True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

*Please be aware that the details shared in this post are very disturbing. I have tried as always, to be as sensitive as I can be with the facts, without taking away from the details of the case. If you would like to discuss this case with me or any of the cases I have previously covered on this blog, please email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com*

This past week marks 25 years since the horrific attack and murder of Ross Parker. If you are a long time reader of my work, you'll probably remember me mentioning Ross's shocking story in my Kriss Donald post. As you may remember, Kriss was also a young white boy who was viciously attacked and murdered by a sick gang of British Pakistani Muslims in Glasgow. The story with Ross is similar to that of Kriss's and I was contacted by one of my regular readers who requested that I cover the case, so as a mark of respect to Ross on this 25th anniversary and remembrance, let's explore this horrifying and heartbreaking story....

Ross came into the world on the 17th of August 1984 to doting parents in Peterborough, England, UK. He was always known to be fun and his family and friends nicknamed him 'Half-Pint'. From a young age he had dreams and aspirations, he had his heart set on becoming a police officer and made plans of how he was going to achieve this goal. Ross was also known for his kindness, maturity and incredible work ethic. 

Ross had been working part time in a pub whilst also finding time to see his friends and girlfriend. As well as working hard and focusing on the future, he loved to play football and had been obsessed with all things football related from a young age. On the 21st of September 2001, the excitement for the future was on the horizon, Ross had just finished his shift with his girlfriend and they both left the pub and began to walk the same cycle path that they always did. It had just approached the early hours of the morning, around 1:15 am and both Ross and his girlfriend Nicola, were tired, they were just glad to be done with work and looking forward to spending some quality time together. 

As the couple walked along the path just minding their own business, a group of 12 British Pakistani men gathered around them. Nicola felt powerless and scared. Out of nowhere they began to attack Ross as Nicola ran off to try and get help. In this evil and unprovoked attack, these men surrounded Ross and mocked him by telling him to run despite the fact that they were in his face. Lord knows how Ross must have felt in those moments, he was just 17 years old and a good kid, never any trouble to anyone and all of a sudden there's these men who he didn't know, circling around him, threatening him. Nicola was running as fast as she could but could hear the cries of pain from Ross. 

These vile creatures, who had been looking for a white male victim to torture and kill, had been celebrating the sickening events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in America, just 10 days previously. Ross was subjected to having CS gas sprayed in his face whilst the monsters took turns in punching and kicking him. Instead of leaving this as just a sickening attack and leaving Ross alone, they decided to go even further and stab him three times through the throat with a hunting knife to the point that the blade went straight through to the other side, twice. They continued to kick and punch him as he lay on the ground before he was brutally and repeatedly battered with a hammer. The scene was horrific and feeling like their work there was done, the sick monsters fled the scene.

Nicola had managed to get a hold of a police officer but by the time they'd gotten to Ross, it was clear that he was sadly deceased, having bled to death from his horrific injuries. The evil killers had taken their weapons and returned to Shaied Nazir's garage which was being used as a den. One of them even commented ''Cherish the blood''. They thought they were clever and tried to hide evidence but it wasn't long before the police were hot on their heels. On the 26th of September, Ahmed Ali Awan, Safraz Ali, Shaied Nazir, Zairaff Mahrad were all arrested and charged with murder. 

Just before they stood trial, Ross's funeral took place and over 400 people attended who wanted to pay their respects. Shaied Nazir, and Ahmed Ali were found guilty of manslaughter and their sentencing was as Follows:

- Shaied Nazir and Sarfraz Ali each received a life sentence with a minimum of 16 years. Ahmed Ali Awan was given a life sentence with a minimum of 18 years. Ziaraff Mahrad was acquitted of all charges. 

Despite there being at least 12 of the evil gang (ages 13-25) who played a part in the evil attack and murder of Ross, only the three people I previously mentioned, were charged with murder (As mentioned before, all charges against Ziaraff Mahrad were acquitted). 

The convicted murderers attempted to appeal their sentences but these attempts failed. As of 2026 there seems to be some confusion as to the exact whereabouts of Shaied, Sarfraz and Ahmed because there is no public record of them being released. Nicola, who was interviewed recently, claims that all of the men were released from prison. The media and authorities seem to be up to their old tricks by the sound of it, opting to try and keep the release of these three dangerous men a secret to prevent outrage.

You can see why the release of the killers would be kept quiet. authorities knew how upset people were (and still are) about what happened to this innocent 17 year old boy who was just walking home with his girlfriend after working another hard shift, working towards his future dreams of becoming a policeman. It's heartbreaking. I'm inclined to believe Nicola that these cretins have been released. 

At the time of Ross's murder, tensions in Peterborough were already high with the horrific events with 9/11. Cab firms in the area had decided to restrict their working hours because they feared they would be targeted. There was tension between the Muslim community and the rest of Peterborough. To help fan the flames, the Pakistani Community Association offered a reward of £1,500 in the early stages of the investigation. The donation was to help appeal for information about Ross's killers. 

Due to the fact that Nicola had been present for some of the attack on Ross, she was able to provide information to the police. DNA and fingerprints that were found at the scene were able to identify Shaied Nazir and he was identified as the leader of the gang, so when he was put in the hot seat, all of a sudden all the cards started to fall and it became a situation where the other perpetrators were brought in for questioning  and each of them was blaming each other for what had happened to Ross. 

The monsters had shown no remorse and they weren't exactly bright either. In a police van, some of the gang were secretly recorded having a conversation bragging that they had pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. Some of the gang members that attacked Ross were as young as 13 and although a lot of them were present, they didn't partake in the actual attack and murder (not that standing around watching or cheering is any better and in my opinion, should be considered a crime). 

The shocking and brutal murder of Ross Parker has never been forgotten, and he is often referred to as the English version of the Kriss Donald case. Both are heartbreaking and should never have happened. Just two innocent young boys with their whole lives ahead of them, punished just because of the colour of their skin.

