Suzanne Pilley murder trial: Prosecutor tells ‘how she died’

THE senior lawyer in charge of prosecuting the man who allegedly murdered Suzanne Pilley has told a jury how he thinks the book keeper died.

Advocate Depute Alex Prentice QC told the High Court in Edinburgh that he thinks the divorcee was murdered after arriving at her work on May 4 2010.

In his closing speech, Mr Prentice said he thought David Gilroy,49, persuaded Suzanne,38, to go the basement of the building which housed their employers, Infrastucture Managers Limited.

Mr Prentice said: “The crown case is that Suzanne Pilley met David Gilroy on the morning of Tuesday May 4 2010.

“They went to the basement of the building together quite possibly with the consent of both; that he killed her; he placed her body in the recess; he got his car from his home; brought it to the garage; placed her dead body in the boot, took her home and then the next day transported her to a lonely grave somewhere in Argyll where she is now.”

Mr Prentice was speaking on the 16th day of the trial of Gilroy, who denies murdering Suzanne in Edinburgh City Centre almost two years ago.

The advocate depute spoke after Gilroy, of Silverknowes, Edinburgh, decided not to give evidence about his alleged involvement in the disappearance of his former lover Suzanne.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Prentice acknowledged that he was presenting an “unusual” murder case in the sense that the Crown have never recovered Suzanne’s body.

But he said there was evidence which proved that Gilroy had killed his former lover.

Mr Prentice said that since going missing, Suzanne hasn’t withdrawn any money from her bank and mortgage accounts and that she hasn’t used any of her credit cards.

The advocate depute also said that police recovered her passport from her home in the Whitson area of Edinburgh.

Mr Prentice also said that prior to her going missing, Suzanne always arranged for somebody to look after her cat Mercury, but hadn’t done so.

Telling the jury that they could reject the notion of Suzanne committing suicide, Mr Prentice said: “I would suggest that this is out of character - even if she was late some arrangement would be made for somebody to look after her cat.

“I would suggest that there is absolutely no basis in thinking that she is somewhere else alive and is hiding from friends and family.”

Mr Prentice also told the jury that they weren’t in a “court of morals” and should not judge David Gilroy for being ‘unfaithful’ to his wife Andrea.

But he did tell the jury they should consider why Gilroy sent Suzanne more than 400 text messages in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.

But this stopped on the day before she went missing and Gilroy didn’t bother phoning or texting her former lover after that date.

Mr Prentice said this was because Gilroy knew that Suzanne was dead. Mr Prentice also said that he thought Gilroy had her phone.

Saying that friends had tried to contact Suzanne in the days after she went missing, Mr Prentice said Gilroy didn’t join in their efforts to track her down by ringing her mobile.

Gilroy has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice between May 4 and May 6 2010 by concealing Suzanne’s dead body within 11 Thistle Street before transporting it to various locations in Scotland in the boot of his car.

The charge alleges that he did this in a bid to avoid detection, arrest and prosecution for the murder of Suzanne Pilley - and to frustrate the police and procurator fiscal’s investigation into her disappearance.

The trial before judge Lord Bracadale continues.