The body of a murdered man was so badly charred that expert anthropologists were needed to help identify him. William Leiper was killed in Glasgow's Pollok area before his corpse was dumped in a wheelie bin, dragged to a nearby park and set alight.
A jogger and a dog walker went on to make the gruesome discovery at Househill Park. The details emerged as a judge heard the background to the death of the 31 year-old.
Jude McPhie was back in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow today after pleading guilty to murder on Monday. The 42 year-old admitted attacking Mr Leiper at the thug's flat in Hartstone Road between August 2 and 3, 2021.
Prosecutor Derick Nelson told how Mr Leiper had been an associate of McPhie and 27-year-old Christopher O'Reilly. In the early hours of August 2, Mr Leiper was said to have turned up at McPhie's home "unannounced" and demanded money.
Later that night, the men were upstairs together with a woman downstairs. She went on to hear Mr Leiper "cry out" and shout: "What are you doing, mate?" Mr Leiper - described as "terrified" - was also heard being struck more than once. McPhie yelled at him: "You've been at it for weeks." Mr Leiper at one point stated: "Mate, please stop."
The same woman later spotted McPhie outside the house with what appeared to be the body of the victim lying on the doorstep. McPhie shouted on O'Reilly - who was also in the street - for "help".
The pair went to a local petrol station where McPhie bought lighter fluid and two bottles of bleach. Over the next couple of days, neighbours noticed an "unusual burning smell" coming from a fire in the rear garden of the house.
In the early hours of August 4, two figures were caught struggling to drag a green wheelie bin in the direction of Househill Park. Mr Nelson said it appeared to be bearing "significant weight".
Around 7.30am, a dog walker spotted what she initially thought was "a smouldering log or burning rubbish". She went on to stop a jogger, who believed it could instead be a body. Mr Nelson said: "A 999 call prompted the arrival of police, who saw the charred remains."
The court heard a large part of the body had been "burnt beyond all recognition". Litter and other items had been dumped around it.
Mr Nelson said: "Scene examiners, a fire crew, forensic scientists and a specialist team of forensic anthropologists were contacted to attend. The remains were confirmed by experts as human."
As a major murder probe was sparked, McPhie went on to tell one of his sisters: "He is a bully and he'll not be bullying anybody else."
He was also described as "ranting and raving" with another relative and admitted he had "murdered" Mr Leiper. McPhie was later held by police, but when charged with the killing stated the claims were "b******s".
The court heard Mr Leiper's cause of death was marked as "unascertained", but that there were signs of "multiple blunt force trauma" to the head. O'Reilly had his not guilty plea to the murder accepted on Monday. He instead pled guilty to attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
The indictment stated that O'Reilly - along with others - bought bleach and lighter fluid to destroy evidence. Attempts were made to clean blood at the house with clothes and a hammer burned in a garden.
Part of a bloodstained mattress was also ditched. The body of Mr Leiper is then said to have been removed from the murder scene and transported in a wheelie bin to nearby Househill Park in Pollok, where it was torched.
McPhie also pled guilty to attempting to defeat the ends of justice, but the claims he helped move the body and set it alight were deleted. Lord Young adjourned the case again until next month and remanded both McPhie and O'Reilly in custody.
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