The Record has revisited some of Scotland’s most prolific love triangle cases that resulted in cold-blooded twists and murder.
A love triangle is described as being a romantic scenario involving three people, where two individuals compete for the affection of one person, or one person is involved with two others simultaneously.
The complicated situation can see people centre on rivalry, jealousy, and can thrust the difficult choice between two potential partners.
Certainly, in Scotland, there have been a series of love triangles that resulted in bloodshed and murder.
We have revisited some of the most prolific cases in light of a mother’s plea not to let her son’s killer out of jail early as she recently appealed her sentence.
Stacey Balfour, Cameron Woods and Robert Fisher
Stacey Balfour was jailed for 16 years following the murder of Robert Fisher at a tower block in Paisley in July 2023. Cameron Woods and Balfour, then 27 and 24, were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on June 24 last year following the slaying of 26-year-old Robert.
The pair, who were together at the time, stabbed Robert to death. Prosecutors said Woods fatally stabbed Robert while his then partner Balfour was “acting in concert” as she knew there would be violence.
All three had been togetherin a flat with other people in the Renfrewshire town. During this time, Woods had been spotted with a large kitchen knife. Meanwhile, Balfour had shown someone a small lockback blade – attached to a set of keys – which was later used in the fatal attack.
The brutal attack was launched on Robert after the atmosphere between the group in the flat became “volatile”. This eventually led to the young dad being stabbed “in what amounted to a murderous attack”.
The pair had denied murder at trial but were eventually convicted. Woods was jailed for a minimum 18-and-a-half years with Balfour locked up for 16 years. However, Balfour recently launched an appeal against her sentence and is due to appear in front of appeal judges in Edinburgh next week.
Robert’s mum, Pamela Peacock, publicly slammed Woods‘ vile former girlfriend and pleaded with lawmakers not to “let this monster out early”.
She said: “People need to know what she is doing to us as a family. The cheek of her. I sat every day throughout the trial and this is a monster! I had to hear what happened to my son Robert and I can honestly say that he certainly did not deserve to die the way he did.
“Hopefully the judges see right through this monster, because that’s what her and her boyfriend are, monsters. The way they left my son has scarred me for the rest of my life. Please can everyone think about Robert on this day and please let justice be done and this monster does not walk free.”
Speaking to the Record, Pamela, 53, from Renfrew, added: “I was told by the Procurator Fiscal that she was appealing the sentence in December. To get told such bad news during the holidays was terrible, it put such a dampener on Christmas and New Year. My family are the only people keeping me going. I don’t know where I’d be without my two sons, daughter and twelve grandchildren.
“Robert was my carer before he passed. I’ll never be the same and neither will my family. My daughter was the one who found Robert and it has traumatised her.”
Dionne Wilson, Jason King and Sara Irvine
Sara Irvine, 34, was stabbed in the chest by Dionne Wilson, 31, after she confronted her about sleeping with her boyfriend on April 17, 2024. Wilson stabbed Sara in the chest with a knife at a property in Auchinleck Road in Aberdeen as the trio, including Sara’s boyfriend Jason King, met to buy and smoke cannabis.
Claims about there being a “love triangle” between the trio were rejected by the killer, who said Sara’s boyfriend’s assertion that he had had a sexual relationship with her was untrue.
Wilson – a former drug addict – said that Sara became angry and was “very hostile” to her as a result of the allegation. She claimed that Sara threw her onto a couch at the house moments before she was fatally stabbed.
It was heard in court that knives were lying around the house for cutting up narcotics. King, 32, told how he witnessed Wilson stabbing his girlfriend of 18 months in the chest, describing the assault as “horrible to see”.
Speaking in court, Mr King said: “She started choking on her blood. I seen the blood coming out of her chest. I saw it coming out of her mouth. I screamed on somebody to get an ambulance. I knew she was dead. She was a dead weight in my arms.”
Wilson alleged that King had told his girlfriend that he had been having sex with her.
She said the other woman asked her: “Do you think it’s acceptable to sleep with somebody else’s man?’ and described the question as “Unfriendly. Very hostile”.
Wilson was jailed for 10 years at Livingston High Court after a jury earlier cleared her of murdering Sara Irvine but found her guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
Wilson – who lodged a special defence of self-defence at the start of her trial – accepted that she had stabbed Sara but claimed she couldn’t remember anything about the exact moment that she inflicted the fatal blow.
Sheila Garvie, Maxwell Garvie and Brian Tevendale
Playboy millionaire Maxwell Garvie was shot dead in his sleep at his luxury country mansion West Cairnbeg near Laurencekirk in 1968 by his wife and her lover. Sheila, alongside her lover Brian Tevendale, killed Max then went on to conceal his body in the drains of Laurieston Castle.
Sheila, a former Balmoral housemaid, first met Max at a farmers’ dance in Stonehaven when she was a teenager. They wed and had three children – but Max, a wealthy farmer and businessman, enjoyed a lavish lifestyle. He was fond of female company and maintained physical relations with many.
Specifically, his appetite for swinging really got the town talking, and eventually he turned parties into sex orgies and forced his wife to participate. Max was also an office bearer in the SNP. It was there he met a handsome young man – 20-year-old Tevendale. Max had already had a few affairs with young men and was attracted to Tevendale but he had other plans.
One evening he invited Tevendale to stay at the family home and forced his Sheila to sleep with him. In a bizarre twist, Max then began an affair with Tevendale’s sister, Trudi Birse. Despite his games, Max grew bored quickly and insisted he and Sheila dump their playmates.
Sheila hated him, and to her husband’s horror, she had fallen in love with the young man she had been forced to sleep with. On the morning of May 15, 1968, Sheila reported her husband as a missing person. His body was later found in the drains of the castle.
Sheila Garvie, Brian Tevendale and one of his friends, 20-year-old Alan Peters were charged with Max’s murder. The lovers blamed each other during the trial.
The Crown said on the night of the murder, Sheila had slipped out of her bed and let Tevendale into the house, handing over a .22 rifle belonging to Maxwell. With Sheila watching from the bedroom doorway, Tevendale smashed Maxwell’s skull with the butt. Then, placing a pillow over the man’s face, he shot him once in the head.
The pair then wrapped his body in a blanket and transported it to Laurieston Castle. A jury at the High Court found Sheila Garvie and Brian Tevendale guilty of murder. The case against Alan Peters was not proven.
The lovers each served 10 years and never spoke again.
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