Richard Beattie

Richard Beattie was found dead on a pathway on the banks of the River Leven, just behind Renton Trinity Parish Church.

A local man was initially charged with his murder, but the charge was later dropped after it was heard that there was insufficient evidence. The man that was charge was later noted in October 2008 as having since died.

When Richard Beattie was found he had been battered and had had his throat cut.

Richard Beattie had lived with his parents in Grant Crescent in Renton.

He was last seen by them at about teatime, around 10pm, on 3 May 1993 when he went out.

The next that they knew of it was when the police called at their house at 2.45pm the following day, 4 May 1993, to tell them that he had been found murdered.

It was heard that a woman had heard a cry for help later that night and it was thought that Richard Beattie had been overpowered by at least two people and bundled into a van.

It was not known what happened next, but when his body was found the next morning it was unrecognisable. It was thought that he had been beaten at a house and then later dumped by the river where he was found the following morning.

Richard Beattie was identified by a distinctive Celtic tattoo on his arm.

It was said that the ferocity of the assault on Richard Beattie would have left his attackers covered in blood. However, it was alleged that the people involved in the murder had later burnt their clothes at the Cardross Crematorium where a person alleged to have been connected with the murder had worked.

There was no known motive, but it was thought that he had been involved in a drugs dispute.

It was noted that Richard Beattie had been a witness in the Patrick Docherty murder trial and that he was murdered before the trial got underway. Four men were charged with having murdered Patrick Docherty, but it was noted that after one of the men admitted the murder, the others were all acquitted but that it was not clear why as the evidence heard was of only a formal type.

The police said that they didn't think that Richard Beattie's killer had acted alone and that at the least they thought that he had had help in covering it up.

It was alleged that the family of the man that was initially tried of Richard Beattie's murder had either been involved in his murder or had helped to cover it up and further noted that one of them was later convicted for the murders of three people who were killed in an arson attack in Helensburgh in 2012. It was alleged that one of the men that was convicted of the arson murders in Helensburgh had helped to dispose of the blood-stained clothes of Richard Beattie's murderers and Richard Beattie's family later appealed for him to confess his role in the murder.

Richard Beattie and Patrick Docherty had been childhood friends.

Richard Beattie's brother was also later stabbed in the Central Bar in Renton on a night out. He had been knifed in the side and was taken to the Vale of Leven Hospital where he underwent three hours of surgery. It as said that the stabbing had resulted in him having a yard and a half of his intestines hanging out.

He was also known as Dick Beattie.

The place where Richard Beattie was found dead was later noted as not being far, about 100 yards, from where Michael Herbison was murdered in 2011. Two men were convicted of Michael Herbison's murder.