Firearms officers forced entry to murder accused's home, court hears

A man accused of murdering his sister shook uncontrollably and said: “my head is f-----” when police told him she was dead, a jury heard today.

Jordan Johnstone was being interviewed as a potential witness in a missing person inquiry because police had not yet connected it the discovery of Annalise Johnstone’s remains beside a country road in Perthshire.

Johnstone, 25, and girlfriend Angela Newlands, 28, both deny killing 22-year-old Annalise at a witch monument near Dunning in Perthshire in May last year and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by covering up the crime.

DC Karen Jamieson, 42, told the High Court at Livingston was asked to interview Jordan Johnstone at Dundee Police Headquarters after made a phone call to report his sister’s disappearance.

She said she was aware at the time of the inquiry into the death of an unidentified young woman the previous day but was interviewing the accused as a potential witness in the missing person inquiry.

During the interview she said Johnstone asked for his grandmother to be called.

She told the jury: “I said it wasn’t appropriate because there were specialist officers with his grandmother disclosing news of Annalise’s death

“Prior to that he’d been calm. On being told this information his demeanour completely changed.

“He placed his head in his hands and began to uncontrollably shake and make statements. He said ‘My head is f-----!’”

DC Helen Ireland, 37, said she went looking for Johnstone at an address he had lived in in Auchterarder, Perthshire, with other officers.

Firearms officers forced entry because they could see possible signs of a disturbance inside but found the house empty.

She then went with a colleague to an address in Inchture, near Dundee where Johnstone had been traced by uniformed officers.

She said she told him police wanted to take a statement from him about the missing person report he had made and he “willingly” agreed to accompany them to Police HQ in Dundee..

Detective Constable Andrew Howe, 40, who conducted the lengthy interview with Johnstone said the accused claimed he had dropped his sister off at their uncle Walter’s flat in Auchterarder because she wanted him to give her a lift back to Ardrossan.

Johnstone told him: “I stopped on the road at the entrance to the street and let out Annalise. I said goodbye to her and gave her a cuddle.

“I waited until I saw her at Walter’s block. She pressed a buzzer and waited for her to go into the block. I don't know the time but it was about 10pm and beginning to get dark.

“When I dropped Annalise off I asked her to give me a phone when she got back to Ardrossan. I drove back to Inchture. I was shattered and just wanted to get back home.”

He said he returned to Walter’s home the following day to look for annalise.

He said: I phoned my grandmother and asked if she’d heard from Annalise. She sounded worried and I said I'd call the police.

“I did go to Walters to see if Annalise was there. I couldn't get into the block and there was no answer to the buzzer. Walter’s van and Jeep weren’t parked outside.”

At that point he said, he used a fellow Traveller’s phone to dial 101 to report Annalise missing.

DC Howe said Johnstone gave an emotional reaction when he learned his description of Annalise’s tattoo had helped police identify the unidentified body as hers.

He said: “He became upset and placed his head and his hands. He did bang his head off the table we were sitting at at the time.

“He did make a comment. He said: ‘Don't tell me she’s been raped’. He said he would kill Walter, indicating that he believed he (Walter) was responsible for it.”

Asked if he could be medically examined for any injuries or samples Johnstone told the detectives he would do anything to help their inquiry. DC Howe said that was normal procedure, adding: “Everyone was aware he was the last person to see her alive.”

He said he saw scratches to the back of Johnstone’s neck while a doctor was examining him. He told the jury: “There were three linear marks at the base of the neck. He said it was the result of a haircut the previous day.”

The trial continues.