Finlay MacDonald: Skye murder accused felt ‘humiliated’ by brother-in-law

A man accused of murdering his brother-in-law claimed an attack on him by the alleged victim nine years earlier was the beginning of all his “problems”.

Finlay MacDonald, 41, said he was humiliated and left with low self-esteem after John MacKinnon reportedly assaulted him in 2013.

MacDonald told his murder trial that his father had to intervene to stop the attack.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that MacDonald told psychiatrist Dr Suraj Shenoy: “That was the start of all of this. Something happened in my mind that day.”

He added: “The beginning of all my problems was John MacKinnon attacking me in 2013.”

MacDonald was said to have told Dr Shenoy that he tried to avoid any contact with Mr MacKinnon following the incident.

The court heard the psychiatrist had concluded MacDonald was affected by autism spectrum disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the alleged murder on 10 August 2022.

In the background were depression with anxiety and paranoid and dependent personality disorder.

MacDonald denies murdering distillery worker Mr MacKinnon, 47, at his home at Teangue on the Isle of Skye by firing a shotgun at him.

He has lodged a special defence against the murder charge, claiming his “ability to determine or control his conduct was substantially impaired by reason of abnormality of mind”.

Read more from the court case:
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Woman ‘feared she and husband were going to be killed’

MacDonald is also accused of attempting to murder his wife, Rowena MacDonald, 34, by repeatedly stabbing her on the same day in the village of Tarskavaig, on the opposite side of the Sleat peninsula from Teangue.

He is further accused of attempting to murder a married couple, Fay and John MacKenzie, during an alleged shooting spree in the village of Dornie, Wester Ross, on the mainland in the Highlands.

While giving evidence last week, Mrs MacDonald told the jury her relationship with MacDonald was “not in a good place” at the time of the alleged attack.

She said her husband repeatedly stabbed her with a knife after confronting her about messages she had exchanged with her male boss, who she claimed was only a friend.

On Tuesday the court heard how MacDonald was said to have told the psychiatrist: ” I depended on my ex-wife to make all the decisions at home, but she let me down.”

Defence counsel Donald Findlay KC said: “The triggering event seems to have been his wife’s betrayal as he saw it.”

The psychiatrist replied: “As he saw it.”

The trial before judge Lady Drummond continues.