A woman and two men accused of murdering an Angus oil worker and setting him on fire have been committed for trial.
Tasmin Glass, 19, Callum Davidson, 23, and Steven Dickie, also 23, appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court on Tuesday in connection with the death of Steven Donaldson at the Kinnordy Nature Reserve near Kirriemuir.
Mr Donaldson, 27, was found dead at the RSPB reserve in the early hours of Thursday June 7.
On Tuesday afternoon the three accused appeared in private on petition accused of the 27-year-old Arbroath man’s murder.
Davidson and Dickie also faced charges of breach of the peace while Davidson faced an additional charge of assault.
All three made no plea to the charges during brief separate hearings.
They are alleged to have arranged to meet Mr Donaldson at Kirriemuir’s Peter Pan play park before repeatedly striking him on the leg and body with a knife or similar instrument and striking him on the head with an “unknown heavy bladed instrument”.
They are then said to have transported him to the Loch of Kinnordy nature reserve where prosecutors say they continued to assault him by repeatedly striking him on the head and body with a knife.
It is alleged they then set fire to Mr Donaldson’s BMW car and Mr Donaldson himself and did murder him.
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown fully committed them for trial and remanded all three in custody pending further court dates being set.
The discovery of Mr Donaldson’s body shocked the Angus community and led to a major police investigation.
Roads leading to the reserve were closed and a no-fly zone was put in place above it.
A week after his death friends and well-wishers gathered in his memory in his home town. A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to assist with funeral costs.
