A court will investigate the sudden death of a triple killer, who died behind bars at Perth Prison.
Alexander Birrell killed his mother-in-law and two young nieces in a fire-raising attack in Edinburgh in 1991.
The 66-year-old was caged for life for plotting the blaze that killed Mary McGregor, 62, and her grandchildren Karen and Kirsty Lawrie.
He ordered their flat in Edinburgh to be set on fire by his son and a friend in a twisted bid to get his estranged wife to come back to Scotland.
Birrell was ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years, while his son, Alexander Jnr, was jailed for life.
The friend, Derek Montgomery, was sentenced to 12 years for culpable homicide.
Birrell died at HMP Perth on May 29, last year.
Now a fatal accident inquiry has been called to probe the full circumstances surrounding his death.
A preliminary hearing will be held at Perth Sheriff Court on April 16 before the full inquiry begins in May.
During his time in prison Birrell challenging a parole board decision that saw him fail to be released on licence.
The parole board refused to allow him out after he served his minimum sentence because police intelligence claimed he was trying to get guns to seek revenge.
Birrell’s trial heard how his wife had left him and gone to Plymouth and the blaze was part of a plan to create a family crisis to get her to come home.
Birrell had hounded Montgomery into starting the fire and had assured him there would be no one inside. Montgomery said he poured petrol through the door as Birrell jnr held the letterbox open, soaked the rag, put it in and lit it.
Sentencing Birrell at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Caplan told the him: “Your motives could only be described as evil and your actions were totally ruthless. “You have destroyed an innocent woman and two young children”
