A BBC documentary has uncovered the moment an urban explorer found the body of a missing man, leading to his murderer’s capture.
There are many people who dare to look in disused and abandoned buildings for the sake of curiosity of the internet, and this Scottish explorer is no different.
However, when taking a peek inside an industrial building led to nothing, his trip to a little back room saw him find a ghastly sight.
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Human remains.
Unfortunately, the bones would soon be found to have belonged to a man who had been missing for 12 months.
The BBC documentary, Murder Trial: Body in the Warehouse takes viewers through the harrowing real-life discovery.
Army veteran, Ean Coutts, 60 had been attempting to get a man named David Barnes, 33, a job in 2019.
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According to the BBC, Coutts had been paying Barnes to carry out renovations on his home in Kinglassie, before something occurred on 3 September which would see Coutts suddenly vanish.
An earlier trial heard how Barnes had murdered Coutts, and wheeled his body out of the property in a wheelie bin before driving to the Whitehill Industrial Unit near Glenrothes, Fife where he abandoned the remains in a back cupboard.
After committing the crime, he later committed identity theft and pretended to be his victim in order to steal £5,000 from his bank account.
Sadly, nobody would find Coutts’ body and solve his disappearance for a year until, by chance, his body was found by the urban explorer.
The man, James Fenton, 37, who was taking photos at the Whitehill Industrial Unit, told the court that he was looking around the units when he thought he saw ‘animal bones’ or even a prop.
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Talking to the court during the murder trial, the explorer shared his horrifying discovery.
Fenton began: “First, I thought it was just like animal bones.
“And then I went in and I had a big look but there was stuff over the top. So, I kicked like a wee black tray off the top of it and then that’s when I seen, like a foot.
“And then when I looked in further, you could see the back of the skull up the other end.
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“It was when I noticed, like, the mummified skin on the back of the neck.”
After realising that he had found a body, he called the police.
Barnes was apprehended for the crime and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 23 years at the High Court in Edinburgh.
During the trial, the court heard how Barnes withdrew the victim's money from his bank, and used it to buy ‘goods and services’.
He also lied to neighbours and friends that Coutts was alive, and devastatingly, he later pretended to be Coutts when contacting his family on the day of his daughter's wedding.
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Barnes stood trial on a total of 36 charges, including theft and fraud, but those charges were dropped and he was instead convicted of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
When he was being sentenced Lord Mulholland told Barnes: "You thought you would get away with these appalling crimes.
"You lied about Ean Coutts' whereabouts, pretending he was on an extended holiday in Morocco or with his sister in England.
"You even contacted his family on his daughter's wedding day pretending to be him and looking for money.
"It was an act of deception and arrogance.
"The finding of the body by the urban explorer resulted in the unravelling of your lies exposing your crimes and, you, as a murderer."
You can watch Murder Trial: Body in the Warehouse on BBC iPlayer now.
Topics: Crime, UK News, Documentaries, BBC
Britt Jones