Husband attacked wife and killed brother-in-law during shotgun rampage on Scottish island

A gunman who attacked his wife before going on to kill his brother-in-law during a shotgun rampage on the Scottish isle of Skye will spend at least 28 years behind bars. Dad-of-four Finlay MacDonald, 41, carried out his terrifying spree of violence in 2022 and was jailed today at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The attacks began on the morning of August 10 when MacDonald repeatedly stabbed his wife Rowena at their home in Taskarvaig, located on the island’s Sleat peninsula, after he found “flirty” text messages between her and her boss.

MacDonald then got into his car with a pump-action shotgun, a “couple of hundred” cartridges and a “machete-type” knife, and drove to his brother-in-law John MacKinnon’s house in the nearby village of Teangue, the court heard. His sister Lyn-Anne MacKinnon, who was outside on the driveway, told the court she saw him with the gun as he walked into the house, and said she heard “bangs” as he shot Mr MacKinnon a number of times, leaving him with fatal injuries.

READ MORE: Eddie Ratcliffe set to appeal against sentence for Brianna Ghey murder next week

MacDonald then drove to the house in Dornie in Wester Ross, on the mainland, where his osteopath John MacKenzie lived with his wife Fay. MacDonald claimed Mr MacKenzie had previously given him a treatment session which he said “ruined his life”.

After arriving, MacDonald shot Mrs MacKenzie in the face through the windows of the house and then shot Mr MacKenzie twice, in his front and side. Police had trailed MacKenzie to the property, where they tasered and arrested him.

Mr MacKinnon died at the scene, despite the efforts of a nearby GP who tried to save him. The court heard MacDonald had borne a grudge against his brother-in-law since the pair had a violent falling out in 2013.

Mrs MacDonald survived the attack, which punctured both her lungs. She told the trial her husband had left her “squelching blood” with every breath she took. Mr and Mrs MacKenzie also survived their injuries and gave evidence in court during the trial.

The court was shown footage of a police interview with MacDonald the day after the attacks during which he said he stabbed his wife in a “moment of madness” and he then felt a “total darkness come over me”. MacDonald’s lawyer had argued for his client to be convicted of the lesser offence of culpable homicide rather than murder in relation to the killing of Mr MacKinnon, saying his ability to control his actions had been “impaired by reason of abnormality of mind”.

Defending, solicitor advocate Shahid Latif said of MacDonald: “He is sorry for what he did that day. He wishes he could undo and go back in time to try and stop himself. In particular he indicates he has failed his children. He wants them to know he is sorry.”

However after three-and-a-half hours of deliberation on Friday, the jury found MacDonald guilty of one count of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and one count of possession of a shotgun “with intent thereof to endanger life”.

Judge Lady Drummond sentenced MacDonald to life imprisonment and ordered him to spend a minimum of 28 years behind bars.