My heart goes out to Ross's family, to think that he had so many plans and wanted to become a police officer. He certainly was a hard worker and very mature for his 17 years. It's a shame that his family, Nicola and his friends will never get the chance to see what Ross would have gone on to do with his life. Going by the person he was and how much everyone who knew him, loved him, you can tell he would have gone on to do more great things with his life. 

RIP Ross and Kriss. My prayers are always with their families and Nicola. I hope that she has been able to come through such a traumatic experience and the loss of Ross with the knowledge that so many people support and admire her for doing what she could to save him and get help. It must've have been utterly horrific to see what happened and to hear Ross yelling in the dark as these monsters were committing sick evil acts. 

As always, I thank you so much for getting through another difficult and harrowing post with me. If you have any requests or would like to discuss a case with me, feel free to email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com 

Further Reading & Sources:

- Ross Parker | The Guardian

- Ross Parker | The Times

- Ross Parker | Wikipedia

- Peterborough | Wikipedia

- Kriss Donald | True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

- Ross Parker | BBC News 

I hope you will join me in my next post. In the meantime, you can find me on my socials here!! 

Until next time, take care and stay safe x

If you're a reader in the UK you might recognise the face above, those cold, dark eyes are familiar...aren't they? The name that still has the ability to leave a chill down your spine.....Raoul Moat! To those further afield who this name won't ring a bell with, this terrifying man literally had England on tenterhooks back in 2010. It may seem a long time ago now, but nobody has ever forgotten the Raoul Moat case.

His face splashed across every newspaper, his name mentioned in news report after news report. A Facebook page was set up that was dedicated to his every move. People were living in fear, he literally brought England to a stand still. 

So who was he? For those who are not familiar, Raoul (Full name, Raoul Thomas Moat) was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on the 17th of June 1973. He had a difficult childhood which was scarce in affection and love, having never known his biological father and dealing with his mother's severe battle with depression. He and his brother Angus were often left in the care of their grandmother due to their mother's regular hospitalizations. He was a loner at school and would often make up stories as a way to get attention. As he grew older, he developed from a young, sensitive boy, to a bit of a rebel. He took up karate classes and was obsessed with training. Raoul was a hard worker and never turned away from rolling his sleeves up but his temper was very short at times. As with a lot of these cases, there was a lot of red flags even in his late teenage years but nobody could have predicted the volcano that would eventually erupt. 

He found himself a job and decided to get his own place at the age of 24. He had big dreams and was determined to succeed in life. Raoul was a fantasist and would have big grand ideas but wouldn't be able to see the plan through and when things would turn sour, he could become very deeply depressed and very aggressive. 

His addiction to bodybuilding often included steroids and with his background and obvious signs of mental illness, this was a recipe for disaster. As a child he felt powerless, meek and abandoned but the larger he got, the stronger he felt. He started working the doors on Nightclubs and he enjoyed the responsibility, the power and the popularity that the role brought him. He was very well liked amongst the regular nightclubbers and he even became friendly with celebrities. His role as a doorman provided him with the opportunity to meet women who were often spellbound by the strong gentleman who was keeping everyone safe. Raoul was charismatic and loved to have a bit of banter but these were the highlights that he was showing to people who were loosely acquainted with him. He made a lot of friendships and did have a reputation amongst some of them as being a person that was a man of his word, who would go out of his way to help you. 

He had a reputation of being a ladies man and had bragged that he had slept with numerous women. He became involved with a pretty young blond named Samantha Stobbart. At first, the pair were infatuated with each other. Samantha already knew about Raoul's short fuse and possessiveness but she saw this as him trying to protect her. The relationship was very controlling and abusive but Samantha, who was a teenager when she first met Raoul, didn't have any self-esteem or confidence. Samantha and Raoul had a daughter and there was talk of marriage but the relationship was a very toxic one. Raoul had been involved in petty crime for most of his adult life and his view on the local police was not the best. He utterly detested the police and claimed that they would always try to fit him up with something or pull him over when he was driving. He blamed the police for certain things going wrong in his life and it was always a sour point in a conversation with him, the mere mention of the police and he would explode into a rant. 

Raoul was always finding himself in trouble because he was too hot headed. He ended up serving time in prison in 2010 for assault. Samantha, who'd had enough of the violence and control, saw this as an opportunity to escape. She pretended that she would stick by him whilst he was due to go to prison but as soon as the gates shut behind him, she was off. She wrote him a few letters and spoke to him on the phone and basically told him that the relationship was over. Being cooped up in prison with no control over the situation drove Raoul crazy, he was completely enraged, he refused to accept that the relationship was over. He was determined that Samantha belonged to him and that she was never going to leave him. 

Samantha knew that he would be getting out of prison soon and was terrified because she knew what he was like, she knew he would come looking for her. Raoul was in prison, more and more anger building up inside and more anger towards the police. In his mind, Samantha leaving him was not his fault, it was the police again. He believed the police were trying to destroy his life. 

As the weeks went on, it was clear that Raoul was not taking no for an answer, Samantha just wanted to get on with her life. Being young and naive, Samantha was scared as the phone calls from prison kept happening and Raoul's letters would pile up at the door, she knew he wouldn't let go and decided to come up with a plan. 

She had been attending karate classes and had taken a shine to the Karate instructor, Chris Brown. He felt the same way towards her and they started going out for dates together. Samantha was very happy because she felt that she had all of this freedom with Raoul being locked up, she felt that she could enjoy her time with Chris. A full relationship with Samantha and Chris blossomed but amongst the joy, Samantha dreaded the day that Raoul would be released. She felt that the best way to deal with him (where he couldn't physically hurt her) was to, not only say that the relationship was well and truly over, but that she was dating a police man. 

So, Samantha told Raoul that she had been seeing another man named Chris Brown and that he was a police officer. She later said that she told him this because she felt that he would stay away from her. Well, knowing Raoul's complete hatred and paranoia about the police as it was, this was probably not the smartest move on Samantha's part. Not only was she putting herself in danger but Chris too. Poor Chris had only been on the scene for a few weeks and found himself in the middle of all of it. 

