Finlay MacDonald: Murderer to appeal conviction and sentence for shooting and stabbing spree in Scottish Highlands
Finlay MacDonald, 41, was last week jailed for at least 28 years for murdering his brother-in-law and attempting to kill three other people in August 2022.
Wednesday 4 December 2024 11:39, UK
A man who went on a deadly shooting spree in the Scottish Highlands intends to appeal his conviction and sentence.
Warning: This article contains details readers may find distressing
Finlay MacDonald, 41, was last week jailed for at least 28 years for murdering his brother-in-law and attempting to kill three other people in August 2022.
MacDonald repeatedly stabbed his wife, Rowena MacDonald, 34, during an attack at their home on the Isle of Skye and left her lying drenched in her own blood on the driveway in front of their young children.
MacDonald then drove to his sister's home on the other side of the Sleat peninsula, where he fatally shot his brother-in-law John MacKinnon, 47.
The killer's sister, Lyn-Anne MacKinnon, 45, told a court her husband's "innards were all hanging out" following the attack.
MacDonald then set off for the mainland and the village of Dornie, Wester Ross, where he shot married couple Fay and John MacKenzie before being apprehended.
The events took place on 10 August 2022.
MacDonald denied all charges and claimed he was suffering from an abnormality of mind at the time.
However, he was found guilty following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh and was handed a life sentence on Friday.
The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) has now confirmed it has been notified MacDonald intends to appeal both his conviction and sentence.
During MacDonald's trial, his wife explained how the couple's relationship "was not in a good place" at the time of the incident and she had been planning to move out.
Jurors were told MacDonald confronted his wife over messages on her phone to her male boss, where she had discussed the ending of their marriage and said "this can't come soon enough now".
Although Mrs MacDonald claimed her colleague was merely a friend, MacDonald produced a knife from his pocket and launched into a frenzied attack.
Mrs MacDonald told the court: "Both lungs had been punctured - with every breath I took I was openly squelching blood."
The couple's young children helped to keep their mother conscious at the home in Tarskavaig until emergency services arrived and airlifted her to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
When eventually interviewed by police, MacDonald claimed he had suffered a "moment of madness".
He explained he "didn't know" what he was going to do when he got into his car with a shotgun, "a couple of hundred" cartridges and a knife, but that he began thinking about grievances with his brother-in-law and osteopath.
The court heard that he had "enough ammunition to start a small war".
Jurors were told of how an alleged assault at the hands of Mr MacKinnon in 2013 was the beginning of MacDonald's "problems".
Mrs MacKinnon explained the "altercation" between her husband and brother occurred after MacDonald threw a birthday gift back at her "in a rage" while she was heavily pregnant, which was reportedly witnessed by her children.
MacDonald was said to have felt humiliated and left with low self-esteem following the incident.
On the day of the shooting, MacDonald arrived at Mr MacKinnon's home in Teangue where he was said to have confronted the distillery worker over being "bullied".
MacDonald claimed his brother-in-law "came towards" him, so he shot him.
Mrs MacKinnon, who had spotted her younger brother enter the family home with a gun before hearing the blasts, tried to save her husband's life.
MacDonald then travelled to the home of osteopath Mr MacKenzie, who he had previously visited for treatment of a back injury which had seen him signed off work sick.
The court heard how MacDonald became obsessed with suing Mr MacKenzie, also known as John Don, over the treatment which he claimed left him in "chronic pain" and took his "life chances away".
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The court heard how MacDonald shot Mrs MacKenzie through the house window.
She fled to the bathroom and was joined by her husband before MacDonald arrived.
Mrs MacKenzie said: "He shot John Don at point blank range and we both fell down onto the shower area.
"He was standing there, the man, and I thought, this is it, this is us going to be killed but then my husband rose up and took the gun off the man."
Mrs MacKenzie then grabbed a "hefty" metal toilet roll holder and used it to hit MacDonald until the police arrived.
The court heard at the time of the events, MacDonald had undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder, personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and was experiencing low mood and anxiety.
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Judge Lady Drummond described his crimes as "brutal and mindlessly violent" and perpetrated on victims "in their own homes, where they had no opportunity to escape".
In a statement read out by police following the verdict, Mr MacKinnon's two sisters said: "It should never be forgotten that John was defenceless at the time of his murder, when he was inhumanely shot three times in his own home, while making breakfast for his children - murdered by Finlay MacDonald, whose callous and cowardly actions have traumatised all those involved.
"There is no place in society for such a dangerous individual."