyle, near Dundee, in 1980 and operating a private hire taxi firm from his home.

The advocate depute said the jury could easily draw the conclusion that a Ford Cortina taxi seen emerging from Templeton Woods on the night Ms McCabe disappeared was being driven by him.

Mr Prentice also said that when Mr Simpson had responded to an appeal by Tayside Police for taxi drivers to complete a questionnaire about that night he had appeared "just a wee bit nervous."

He concluded by asking the jury to find Mr Simpson guilty, and said it was the only proper verdict on the evidence.

Defence lawyer Mark Stewart QC will give his closing speech on Wednesday.