Raoul's head was spinning whilst he was in jail, he was literally climbing the walls and vowing for revenge. He put a plan in place to get a gun and upon his release, he was going to go berserk. 

As I mentioned previously, Raoul was known for being a man of his word. If he had something in his mind, he would stop at nothing to carry whatever it was, out. As far as he was concerned (and he clearly stated on his personal Facebook page) he had ''lost everything''. He also warned ''Watch and see what happens''

Without missing a beat, as soon as he walked out the gates of Durham prison on the 1st of July 2010, he started putting his plan in to action. He was spotted on CCTV cameras buying camping equipment and supplies. He'd literally just left prison and within days, he had tracked Samantha and Chris down. Chris, who was shot and killed instantly by Raoul Moat, was just 29 years old. Raoul tried to shoot Samantha through the window of the house, he did manage to hit her but she fortunately was able to get medical help and survived. Raoul, thinking he'd killed them both, fled the scene and so began a nerve-wracking manhunt for a psychotic, steroid and woman abuser who was capable of anything. The police had to work hard to get this man off the streets as soon as possible because he was a serious danger to everyone. 

The situation was already horrific but Raoul Moat made it clear that he wasn't done carrying out what he saw was revenge for all of the injustices he claimed to have endured at the hands of other people, especially the police. The truth was, Raoul had nobody to blame but himself. There's sympathy for his childhood and the struggles he went through but the dealings with drugs, violence, domestic abuse...so on and so forth was all on him. There was no excuse, Samantha was a vulnerable young girl when he met her and instead of protecting her he abused her. 

He began a sort of cat and mouse game with the police and the media, he called the police and made several threats. At first many people assumed that he was bluffing despite already shooting Chris and Samantha, they thought it was a domestic situation. That was until he walked up to the patrol car of PC David Rathband (the pair were unknown to each other but Raoul had warned that he was 'hunting the police') and shot him twice, once in the face, blinding him instantly and the second shot was to ensure that David was dead. By some miracle, David was still alive and even in that horrific moment he displayed such bravery. David later said that he had to 'play dead' because he feared that if Raoul saw him moving, he would fire another shot. In the horrendous moment, PC David Rathband's life would change forever, he was just 42 when he was left permanently blinded by Raoul Moat, the last thing he saw was that evil face and it haunted the poor man. 

PC David Rathband was looked upon by the public as a hero, a brave survivor and the support from well-wishers meant so much to David and his family. He did his best to adjust to his new way of living and declared that he was determined to move on but the image of Raoul Moat and those horrifying moments where 'everything just went black', continued to haunt him. David Rathband took his own life at the age of just 44, just 19 months after that horrendous day. 

So, after he had cruelly attacked PC David Rathband, he went on the run and the police, media and public were on edge, terrified of where he would turn up next. I remember keeping my eye on the news and all the reports and it was quite scary. I'd gotten so hooked on the case, along with everyone I knew, that I was scared he was going to show up in my back garden. It sounds like madness but everyone was worried and just wanted this madman found and arrested. 

On the evening of the 9th of July 2010, he was seen by a member of the public in the beautiful, English town of Rothbury. The local community were terrified and told to lock all of their doors and windows, nobody was to leave their homes. Everyone was on lockdown. It turned out that Raoul knew the area well because he had previously spent some time camping there. The town was just a peaceful, tranquil place that wasn't used to all of this commotion with police cars, vans and media all over the place. 

Whether it be exhaustion, hunger or a moment of clarity, Raoul Moat gave up, laid down on the ground and held a sawn-off shotgun to his neck. He was surrounded by armed police and there was no getting away with it this time. The British public were gripped as a six-hour stand off took place. There was a live chat on Facebook with constant pictures of the scene. The news channels were reporting live whilst trying to keep certain angles from public view because they were concerned that Raoul Moat may pull the trigger and shoot himself or other people and they didn't want that live on air. 

In the middle of all of this, a well-known English footballer, Paul Gascoigne showed up out of the blue and announced that he knew Raoul and wanted the opportunity to talk to him. Paul brought with him a fishing rod, some beer and other items. It was a bit like the Twilight Zone, there was this horrendous situation going on where anyone could be killed in a split second and Paul showed up with a fishing rod and cans of beer. People still talk about that to this day and it's a popular meme. In a moment of crisis people expect Paul Gascoigne to show up with a fishing rod and cans of beer. It was just more madness to add to a horrible and very confusing situation. 

On a side note, Paul claimed that he had known Raoul from his days as a doorman and felt that he would be able to talk some sense into him. Understandably, the police wouldn't allow Paul to approach Raoul, so he took the cans of beer and the fishing rod and left. 

As the hours went on and darkness fell, it was more and more sinister. I remember being up late, watching the livestream and wondering how this was all going to end. I think we all just wanted him to give it up and just go to prison. Surprisingly, there was a lot of support from the public for Raoul Moat because they felt that he had been victimized by the police and that he was a man who was done wrong. The full details of what happened with PC David Rathband was not fully known at that time. 

Just after 1am on the 10th of July 2010, to their credit, the armed police never gave up but Raoul Moat couldn't do it any longer. Despite hours of negotiations, Raoul decided that the rest of his life in prison, was not for him. He made the motion to pull the trigger and the police fired a taser in an attempt to stop him. It was too late, he pulled the trigger and that was that! The manhunt, the nightmare....was over! After an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Raoul Moat, his death was officially ruled a suicide. 

Samantha Stobbart spent some time in hospital recovering, she gave an interview to the News of The World newspaper for which she received a significant amount of money which was not disclosed to the public. Samantha and her family had hired Max Clifford (I might write a post about him in the future) and he secured the deal and financial amount with the newspaper. This was criticised by some members of the public, the fact that Samantha had accepted money over what was a horrifying situation. She also received a lot of backlash for her role in telling Raoul the lie that Chris was a police man, they thought that Chris was put in danger because of that and he ended up losing his life. 

