Kriti Mehrotra
When Anthony “Tony” Parsons set off on a cross-country bicycle ride for charity in the fall of 2017, his loved ones believed he would soon return home with nothing but travel tales. However, not only did he never return home, but he seemed to vanish into thin air somewhere in the rugged, rural Scottish Highlands, leaving everyone with more questions than answers. It took over three years for the truth about his fate to come to light with the help of Dr. Caroline Muirhead, which is precisely what has been explored in Netflix’s ‘Should I Marry a Murderer?’
Anthony Parsons Was Killed in a Road Accident and His Remains Were Found in a Shallow Grave
A proud native of the small town of Tillicoultry in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Anthony “Tony” Parsons had reportedly managed to build a good life by the time 2017 came around. After all, the 63-year-old was a devoted family man, surrounded by his loving wife, Margaret Parsons, their two kind children, Mike Parsons and Vicky Parsons, and a few adorable grandkids. The retired Royal Navy Petty Officer actually prioritized quality time with loved ones because he knew life can be short — he had previously been treated for prostate cancer and was in remission.
Therefore, in late summer/early fall of 2017, Tony decided to raise money for a prostate cancer charity by doing something different. He had already walked the 96-mile West Highland Way and conquered the archaeological site of Hadrian’s Wall, so he chose to do a cross-country cycle ride this time around. His plan was to cover 100 miles from Fort William to his hometown of Tillicoultry to raise money for the cause he believed in. Yet, he never made it past the Highlands, a fact that came to light when loved ones reported him missing after he uncharacteristically failed to check in for days. An extensive search for him thus began, but officials were initially only able to uncover that surveillance cameras last caught him riding past a service station near Fort William.
Then, an employee of the Bridge of Orchy Hotel came forward to reveal 63-year-old Tony had stopped by roughly 11 pm on the rainy night of September 29 for a cup of hot tea. He was offered a room but refused as he wanted to keep cycling, so he was last physically seen alive heading towards the A82 road at 11:30 pm. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of authorities and volunteers alike, it was only when a tip came in that his decomposed remains were found in a shallow grave on Auch Estate. He had been hit by a high-speed vehicle on the major road, resulting in him suffering catastrophic injuries, including blunt force trauma as well as fractured ribs, spine, and pelvis. As per his autopsy, he likely died from his wounds 15-20 minutes after impact, after which he was transported and buried. His decomposed remains were recovered on January 12, 2021, from a pit where hunted animal carcasses were typically disposed of.
Anthony Parsons’ Case Got Traction When a Tip Blew Everything Wide Open
After Anthony “Tony” Parsons was reported missing in early October 2017, the entire community banded together to search for him, but sadly to no avail. The rescue team comprised civilian volunteers, local deputies, nearby mountain men, police dogs, and an air unit, yet no one ever found any trace of him. It was more than 3 years later, on December 27, 2020, that they got their breakthrough in the case, as a forensic pathologist named Dr. Caroline Muirhead dialed 999 to report she knew precisely what’d transpired. She told officials her fiancé, Alexander “Sandy” McKellar, and his twin brother Robert McKellar were responsible for the cyclist’s untimely demise, asserting she had heard it from the former himself.
Caroline told detectives that when she and Sandy got engaged in November 2020 after a whirlwind romance of 2 months, they decided to share their deepest, darkest secrets with one another. She said that’s when he confessed to Tony’s killing, describing in detail how he and his twin went drinking one night after a hunting trip and then chose to drive back to their home on Auch Estate at high speed. She claimed he told her that while they were on A82, a big truck came at them with their headlights on full beam, blinding him and making him lose control, which is when they hit a cyclist. He reportedly even expressed, “he was hit at high speed. There’s no way he was alive,” indicating Tony had died on impact, driving the doctor to treat the situation as an accident more than anything else.
