Alistair Wilson: A timeline of events of the unsolved ‘doorstep murder’

Alistair Wilson was shot dead on his doorstep in Nairn nearly 20 years ago.

The 30-year-old father-of-two was at home on the evening of November 28, 2004 with his wife Veronica and their two young children when an unidentified man rang the bell of the family’s Victorian villa in Crescent Road at about 7pm.

Described as wearing a baseball cap he asked for Mr Wilson by name. His wife who answered the door went upstairs to speak to her husband.

Mr Wilson then went downstairs before, it is understood, returning upstairs with an empty blue envelope which was the size that could fit a card and had the name ‘Paul’ on it.

He then went downstairs again, at which point his wife heard shots being fired.

She found her husband on the doorstep and ran across to the neighbouring Havelock Hotel, looking for help.

Extensive enquiries into Alistair’s murder have been carried out with nearly 14,000 people spoken to, 3500 statements taken and door to door enquiries at more than 1000 addresses in Nairn.

There has also been CCTV from 670 different sources collected and reviewed by officers

Today the the Lord Advocate has ordered a ‘complete reinvestigation’ into the unsolved murder.

Here is the timeline of events so far:

November 28, 2004: Alistair Wilson’s wife Veronica finds the 30-year-old murdered at their home.

December 2004: Nairn council workmen clearing gullies find German-made handgun which was used to shoot Mr Wilson.

April 2005: Mr Wilson's funeral service was held at St Andrew's Episcopal Church in Fort William. A private memorial service had taken place in Nairn in December 2004.

January 2006: A senior detective travels to eastern Germany and the Czech Republic to try and trace the history of the gun used in the murder and the ammunition.

November 2017: Alistair’s wife, Veronica, releases the following statement: “It would mean the world to us to have Alistair’s killer brought to justice.

“As a family, it has been difficult to understand why someone would do this to Alistair and it has been a dark shadow over us for the past 13 years.

“Alistair was a loving, caring husband and father and nothing will ever change that. We cherish the time we had together, which for our boys was cruelly short.

“We will always remain hopeful that the person who killed Alistair will be caught and I would urge anyone who has information to come forward.”

November 2014: Relatives of Mr Wilson say his killer could strike again and cause another family the heartache they have endured.

October 2020: Alistair’s son Andrew speaks out for the first time in a BBC interview, appealing for help to find his father’s killer

He said the only memory he has left of his father is seeing him lying on the ground moments after being shot.

March 2022: Police Scotland issues an appeal for information about two men seen with a handgun on a beach near the town a month before the fatal shooting.

March 2022: Detectives investigating the murder travel to Nova Scotia, Canada as part of their inquiries.

April 2022: Police confirm they now believe the answer to Alistair’s murder lies within his personal life and is not connected to his employment with the Bank of Scotland.

They believe that the motive centres around Mr Wilson's objection to a decking area outside the neighbouring Havelock pub.

April 2022: A key witness in the murder of Nairn banker Alistair Wilson was on the scene within minutes, it has been claimed.

Former New Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley was speaking to the Sunday Mail newspaper when the claim was made about local publican Andy Burnett.

Mr Wilson had objected to a large decking area outside Mr Burnett's Havelock Hotel, opposite his family home in Crescent Road, shortly before he was shot dead.

November 2022: Channel 5 screens a documentary about the killing, named Murder On The Doorstep.

June 2023: An unnamed suspect in the case jailed for an unconnected case involving the supply of drugs.

November 2023: “Time is no barrier to justice” says the police team still investigating the unsolved murder.

December 2023: Mr Wilson’s family make a complaint about the handling of the murder investigation.

March 2024: A senior detective is understood to be facing disciplinary action after it was found that he misled Mr Wilson’s widow about the planned arrest of a suspect.

September 2024: Lord Advocate reorders ‘complete’ reinvestigation into Mr Wilson’s murder - nearly 20 years on.