Drunk driver’s ex uses Red Bull can to lead police to body of cyclist he killed

The can of Red Bull McKellar's ex left next to Tony Parsons' makeshift grave. Photo / Crown Office

A doctor filmed herself drinking from a can of Red Bull shortly before she used it to lead police to the body of a charity cyclist her boyfriend had confessed to killing.

Caroline Muirhead used the can to mark the spot where Alexander McKellar told her he had disposed of Tony Parsons after running him down.

McKellar, 31, caused the death of 63-year-old Parsons by hitting him with his car while intoxicated on the A82 near Bridge of Orchy, Argyll and Bute, on September 29, 2017.

Rather than reporting the collision, he and his twin brother Robert disposed of the body in a peat bog where animal carcasses were kept.

Parsons’ remains may never have never been found had McKellar not told Muirhead of the crime three years later, the High Court in Glasgow was told.

She has now shared the video of her swigging from the can, which she says was taken shortly before her former fiancé made his drunken confession.

The Red Bull marker allowed police to find the site and eventually locate Parsons’ body.

Originally charged with murdering Parsons, McKellar pleaded guilty to an amended charge of culpable homicide at the High Court in July.

McKellar and his twin brother Robert both admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

McKellar was jailed for 12 years on Friday. Robert McKellar, who faced a single charge, was sentenced to five years and three months in jail.

Muirhead now claims she was forced to go undercover by police in a bid to help them build their case and was later “hung out to dry” by detectives.

Police are being investigated for their handling of the case and Muirhead is taking legal action against them.

In an interview with Sky News, she said police had leaked her involvement in the investigation to local gossips, compromising her safety.

She said she “100 per cent” feared that McKellar, known as Sandy, could harm her upon his release.

“You’re telling me that man is not going to come knock on my door when he gets out?” she said.

The killer's twin brother Robert McKellar admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice. Photo / Police Scotland/PA

Members of Parsons’ family, including his widow Margaret and children Mike and Victoria, were in court for the sentencing, as was Muirhead.

A cancer survivor and former Royal Navy officer, Parsons had been on a 100-mile charity cycle to raise funds when he was struck.

There were extensive searches for him and appeals for information, including on the BBC’s Crimewatch, but the McKellar brothers kept their secret.

They had moved the body from the roadside and buried him with an excavator in a peat bog, where animal carcasses were disposed of on the 3,640ha Auch Estate, where they worked as farmhands.

Judge Lord Armstrong said the actions of the brothers had left a “profound, devastating and continuing impact” on the lives of Parsons’ family.

“You have caused them a devastating loss and emotional ongoing harm,” he said. “I suspect no sentence will ever be regarded as sufficient.”

Following the sentencing, Ruth McQuaid, a senior prosecutor at the Crown Office, described the crimes as “heinous and calculating” and said they had left Parsons’ family in the “intolerable situation” of not knowing his fate.

“All the time, Alexander and Robert McKellar were going about their everyday lives knowing that, in fact, he was dead and that they had buried him among animal carcasses,” she said.

“They kept this secret with wilful disregard for Parsons’ family.”

Brian McConnachie KC, mitigating, said McKellar wanted to apologise for the trauma his actions had caused Parsons’ family. He also denied that he “held it against” Muirhead that she had gone to the police.

“In fact, it was what he expected to happen and ultimately she made the right decision to do so,” he said. “The fact the body was discovered and the end of this case has brought an element of closure to him.

“He is not an evil man. He acknowledges that he has done a terrible thing which has caused untold distress to the Parsons family.”