Woman of Skye murder accused tells court he attacked her with a knife

The wife of a man accused of shooting on Skye told how he launched a frenzied knife attack that punctured both her lungs after he confronted her with messages to another man, a court heard.

Rowena MacDonald, 34, a mother of four, told how she was drenched in her own blood and feared her husband would run her over as her eldest children spoke to emergency services after the alleged attack on August 10 at a house on Skye, which belonged to her husband’s grandparents.

The couple’s children, now aged 11, eight, six and four, helped keep their mother conscious until emergency services took her to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, the court heard.

Finlay MacDonald, 41, is accused of a shooting on August 10, 2022, in which he allegedly killed his brother-in-law John MacKinnon after allegedly repeatedly firing a shotgun at him, in the village of Teangue on the island’s Sleat Peninsula. .

He is also accused of trying to kill his wife by stabbing her repeatedly on the same day in the village of Tarskavaig, on the same peninsula.

MacDonald is further accused of attempting to murder a married couple, Fay MacKenzie and John MacKenzie, during an alleged shooting in the mainland Highlands village of Dornie, Wester Ross.

He is also charged with possession of a shotgun “with intent to endanger life,” at the property charged on August 10, 2022.

He denies all charges and has filed a special defense to the murder charge, claiming his “ability to determine or control his behavior was significantly impaired by an abnormal mind,” and a judge said he could be convicted for an alternative charge of murder. culpable homicide if the jury believed his defense of diminished responsibility.

Mrs MacDonald, originally from Somerset, told the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday that the couple married in 2015 and moved to Skye, where her husband’s family lived, but that she was planning to move at the time of the alleged attack.

She agreed their relationship was “not in a good place” at the time of the attacks and said MacDonald had been off work with a back injury and had not been involved in a family holiday to England in July 2022, the hearing heard court.

The jury was shown photos of the home, including play equipment, and a home gym with barbells showing patterns on a cupboard and blood splatter on a door next to children’s paintings.

Mrs MacDonald said that at the time of the alleged attacks she had “contacted support services and was on the housing list” but that on August 9 her husband “attempted to have intimacy with me after not being so for a long time been,” the court heard. .

Giving evidence, she said she didn’t answer and she felt he was “disappointed”, but on the morning of August 10 he followed her into the bedroom as she got ready for work.

Mrs MacDonald said: “He said he needed to talk to me about us and our relationship” but in the kitchen “he took out his phone and had taken pictures of my phone”.

She told the court she had a male friend at work but they were “just friends”, and her colleague “realized I needed support” but that they had had a text conversation about “what we were looking for in other people’.

The court heard a photo was found on MacDonald’s phone which read: ‘Big row with Finlay, he knows it’s coming and wants to do everything he can to stop it. This cannot happen fast enough.”

She replied to another message saying she liked a “tall, dark and handsome man”.

However, MacDonald saw the messages and was “upset and angry”, saying “what is going on?”, the court heard.

Ms MacDonald told the court: “When I tried to explain that I was not in a relationship with anyone else, it seemed like he had taken a moment to settle.”

MacDonald then “pulled a knife out of his pocket” and launched a frenzied attack on her, she said.

Mrs MacDonald told the court: “Both lungs were punctured with every breath I took, I was openly suppressing blood.”

She said she called 999 and quickly became weaker.

Giving evidence she said: “My daughter had followed me outside, when she came towards me the last move I could make was to push my phone towards her on the floor.

“I remember telling them it was him, but I don’t remember if I told them or if they asked.”

She said her eight-year-old daughter called 911 on loudspeaker while her youngest child, who had just turned two, pulled her hair and said, “mommy, mommy, stop it.”

Mrs MacDonald told the court she saw her husband walking towards a car carrying a ‘tall box’ and feared he was going to run her over as she lay on the edge of the driveway.

An air ambulance took her to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, the court heard.

The trial continues in the presence of Judge Lady Drummond.