Whilst Raoul Moat was on the run, he had various associates who helped him with vehicles, guns and supplies. These men were later arrested and are still serving time in prison. 

Raoul Moat was cremated and a small gathering of his family and friends scattered his ashes not too far from where he took his own life. 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this case is pretty well-known in the UK and it is often quoted as one of the biggest manhunts in British history. 

It happened all those years ago but writing about it now has left me feeling the chills. That's how it felt at the time, watching the news, not knowing what was going to happen next. It's a shame that Raoul Moat was not given the proper professional help back where he was younger with all that had been going on with his mother. I do believe though, that there's only so many excuses for one's behaviour. He left home at 24 it was up to him to make good with his life, he decided to go down a bad path and abused and nearly killed the one person who loved him, Samantha. 

The evil attack on PC David Rathband will be forever haunting. The pain and suffering that man endured, a totally innocent man just sitting at the side of the road, unarmed in his patrol car, just doing his job. To have something so horrifying happen, to lose you sight or have it wiped out in a second is utterly terrifying to think about. He was a very brave man and when I think of him, I remember seeing the interview that he did and he was choked up with tears, he was in constant torture, it was terrible. I hope that he is in peace now and knows that none of us have forgotten what happened to him. RIP PC David Rathband.

Further Reading & Sources:

- Raoul Moat: Article | The Guardian

- Raoul Moat: Article | BBC News

- Raoul Moat | Wikipedia

- The Hunt For Raoul Moat | Apple TV

- Raoul Moat: Article | The Independent

- Rothbury | Wikipedia

If you have made it this far in the post, I salute you and thank you! I hope that you come away from this post, knowing a bit more about this case or if you are 

new to it, that it was easy to follow. I know the details were very uncomfortable and disturbing, I appreciate you taking the time to read it. I hope you will join me on my Socials

Stay safe, until next time x

(Thomas 'TC' Campbell & Joe Steele. Picture credit: Glasgow World)

*Please be aware that some of the details in this post will be disturbing. I have, as always, aimed to be as sensitive as I can be without taking away from the facts of the case. If you would like to discuss this post, or any of the cases I have covered in this blog, please email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com* 

In my last couple of posts, I wrote about the horrific and brutal murder of schoolgirl Jodi Jones back in 2003, and the shocking way in which the police had botched the investigation. I talked about the blatant cover-ups involved in the case and the mistreatment and media bullying of Jodi's 14 year old boyfriend Luke, who ended up being thrown in prison, accused of her murder despite lack of DNA evidence. The blame was fully placed on Luke despite five other DNA specimen samples belonging to other people being collected from the crime scene as well as evidence being destroyed. I also talked about the fact that Luke has been fighting for his freedom for over 20 years and refuses to accept deals, he has remained adamant that he will only walk out of prison when his innocence is proven. I covered the case and Luke's fight for justice in two parts, just in case you haven't had the chance to read the posts, you can find them here: Part One & here: Part Two

When I was sharing Luke's story I mentioned very briefly Joe Steele and Thomas 'TC' Campbell. These two men were victims of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice that the UK has ever seen. They had spent 18 years imprisoned for a heinous crime that they didn't commit and spent 20 years fighting to clear their names. Just like Luke, they had been dragged through the mud by the police and the press but luckily for them, they had a huge support network but it still wasn't easy. The unbelievable story of what Joe Steele and Thomas 'TC' Campbell went through was actually first brought to my attention by my favourite author (who also inspired me to write about true crime), the late and legendary Reg McKay. Reg had written about Joe and TC numerous times as well as collaborating on books with TC. Reg also wrote about them regularly in his newspaper column as a way to keep the story out there and further gather support for their campaign. 

So in this post I will be focusing on the false imprisonment of Joe and TC as well as the horrifying crime in which they were accused. Without further ado, let's get into it...

As you might know, Glasgow holds a very special place in my heart and always will. It's a place I grew up, enjoyed so many amazing experiences, created so many memories and it's the place where my grandparents were born, where they met, fell in love and got married. It's where my mother was born and where they raised their children before my grandfather passed away at just 42. My grandmother worked in all of the great hospitals and my grandfather worked in the shipyards. I feel like I know the city like the back of my hand, I know where to go and where best to avoid. If you're ever needing some travel tips on where to go, museums, sightseeing, restaurants etc....I'm your gal!

What I also love about Glasgow (or as we call it 'Glesga') is that it's both modern but old school at the same time. There are still some old school cafes where you can pop in, have a cup of Scottish blend tea with a Tunnock's caramel wafer and just listen to the typical Glasgow banter from the city folk (''Are ye ok hen?, och it's rainin doon in buckets oot there''). Then there's the extraordinary beauty and wonder of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum where you can get lost for hours and enjoy a cup of cappuccino, soaking in all the history, stunning architecture and fascinating exhibitions. It's a city that has something for everyone but like all cities, it has it good parts and it's not-so good parts and that includes it's history. As a city, Glasgow has a lot to be proud of, an incredible past of shipbuilding, art, architecture, medical breakthroughs and it was known as the Second City of the British Empire. There's just so much history of this incredible place and it's people. Boston had a taste of Glaswegian sense of humour when the Scots flew over to the States for the World Cup recently and of course everyone got on so well that friendships for life were created. But there is also a dark history of Glasgow, one that is steeped in knife crime and hard times, especially back in the day and this post takes us back to 1984.

On the 16th of April 1984, the city of Glasgow and surrounding areas woke up to the horrifying news that a family home had been set on fire in the early hours of the morning. Nine people were in the property, members of the Doyle family plus their close friends. Only three people were able to get out alive, six members of the Doyle family sadly died. James Doyle (who was 53 years old), His son, James (who was 23), His 14 year old son, Anthony, his daughter Christina (who was just 25) and her 18 month old baby, Mark. James's 18 year old son Andrew also died and he was reportedly the main target. This evil and devastating murder of innocent people was reportedly down to Andrew's refusal to be part of a drugs racket. At the time, ice cream vans in Glasgow didn't only sell ice cream and treats, they were like little convenience stores on wheels. You could buy bread, milk, toilet rolls, cigarettes and toothpaste, even the newspapers! These vans were a godsend for elderly people and those who didn't have a car but as convenient as they were, some of them were a front for selling drugs. The Doyle family were not involved in anything like that and despite the intimidation and threats, Andrew stood his ground and refused to give up his route or the trust and safety of his local, regular customers. 

