Murder accused 'sent his fiancee obscene and racist messages' - stv.tv

A murder accused sent his fiancee obscene and racist messages when he suspected her of having a holiday romance, a trial has heard.

James Munro, 56, allegedly issued the insults and threats after finding a photo of Kim Campbell and a man named Zead who worked in a water sports centre in Tunisia.

"He was kissing her," said Ms Campbell's friend, Helen Taylor, who took the photograph during a seven-night break in the North African resort in October 2012.

She told the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday that she and her friend considered going back to Tunisia or to Turkey while Munro cooled down.

"He was getting quite intense with his threats," she said, threatening to murder her, his partner and their children.

Less than a month later, Ms Campbell, 41, was dead. Munro denies murdering her in their home in High School View, Elgin, on November 8, 2012.

The charge alleges that, after dragging her into a locked room there, he restricted her breathing, kicked and punched her and repeatedly struck her on the head and body with a knife.

James Munro also denies an earlier assault on Ms Campbell and threatening violence and making racist remarks to his fiancee and to Ms Taylor, 47, using Skype, email, telephone and text messaging services.

"I seen you snogging a dirty smelly b-----d and Helen was happy to photograph it," said one of his alleged Skype messages, while he is claimed to have said "You have Aids, you slut" in another.

Ms Taylor told the court: "He had it in his head that Kim and Zead were together but they weren't."

Munro also accused his partner betraying him. One of the messages shown to the jury on Wednesday described Ms Campbell as "an Arab-s----ing w---e" and others demanded to know whether Zead had seen her naked and whether he had "touched her t--s."

"You snogged another man when we were engaged," Munro is accused of telling Ms Campbell. "You were on a pedestal in my eyes."

Another message shown to the jury threatened Ms Campbell: "For that you will die." The Skype account in Munro's name added: "Nobody f---s with me and lives."

Ms Taylor, also of Elgin, told the trial that during their stay at the Sahara Beach Hotel she and Ms Campbell shared a double bed and never went out alone.

She said she tried to reassure Munro that nothing had happened but he called her "a lying w---e who will die."

The messages were sent by Munro while he was working in Libya, it is alleged. Ms Taylor said when he returned home to Elgin, Ms Campbell was "petrified".

Earlier the trial heard a nine-year-old boy describe how, wearing only pyjamas, he took his dog and ran from the house in High School View after the woman asked him to get help.

At the time she was in the bathroom with Munro and shouting "Stop it!" and something about a knife, the boy said.

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