Caroline had asked Sandy whether they had contacted emergency services upon realizing Tony wasn’t breathing, as per the original, to which he responded no because they were afraid. Therefore, she relayed to authorities what her fiancé then told her, that he and Robert subsequently buried the 63-year-old on the vast estate, right near where she jogged or shot clay pigeons in the mornings. As the reality of what she had been told began to sink in, she has since revealed that she knew she had to do the right thing, even if she still deeply cared about her fiancé and the entire ordeal had been an accident. It took her some time as she gradually grew fearful of her own life, but she ultimately contacted the police on December 27, 2020.
Anthony Parsons’ Case Was Not Classified as an Accident Owing to Negligence
Although Caroline had relayed everything to the authorities within a few hours, hoping they would take immediate action, they informed her they couldn’t do so because they had no evidence of the crime. They needed something concrete, so the pathologist almost immediately visited her fiancé, pretending she just wanted to spend more time with him, before pursuing him to take her to Tony’s grave site. She subsequently secretly marked it with a can of sugar-free Red Bull, returned to her parents’ home, and contacted detectives again with the specific location to help move things along. She even informed them that the twins would not be on Auch Estate on December 29/30 the minute she learned of the same, leading to their arrest from a friend’s home in the early hours of the latter.
According to records, Sandy and Robert were questioned simultaneously in separate rooms and responded to everything with “no comment” before being released on bail 2 days later. By this point, experts hadn’t been able to locate Tony’s remains as they were going through the marked soil inch by inch to maintain its sanctity, so the brothers were ordered not to return to the estate. They somehow didn’t even think Caroline could have been the one to betray them, so they ended up moving into her flat in Glasgow, where they remained for at least a couple of months. Since she still cared, she let them remain without any issues and even took the opportunity to secretly record a few conversations in which Sandy essentially implicates themselves. It was during this period that Robert reportedly took her aside to tell her that Tony had actually been alive after they had hit him at high speed in his Isuzu D-Max pick-up truck, per the show.
Robert allegedly stated that after the hit, the brothers moved Tony to the side of the road alongside his cycle, returned to the estate, changed cars, clothes, and shoes, and then came back for his remains. He admitted to Caroline that they had left him without contacting emergency services, returned, kept him overnight in the back of the vehicle, and then buried him in a pit alongside animal carcasses. He essentially confessed they gave him no chance for survival, which was backed with evidence in the form of the recovery of his remains from the pit on January 12, 2021, as well as his autopsy. Caroline had relayed the same to officials as soon as she could, yet it wasn’t until December 2 that the twins were arrested on the charge of murder and remanded in custody until their trial.
Alexander “Sandy” and Robert McKellar Pleaded Guilty and Are Thus Likely Serving Time in Prison Today
While Caroline was the key to solving the case of Anthony Parsons’ disappearance and death, prosecutors initially wanted to secure additional evidence for their case against the twins. Therefore, they waited for the official autopsy report, determined which vehicle had been involved in the so-called hit-and-run, and even obtained pictures of its bumper before the extensive repair. They also hoped to find the 63-year-old’s cycle, as they had learned from a secret recording Caroline had made that Sandy had thrown it into a waterfall, but to no avail, so the pathologist’s testimony was crucial. In the end, owing to her personal struggles and changes in court proceedings, she never ended up taking the stand.
While both Sandy and Robert were initially charged with murder, they ultimately took plea deals on lesser charges on July 26, 2023. Since the former was the one driving the vehicle, he admitted guilt to one count of culpable homicide, for which he was sentenced to 12 years in prison on August 25. On the other hand, his twin brother Robert admitted guilty to aiding and abetting as well as trying to defeat the ends of justice, for which he was sentenced to 5¼ years in prison on August 25. Therefore, since the twins were arrested in late 2021, it’s likely Robert has already been released from behind bars, whereas Sandy is still incarcerated at His Majesty’s Prison in Scotland. The 34-year-old could be eligible for parole in December 2027, but if denied early release, his sentence will conclude in December 2033.
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