(The Doyle family funeral. Picture credit: Pinterest)

Glasgow was notorious for gangland crime and everyone knew about different parts of the city where drug crime was rife. The likes of Tam McGraw who was a ruthless gangster ruled the streets and would often target local businesses with his little henchmen. The ice cream vans were a definite money-maker and McGraw was all about making money. Part of his routine was to threaten, bully and intimidate the owner of a business by offering to provide what he called 'security' services in exchange for a cut of the takings, if the owner refused it could prove to be deadly, as is in the case with the Doyle family. Tam was careful and also very much a coward so he would have others carry out his crimes and threats of intimidation. 

The murders of the Doyle family shook the whole of Glasgow and people were terrified it was going to happen again. Who would set fire to someone's house in the early hours of the morning whilst people were asleep in their beds? Who would target a family home where there were children? especially a little baby? The Doyle home was a top floor flat so the person or persons who deliberately started the fire know that it would be extremely difficult for anyone inside to escape. 

There was huge amounts of pressure on the police to find out who carried this evil crime out. In the weeks that followed, the heartbreaking funeral (which was a shared service for all six members of the deceased) took place. People were sobbing their hearts out for all the victims and they could barely hold on at the sight of Christine and Mark's coffin. The devoted young mother and her little boy shared the same coffin. After the funeral the tears and grief began to turn to rage and anger, the public demanded justice to be done and who could blame them?

Several arrests were made and eventually the police narrowed to two men that they were adamant were guilty of the Doyle murders, TC Campbell (31) and 22 year old Joe Steele. TC had been involved in petty crime and was caught up in the ice cream wars but wasn't involved in the Doyle murders, Joe had a background of petty crime and was an associate of TC but wasn't a part of the ice cream van disputes.

The so-called evidence against the pair of them was ridiculous, both of the men were no angels but murderers? The police were desperate to pin the murders on someone and close the case. All of a sudden a map of Glasgow appeared amongst TC's belongings which had the area where the Doyle family lived, circled. The police also claimed that they overheard TC saying that he meant to just frighten Andrew Doyle and that he wasn't the one who lit the match. An unrelated man who's son was facing a sentence for robbery and about to go down for a long time bargained with the police that he would give them some information about the Doyle family murders in exchange for them dropping the charges on his son. The cops agreed and the old man told them that he overheard TC Campbell and Joe Steele talking about the Doyle family murders in a bar, telling people that they did it. So TC and Joe were fitted up for the murders based on really weak evidence which was basically a planted map and rumours or made-up accusations. 

Any other possible suspects were never looked in to. The pair were to stand trial and a jury of 15 people were to decide whether they thought the two men were guilty or not. Surprisingly every one of those 15 people decided that they were guilty of the Doyle family murders and they were sentenced to life imprisonment. TC was given an additional 10 year sentence because he was accused of previously threatening Andrew Doyle with a shotgun in the days leading up to the murders. In shock and disbelief they declared their innocence but nobody would listen, they were seen as cold-bloodied murderers, baby killers, scum of the earth and the rest of the Doyle family, friends, neighbours and general public just wanted to see the back of them, some people wanted to see them hang. The were hated deeply by so many because a lot of the public at that time believed in the law and what was printed in the newspapers. 

In 1985, TC and Joe had tried to appeal their sentences but this was rejected. In a surprise turn of events, the man who claimed to have overheard them in a bar confessing to the Doyle murders, all of a sudden admitted that he lied under oath. Word got back to TC and Joe and they saw this as the green light to appeal again. Whilst the new evidence had came to life they were released pending the second appeal which they were confident would go through because the police have nothing on them. It was decided that the admission that the so-called witness had lied was still not enough to declare the men innocent so they were called back to prison to continue their sentences. 

Both TC and Joe were determined not to give up and Joe decided to put some drastic plans into action in an attempt to get public attention. On a supervised visit to his mother's house who was said to have been in ill health at the time, Joe decided to pull some mad stunts for publicity. He stood on his mother's rooftop with a banner and then managed to get down to London where he (wearing a t-shirt with a painting of Christ of St John The Cross by Salvidor Dali - You can view this beautiful painting at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum by the way) superglued himself to the gates of Buckingham palace. In a later attempt at gaining publicity he managed to escape again and climbed a lighting tower. Each time he escaped and carried out these stunts he would hand himself back into authorities afterwards to continue his sentence. He was doing whatever he could to get all eyes on their case. TC's approach to protesting his innocence was growing his hair out and going on hunger strike which did get very serious at times. Family and friends who knew the pair well had always stood by them but by now, more and more members of the public were starting to support them. 

(Joe Steele at the Buckingham Palace Gates. Picture credit: Daily Record)

The more members of the public looked into their story, the more demands were made for their release but authorities were doing their best to keep them inside. The police knew what they had done and it would be a huge scandal for all involved if the truth got out, but they had no choice. The truth won out in the end. In 2004, TC and Joe's case was at the court of appeal where the judges had declared their convictions unjust and that a major miscarriage of justice had occurred. Thomas 'TC' Campbell and Joe Steele were officially declared innocent and free to go! 

It was a bittersweet victory when the two men were finally set free. TC was 51 years old and Joe was 42, they'd lost a lot of years away from their loved ones. Another sad fact about this story is that the men deeply disliked each other. Joe later spoke about their release and the publicity photos where the pair are seen cheering and celebrating....apparently that was all for show. They were happy at being released finally but there was no love lost between them. The two men had their reasons for not seeing eye to eye but Joe did say in an interview that he felt resentment because he was just 22 years old and was loosely acquainted with TC. He felt that TC's negative involvement with the Ice Cream Wars in the past had played a part in why they were both found guilty. There was also disagreements with the protests, publicity and with working on appeals and breaking a reported pact that they'd agreed on. They had previously agreed not to accept easier conditions but TC agreed to have a transfer to a special unit and this upset Joe. I found it particularly sad that they were not close as you would expect with such a traumatic experience to have happened to them both. 

