The Daily Records series on unsolved gangland murders this week looks at the deaths of two men who were murdered after a night out at the greyhound racing.
The remote dirt track running through an abandoned scrapyard had over the years been a place for fly tipping, courting couples and where joy riders would abandoned their stolen vehicles.
However it served a more sinister purpose one afternoon in October, 2001.
The bodies of two men had been found next to a burned out black Volkswagen Golf car at the spot in Larkhall, Lanarkshire.
Both victims had been shot and were quickly identified as small time Lanarkshire criminals John Hall, 45, from Carluke and 33 year old David Macintosh from neighbouring Wishaw.
The previous night they had visited an unlicensed greyhound track in Gretna Green on the Scottish Border and spotted in the same black Volkswagen which belonged to Macintosh.
They placed bets, had drinks, and watched the dogs run.
By the following afternoon both men were dead in the abandoned scrap yard alongside the rusting cars.
The murder scene was also next to one off Scotland’s best known go karting venues Summerlee Raceway, where racing drivers David Coulthard, Dario Franchitti, and Allan McNish had started off.
Soon it emerged that the two victims may have stepped out of their league with fatal consequences.
It was claimed they they had acquired a consignment of cocaine, worth around £120,000, on credit from a major underworld figure the previous year.
The drugs had been stashed by an associate in a locker at a cable television firm in Livingston, West Lothian where he worked as a storeman.
However the drugs were found by police after a tip off possibly due to the fact he was selling to colleagues.
The associate, who also owed the two men money, was arrested and jailed for six years in December 2000.
It meant Hall and McIntosh were left with nothing, no drugs, no money, and a debt they couldn’t repay.
Ten months later they were both dead.
Strathclyde Police launched a major inquiry led by Detective Superintendent John Carnochan.
A team of more than 50 police officers were involved in the hunt for the killer or killers.
However door-to-door inquiries, CCTV checks, and numerous witness appeals failed to provide any significant leads or evidence leading to an arrest.
Twenty-four years later no one has ever been charged.
The execution appeared a classic gangland hit with a message clearly being sent out – but by whom.
Police inquiries focused on a violent 46 year old career criminal from Paisley who shared the two victims’ interest in greyhound racing.
He owned several of the animals and had recently failed in a six figure bid to buy a dog track in West Lothian.
Detective Supt Carnochan revealed sightings of the two victims in Gretna at 8pm were the last time they had been seen alive.
Their bodies were found around 4pm the following day by two men out walking.
The focus of the police inquiry was the 20 hour window between when they were killed and their bodies dumped
It’s feared the man to whom they allegedly owed the drugs debt had run out of patience and did not want to lose face.
A source said at the time: “Your man was not prepared to wait any longer for his money. After 10 months and plenty of warnings he had to have them taken out.
“It was unfortunate for them but he couldn’t be seen to do nothing.”
Police described the two men as friends who were last seen by their families at 6pm before they left for Gretna.
Hall lived with his wife and two teenage daughters. He also had a 23-year-old son from a previous relationship. Mr McIntosh lived with his partner.
Mr Carnochan said at the time: ”We are being helped by the two families involved so far, who are understandably pretty distraught.
This is a father and a husband and it’s quite tragic circumstances that we are dealing with.”
It was not clear if the two victims were alive or dead when they arrived at the murder scene.
Police said they did not appear to have been taken there forcibly.
They also discounted links to the unsolved murders two years earlier of two other Lanarkshire men John Nisbet and William Lindsay who had also been shot dead.
Their burned out bodies were found dumped next to a farmers track near the East Lothian town of Tranent.
The week of the double murder of Hall and McIntosh proved to be a bad one for Larkhall.
A few days later one of the areas biggest employers Daks Simpson said it was closing with the loss of 400 jobs.
That same week the families of the two men visited the spot where they were found and laid flowers.
Graeme Pearson, former Director General of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, says murders linked to organised crime can be more difficult to solve with people more reluctant to come forward with information.
He added:”There was information doing the rounds that indicated there had been a drugs debt.
“It was thought that someone came from down south to settle the thing and indeed they did by killing the two.
“Nothing came out of it thereafter. John Carnochan conducted a very energetic inquiry and was keen to have it resolved.
“But I didn’t think they got more than scraping the surface.”
Mr Pearson continued:”The victims were not part of any active well known criminal groups who were being monitored by the police at that time.
“It had become evident to whoever they owed the money that it wasn’t going to be paid.
“The dealer would reckon that if he is not seen to deal with it with it immediately. then it is going to happen again.
“When there is a drug debt the guy can’t allow that to happen to him or he becomes a joke.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “The murders of John Hall and David McIntosh remain unresolved. Unresolved murders are cases that are never closed and Police Scotland is fully committed to identifying those people responsible for all such cases.
“Police Scotland works closely with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and meets regularly to review outstanding unresolved murders from across the country. Working collaboratively, the potential for new investigative opportunities is regularly assessed to maximise the ability to deliver justice for grieving families, irrespective of the passage of time.
“As with any unresolved murder case, we would review any new information provided to police and investigate further if appropriate.”
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