Wife 'found husband dying after seeing brother with gun and hearing blasts', Isle of Skye 'shotgun rampage' trial hears
The sister of an alleged gunman yesterday told a murder trial that she saw him enter her family home with a gun, before hearing blasts.
Lyn-Anne MacKinnon said she caught her husband John in her arms after he had been shot.
The 45-year-old had seen her brother Finlay MacDonald walk into the house with a gun before hearing loud bangs, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.
She went into her home in Teangue, on the Isle of Skye, to find her husband groaning before he collapsed in her arms.
MacDonald denies murder, and has lodged a special defence that at the time of the alleged offence his ability to determine or control his conduct was substantially impaired by abnormality of mind.
He has also pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to murder three people and charges under the Firearms Act.
On the second day of the trial, Mrs MacKinnon said that on August 10, 2022, she was unpacking her car after a holiday when when she heard another vehicle arrive.
It was MacDonald, she told the trial, and he started to walk up the back steps.
Lyn-Anne MacKinnon, pictured, said she caught her husband John in her arms after he had been shot
Mrs MacKinnon said she caught her husband in her arms and gently lowered him to the floor
Finlay MacDonald is further accused of attempting to murder his wife Rowena (pictured) in Tarskavaig on Skye
The mother-of-six said: 'When I looked up, I glanced down and I could see he was holding a gun at his side. I said: 'Finlay, what do you think you are doing?' I didn't get any response.'
She told the court: 'As I walked the steps from the car to the door I heard bangs. I walked into the kitchen and found John.
'At that point he was still upright. He was groaning.'
Mrs MacKinnon said she caught her husband in her arms and gently lowered him to the floor.
She said: 'I was just screaming in horror.'
The witness told advocate depute Liam Ewing, KC, that she thought the bangs she heard were 'shots'. She added: 'I thought I had only heard two, but I believe it was three. I only saw evidence of two wounds.'
MacDonald, 41, has also been charged with attempting to murder John and Fay MacKenzie at their home in Dornie, Ross-shire. He is further accused of attempting to murder his wife Rowena in Tarskavaig on Skye.
John MacKinnon, a father of six, suffered fatal gunshot wounds
Police at the scene of the incident in Tarskavaig, a crofting village on the West coast of Sleat on the Isle of Skye in Scotland
Mrs MacDonald, 34, said her husband saw osteopath John Donald MacKenzie about treatment for a back injury in the spring of 2022, but was not happy with the result.
She told the court: 'He would frequently say: 'I am going to kill him, bloody kill him for ruining my life'.'
The court heard MacDonald had bought a pump action shotgun for £625 and 1,000 cartridges in June 2022.
Defence KC Donald Findlay asked Mrs MacDonald about her having said that she did not know he was autistic.
She replied: 'No, not for sure. I knew there was something different. I didn't know whether it was depression, anxiety, autism or something different.'
The trial, before Lady Drummond, continues.