After their ordeal they found it difficult to adjust to life outside of prison. Joe tried his best to get on with life and be with his family, TC tried the same, it wasn't easy for either of them and they did battle with substances and alcohol in an attempt to cope with the post traumatic stress disorder. Joe had the support of his family and friends around him. TC led a quiet life and was reportedly living alone when he sadly passed away in June 2019 in his sleep, he was just 66 years old. Joe said that he hated TC and was never friends with him which is quite a strong stance on things. He did say that they spoke a short time before TC passed away and had managed to iron out a lot of their differences. 

In regards to compensation for everything they had been through, I can imagine that this helped further the divide between them. TC was given around £1.2 million - £2 million because the loss of earnings from his ice cream business had been taken into account. Joe was given £750,000 because he was unemployed at the time. Apparently your status of employment determines how much compensation you are rewarded. I think both of them should have been given the same, both of them were falsely accused, vilified and lost many years of their lives. 

There's many interviews that Joe has done because he has always been determined to get the truth out there. I've included interviews featuring Joe and TC below. 

As for the horrifying murders of the Doyle family, it's heartbreaking that the police are refusing to reopen the case. It remains unsolved to this day. All fingers are pointing at Tam McGraw but he passed away in 2007 at the age of 55. He was said to have led his later life in fear, constantly paranoid. He had so many enemies and was so disliked that there was hitmen willing to kill him for free. With McGraw gone and a lot of his associates deceased, will this case ever be solved? To this day, rumours remain and despite the lack of evidence there are people out there who do actually think that TC and Joe were guilty. There's some who think that TC was guilty all along and that Joe was innocent, some believe that TC was involved especially with him having the ice cream van himself. They thought that was part of the reason that Joe disliked TC. It's all thoughts and speculation, nobody knows the real answers here. I just wish that there were answers and proper closure for the Doyle family. 

Reg McKay is no longer with us and it breaks my heart because he was an incredibly fearless writer. I will always be flying the flag for his incredible work. I've read every book he's ever written and it saddens me that there is no more but for those who are not familiar with his books, I will always recommend them. I will include them in my list of further reading below.

So what are your thoughts on this story? I would love to hear them, please share your comments below or email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com

RIP to the Doyle family, TC, Reg... you will never be forgotten.

Further Reading & Sources:

- The Wilderness Years: Book by Reg McKay & TC Campbell

- Indictment: Book by Reg McKay & TC Campbell

- Remembering TC Campbell | Miscarriages Of Justice

- TC Campbell: Article | Daily Record

- Tam McGraw: Book by Reg Mckay

- Ice Cream Wars | Wikipedia

- Joe Steele: Interview | Anything Goes With James English

- Joe Steele: Interview | The Jim King Show

- TC Campbell: Interview | Anything Goes With James English

- TC Campbell: Article | BBC News

- Joe Steele: Interview | Shaun Attwood Podcast

- The Ice Cream Wars | BBC One

Thank you, as always for checking out my latest post, I hope you will join me in the next one. in the meantime, come and say hello on my Socials

Take care and stay safe...until next time x

 (James Toliver Craig. Picture credit: CNN)

*Please be aware that I will be sharing some disturbing details in this post. I have aimed as always to be as sensitive as I can be with the details, without taking away from the details of the case. If you would like to discuss this post or any of the previous cases I have covered on this blog, please email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com*

You know, I've always said that it doesn't matter how well you think you know someone, even if you've lived in the same house with them for years, decades.....you never really know someone completely. Now, imagine being married to someone for 23 years, you met in your early 20s, you had six beautiful children together, travelled together, gone through life's highs and lows, supported each other through thick and thin. After 23 years you would consider that person a soulmate wouldn't you? A huge part of you? An important piece of your family, A huge part of your life, so many memories, so many experiences together! No doubt you would trust that person, you've basically grown with that person. Well, what if this wife or husband out of the blue decided that, after decades of your constant love and support, that it was time for you to exit the stage?

We've seen this happen to both men and women. I've written about such cases before (Betty Broderick, Mitchell Quy, Blanche Taylor Moore, John List amongst many others) where so called picture perfect marriages have turned out to be anything but the sort. The face of evil pictured above is that of so-called devoted Mormon, Dentist and pillar of the community....James Toliver Craig. This manipulative, cold-hearted philanderer (based in Aurora, Colorado) was a talented Dentist but horrific businessman who liked to live beyond his means. He built up a successful practice in the beginning with a partner but it all soon fell to the wayside with his mishandling of finances. James had been married to the beautiful Angela since 1999. They first met when he was 21 and she was just 20. It was a romance that blossomed pretty quickly and before anyone knew what was happening, they were married. In their faith (Angela was also Mormon) this was not unusual, people often married young and started families quickly. Angela was the youngest of 10 children and was always the life and soul of the party. She was always family orientated and amazing with children. 

It was clear that despite James being quite an intelligent guy, for some reason he just couldn't get the hang of managing money. He had issues with his finances early on in the marriage but Angela was determined to stand by her husband, even when she suspected he was having multiple affairs, which he was. The fact that this beautiful, intelligent and devoted woman would put up with this may baffle a lot of people but to Angela, the thought of divorce was the last thing she would ever want. Her faith and belief in the family unit and forgiveness was so strong that she couldn't bring herself to walk away from him. To leave James would mean that the family would be broken up and to her it would have been embarrassing to be seen as a divorced woman. So the red flags were there for years and Angela knew about them but she chose to just confide in her sisters and her friends. She was convinced that she could change James and that the marriage was worth fighting for.

