Two men have denied murdering a Dundee father-of-four at a house in Perthshire.
John Donachy was found dead in Hazel Court, Alyth in March, sparking a major police investigation.
A post mortem later revealed the 26-year-old had died of “multiple stab wounds”.
On Thursday, two men appeared at Glasgow High Court accused of his murder.
Murray Fotheringham and Lee Winters both deny killing Mr Donachy and will stand trial later this year.
It is alleged that they attacked Mr Donachy on March 3, by punching him and repeatedly striking him on the head and body with a baseball bat or rod, a knife or similar weapon.
Fotheringham is further accused of assaulting another man, Callum Duncan, on Airlie Street, Alyth, the day before. It is alleged Mr Duncan was punched and knocked to the ground, to his severe injury.
That same day, it is alleged that both Fotheringham and Winters assaulted Richard Long, seized him by his clothing, held him against a door, struck him on the head with a bottle, punched him on the head, brandished a shovel at him and repeatedly made threats to strike him with a knife.
It also is alleged that after Mr Donachy’s death, the two men disposed of clothing and a weapon or weapons, namely a knife, in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.
Fotheringham faces a further charge of possession of controlled drug Diazepam.
Agents issued pleas of not guilty during a brief hearing at Glasgow High Court.
Judge Lady Rae scheduled a trial for December. The case is expected to last for up to 10 days.
The house in Alyth was sealed off by police for two days while forensic teams assessed the scene, including an alleyway linking the street with a car park.
Shortly after his death, Mr Donachy’s family described him as “one in a billion”.
Friends also paid tribute on social media.
