A man accused of murdering his sister shook uncontrollably when police told him she was dead at Dundee police station, a jury heard yesterday.
Jordan Johnstone was being interviewed as a potential witness in a missing person inquiry after reporting his sister missing, before she was found dead, the High Court in Livingston heard.
Johnstone, 25, and girlfriend Angela Newlands, 28, both deny killing 22-year-old Annalise Johnstone at a witch monument near Dunning in Perthshire in May last year.
DC Karen Jamieson, 42, said she was asked to interview Johnstone at Dundee police headquarters after he made a phone call to report his sister’s disappearance.
During the interview she said Johnstone asked for his grandmother to be called.
She told the jury: “I said it wasn’t appropriate because there were specialist officers with his grandmother disclosing news of Annalise’s death
“Prior to that he’d been calm. On being told this information his demeanour completely changed.
“He placed his head in his hands and began to uncontrollably shake and make statements.”
DC Helen Ireland, 37, said she went looking for Johnstone at an address he had lived in in Auchterarder, Perthshire, with other officers.
Firearms officers forced entry because they could see possible signs of a disturbance inside but found the house empty. She then went with a colleague to an address in Inchture where Johnstone had been traced by uniformed officers.
Detective Constable Andrew Howe, 40, said the accused claimed he had dropped his sister off at a relative’s flat in Auchterarder.
He said Johnstone gave an emotional reaction when he learned his description of Annalise’s tattoo had helped police identify the body as hers.
Asked if he could be medically examined for any injuries or samples Johnstone told the detectives he would do anything to help their inquiry. DC Howe said that was normal procedure, adding: “Everyone was aware he was the last person to see her alive.”
He told the jury: “There were three linear marks at the base of the neck. He said it was the result of a haircut the previous day.”
The trial continues.
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