Angela was known for wearing her heart on her sleeve. The church was an important part of her life and she wasn't just a devoted mother and wife, she was a choir director, a teacher and youth leader who was well known for supporting others, being a fantastic friend and helping raise money for good causes. Angela was not a fake person, she actually was someone who had a pure heart so much so that she took every single one of her marriage vows seriously, even if it was tremendously difficult. It wasn't just herself that she was thinking about, she was thinking about her children and wanted them to continue to have a solid relationship with their father. 

It's unclear how many affairs that James had but he was like an addict who would gamble whatever money they had left causing Angela the task of trying to keep the family afloat. They ended up using the family home as a safety net just so that the practice could stay open. The financial situation was in crisis but Angela was determined not to give up and James continued to work hard. At the Dentist practice, James came across as Mr Friendly, everybody's pal! He was popular with his patients and staff and was known to hand out cookies to everyone. Angela and the children would often visit him at work and staff would later say that the family were always smiling and seemed very close. 

James and Angela both liked to appear in public as a contented family but behind the scenes all was not well. This went on for years, going through the motions and hanging on financially by a thread until 2023 rolled around and things just went from bad to worse. Something had to be done because James was facing financial ruin and at this point Angela was fed up with the lack of love and support from her husband. They agreed to separate but live in the same house because money was so tight. James slept in a spare bedroom as they tried to figure out what their next step was going to be. He attended a conference in Las Vegas and it was there that he met an orthodontist named Karin. The pair hit it off and seemed to have a lot of things in common. He told her he was separated and she said she had been going through a divorce. They exchanged phone numbers. 

You'd think that the circumstances in which James found himself in (or should I say, put himself in), marriage crumbling, financial nightmare going on etc that the idea of getting into a new relationship with someone else, would be the last thing on his mind. In my opinion he saw Karin, who was older at the age of 49, as a potential meal ticket. Karin who was another innocent party in this, had no idea that this buffoon in front of her was a lying, manipulative scumbag and future murderer. I think he saw Karin as a fresh start for him, he could work in her practice, use her to help straighten out his finances, probably marry her so that he could guarantee that his feet would be right under the table. This guy didn't do anything out of the goodness of his heart....if he even has a heart!

It's unclear how long he was actually thinking about and planning to murder Angela but just after this conference in Las Vegas things sprung straight into action. He'd become fixated on Karin and what started off as general 'how are you doing' texts soon began to heat up. Apparently they exchanged 4,000 texts in the space of 18 days. He was determined that he was going to start a new life with Karin but there were problems, finances and Angela! He hadn't a dime to his name and there was no way that Angela was going to give him a divorce. The monster decided that instead of coming to his senses, cutting the crap and pulling his socks up and focusing on becoming a decent husband for once in his life, he came up with a despicable plan. Spending hours upon hours hovering over his laptop googling poisons and life insurance details, he decided that he was going to kill his wife, inherit her life insurance and run off into the sunset with Karin in Las Vegas. 

Angela and this demon were living under the same roof whilst James was secretly planning his wife's demise. It's utterly terrifying to think that the very man who is the father of your children, who you thought you knew for so many years, could be stood there thinking about how he's going to end your life and spend your life insurance money with his new found victim. Who know's what would have become of Karin either? this guy was capable of anything. 

Like a lot of women, Angela was trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and enjoyed a regular workout routine. Part of this routine was her protein shakes, however she began to notice that her favourite workout drinks were starting to make her feel a bit queasy, she put this down to overdoing things at first. At the age of 43 she attributed some of her dizzy feelings to possible peri-menopause and tried not to worry too much about it. It did cross her mind briefly that James had been messing about with her drinks again, apparently years before, he had tried to put something in her drink. She caught on to it straight away at the time and questioned him about it. He came up with this pathetic excuse that he was feeling suicidal and determined to take his own life so he wanted to drug her so that she wouldn't be able to stop him. Shockingly, Angela fell for this excuse and was either in denial or he'd managed to manipulate and gaslight her in such a way that he could've said that moon was made of green cheese and she would've believed him. This is no disrespect to Angela, these types of psychopaths are clever at getting inside people's heads, especially if they have known you for decades on a personal level, which is even more terrifying. He knew Angela's strengths and weaknesses so he could play with them to control her. 

After having a protein shake, Angela would become very ill with migraines, she couldn't understand as she'd had these drinks so many times before with no issues. The symptoms got worse with Angela vomiting, rushing to the bathroom and doubled up in pain. She tried to manage it herself but it was clear that this wasn't just some stomach bug or per-menopause symptoms. James, pretending to care would stand there watching his devoted wife in agony and suffering and would just let it continue. He would drive her to the hospital and callously watch as the medical staff would rush around trying different tests on Angela to find out what was wrong. He would hold her hand whilst she was terrified but too weak to cry from all the pain and suffering, he just stood there and let it all happen without a thought for anyone but himself. 

A whole saga of Angela being in and out of the hospital would play on. You may remember the Blanche Taylor Moore case which I wrote about back in September of last year (2025). Blanche's victims would be poisoned by her dinners and baked goods, end up in hospital at death's door and then make positive improvements when she was away from them. Then, the minute they were released from hospital and back home with Blanche, they would mysteriously fall dangerously ill again and back to the hospital. You may remember that Blanche started going into the hospital to 'visit' her victims and would bring in her 'homemade' cooking and cakes cause she was determined to finish these poor people off. James ended up poisoning Angela in hospital because she was such a fighter, her body was trying to fight back but in the end he just gave her more and more poison. 

