Osteopath disarmed man who shot him, trial hears

A retired osteopath disarmed a former patient who had a gun after the man shot him and his wife at their home, a murder trial has heard.

Finlay MacDonald is accused of attempting to murder 65-year-olds John and Fay MacKenzie in Dornie, Wester Ross, during a series of alleged attacks on 10 August 2022.

Mr MacKenzie took the gun from Mr MacDonald in a struggle before his wife struck the 41-year-old with a "hefty" metal toilet roll holder, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

Mr MacDonald is also accused of attempting to murder his wife Rowena MacDonald and murdering his brother-in-law John MacKinnon in Skye on the same day. He denies all charges and has lodged a special defence to the murder allegation.

Mr MacKenzie said he had been outside feeding pigs on his croft and was returning to his house when he heard someone shouting: "Drop the weapon. Drop the weapon."

He said he saw Mr MacDonald standing at a front window with a gun.

Mr MacKenzie said: "Straight away I knew this was a bad situation. I just knew it was bad."

He went inside and found his wife with her face covered in blood, a towel wrapped around her head and "quite distressed".

Mrs MacKenzie said they needed to go into the bathroom and lock the door, the court heard.

They were in the bathroom when she said: "There's the man. There's the man."

Mr MacKenzie told the court he put his wife on the floor.

He said: "I lay on top of her to protect her and then he shot me in the back.

"The struggle for the gun occurred after that. I got up, took the gun off him."

Mr MacKenzie then heard calls of "shots fired, shots fired" before police used a Taser.

He said he lost a kidney and suffered other injuries in the shooting.

Mrs MacKenzie said she was eating cereal on her patio when she became aware of shouting.

She said she walked round the house to investigate and saw a man holding a "long thin gun" at his side.

Mrs MacKenzie said she heard people shouting at her to get back inside.

She said once she was in her house, a man was waiting for her and shot her in the face through a glass window.

Mrs MacKenzie told the court: "He was standing there pointing the gun at me when I came in through the patio door."

Advocate depute Liam Ewing KC asked her how many times she was shot and she said she believed twice.

She said; "My eyes were full of blood."

Describing the moments after her husband - who she calls John Don - arrived in the house, she said: "I looked over John's shoulder and the man was standing there - dark, tall.

"He shot John Don at point blank range and we both fell down onto the shower area."

She added: "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 said she grabbed the toilet roll holder and used it to hit the man on the head a couple of times, then stopped when she heard a voice say: "That will do".

She said she realised then that police were there.

Mr MacKenzie said he was an osteopath for 40 years before retiring in April 2022.

He said Mr MacDonald had earlier contacted him complaining of chest pain and respiratory problems and had been off work for a year.

After two treatment sessions he said Mr MacDonald claimed his back was uncomfortable.

Defence counsel Donald Findlay KC said jurors would hear that Mr MacDonald became "fixated" with Mr MacKenzie over damage he believed was caused by treatment given to him.

Mr MacDonald denies all charges and has lodged a special defence to the murder allegation, claiming he was suffering from abnormality of mind.

The trial continues.