As Angela lay in her hospital bed fighting for her life as Doctors were frantic that her organs were shutting down and they were running every test they could think of, whilst trying to keep her alive...James was in bed with Karin. He arranged for Karin to come to Colorado for a few days, they went out for romantic dinners, did some shopping and sightseeing, curled up on the sofa and watched movies together. I'm sure Karin looks back to these times and is thoroughly traumatized, to know that she was unknowingly part of a horrific set of circumstances that she had no idea about. James Craig's level of evil is just beyond the beyonds! How could you do that to a stranger let alone your own wife of 23 years? the mother of your children? How could he be in bed with someone else, enjoying himself, drinking glasses of wine whilst his wife was in a hospital bed losing her life? Putting his children...Angela's family and friends through hell? All of this for money? Did he ever really love her? Even if the marriage had turned sour, what about friendship? What about the fact that Angela gave him 6 beautiful children? What about all those years? What about all the good times? the memories? the endless times she stood by him? How could nothing mean a thing to him? He was an utter cold hearted psychopath and rotten to the core and I can think of even worse things to call him than that. 

Back at the Dentist practice, James's colleagues noticed a change in him, they knew that Angela was in and out of the hospital and he was under stress but something else was just not right. One of his colleague's Caitlin noticed he was acting odd, packages were being sent to him and he'd guard these with his life. He'd show up at odd hours and looked like he was up to something. He told the staff that a package was going to be arriving for him but to put it to the side and under no circumstances are they to open it. A few days later, either Caitlin forgot that she wasn't supposed to open this particular package that had arrived (or she knew fine well and purposefully opened it anyway) but she opened it and there it was, Potassium Cyanide! 

He was having the poisons delivered to the practice along with the usual supplies that were regularly ordered. Caitlin knew about Angela's health troubles and rumours has been going around about his financial problems. She began to do some digging into what Angela's symptoms were and could they in anyway be related to those of cyanide poisoning? Turned out, all of Angela's symptoms were an exact match for someone who had been poisoned with Cyanide. Caitlin informed her colleagues and the police straight away. 

Sadly Angela, who had put up such an incredible fight, had sadly passed away in hospital at the age of 43 on the 18th of March 2023. The medical staff and the police had been informed the day before that colleagues of James had found bottles of Cyanide at the practice and were suspicious that he had been poisoning his wife. An investigation was in full swing so they had James in their sights just before Angela had died but it was too late. The poison had caused so much damage to her internal organs and she had been poisoned by James numerous times, he was trying to kill her over and over and over again! An autopsy confirmed everything, she had a combination of Potassium Cyanide and Tetrahydrozoline. Tetrahydrozoline is commonly found in eye-drops but if swallowed can cause blood pressure to drop dangerously low as well as causing respiratory failure. 

When the investigation switched from suspected attempted murder to full blown first-degree murder, investigators arrested James and searched both the Dentist practice and the Craig family home. They found poison, tons of empty bottles of eye drops, evidence of receipts for poisons and evidence on and in Angela's favourite protein shaker bottle. 

Karin was investigated and completely cleared of any knowledge or wrongdoing. Nobody else was involved in this, it was all the evil doing of James Toliver Craig. James did try to contact Karin after Angela's death telling her not to believe anything she heard about him, he told her he was innocent. 

He had the nerve to plead not guilty and even behind bars the lies never stopped! He tried to paint a picture of Angela being depressed and claimed that she told him to poison her. When nobody fell for that, he tried to manipulate one of his daughters into lying for him by asking her to make an AI video of her own mother saying that she wanted to poison herself. And to add to the madness, he tried to persuade a fellow inmate to murder the lead investigator in his case to what ends that he thought this would help him, nobody knows. The man (look who I'm calling a man), the monster, didn't know when to shut up and to be honest, he was just telling on himself with all of that. He'd completely lost the plot but did he ever have it to begin with?

He stood trial in July of 2025 and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Angela's children and family later filed a lawsuit against James, his practice and Midland Scientific (the company which sold James the poison), they won their case. 

James Craig is currently serving his sentence at Bent Correctional Facility in Las Animas, Colorado. Understandably, his children have severed all ties with him.

James Craig may have had money problems but at the end of the day he had a beautiful wife and children, more than anyone could have asked for. He had a loving, family home and instead of appreciating that, he threw it all away and caused so much pain, heartbreak and misery. Where did it all get him? In a prison cell for the rest of his miserable life. He didn't deserve a lovely wife and children, he deserves nothing. He should've got the death penalty in my opinion (I know there are some readers who will disagree with me), he stood there and tortured his devoted, innocent wife of 23 years so that he could get rid of her and steal her money, that's not a human being, that's a monster, a demon. So many people have been horrendously hurt by him. Even Karin, who only knew him for a short period of time but the guy was so toxic that any contact with him, no matter how much, left a horrible scar. He was and is, no good to anybody. I'm so grateful that Angela's children have each other and a strong community of support. 

Angela left an incredible legacy behind and along with the numerous kind-hearted things she had done and the joy she brought to others, I think about how incredibly brave and strong she was fighting for her life in hospital. In all honestly it's actually incredible how much of a fight her body put up because she kept fighting back. 

So many beautiful pictures, stories, memories left behind and her 6 children are carrying on their mother's legacy. She did an incredible job raising them, her light will never fade. RIP Angela, you will never be forgotten x

Further Reading & Sources: 

- James Craig: Article | BBC News

- James Craig: Article | Sky News

- James Craig: Article | NPR

- James Craig: Article | Court TV

- James Craig: Article | NBC News

- Angela Craig: Article | CNN

- Karin Cain: Article | ABC News 

- Aurora, Colorado | Wikipedia

- Colorado Department of Corrections

- Angela Craig | Memorial 

Thank you as always if you are a regular reader of my posts, I always appreciate it. Thank you also if you are new to my work, I appreciate you being here too. I write about a lot of dark things on this blog but I want to remind you, that there is a lot of good in this world, amazing people, amazing things. We live in a beautiful world where so many wonderful things happen. For the horrific husbands like James Craig, there are millions of others husbands out there that are like the Milk Tray man (Tongue in cheek commercial superhero from back in the day who delivered a box of chocolates 'Milk Tray' to his beloved. Retro TV commerical). I thought I would try to end on a positive note! Anyway, there is good and bad and I hope after reading this that you do something relaxing that'll make you smile . 

Come and say hi on my Socials! Stay safe and I hope you will join me in my next post x