Man spotted 'covering doorbell camera with tape' on day of fatal shooting

A murder suspect was seen covering his doorbell camera with tape on the day he allegedly shot a man to death, a trial has heard.

Jurors were also told the CCTV hard drive at the home David Campbell shared with his wife also appeared to have “gone off” that morning.

Former head gamekeeper Campbell is on trial charged with murdering Brian Low, 65, at the Leafy Lane near to the Pitilie Track close to Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross on February 16, 2024.

The 77-year-old denies the accusation and has lodged a special defence of alibi.

The High Court in Glasgow was shown a compilation of video footage gathered as part of the Operation Newlane murder inquiry.

A detective constable was the officer in charge of putting it together.

This included a series of clips from the day of the shooting.

Among them was Campbell leaving his Tigh Na Caorann home in Aberfeldy early that morning before returning shortly after.

Around 7.35am, the DC said he then assessed Campbell “appearing to cover” the Ring doorbell camera to his home with what appears to be duct tape.

Other footage minutes later showed him looking up towards the CCTV camera at the property.

Prosecutor Greg Farrell asked the officer: “From your understanding, is there any CCTV footage captured there after 10.09am that morning?”

The detective constable said: “Not from the CCTV hard drive.”

Mr Farrell asked: “The CCTV hard drive seems to have gone off at 10.09am on February 16?”

The detective replied: “Yes.”

The murder charge includes a claim that Campbell had “disabled CCTV cameras” at his home to “conceal” his whereabouts.

The Ring doorbell camera appeared to be uncovered later that morning.

But, at 11.10am – after Campbell returned home having been out with another man – a piece of duct tape is again placed over the lens.

The court was told there was no more footage recorded from the doorbell camera until around 7.30pm that evening.

Jurors also watched clips of a cyclist in the Aberfeldy area that day.

The individual is captured at 4.12pm in what the detective described as a “couple of streets away” from Campbell’s home.

A closer-up still of the rider and the bike at that time was shown.

Jurors had previously in the trial viewed an image of a cycle said to belong to Campbell’s wife while it was outside a food bank in Aberfeldy in November 2023.

Asked by Mr Farrell did he see any similarities, the detective stated there was the type of light tyre trim, the mudflaps and a parcel shelf.

Cameras were said to have lost sight of the cyclist between 4.18pm and 5.01pm.

Mr Farrell went on to put to the detective that the court had already heard that there was “no movement data” recorded on Mr Low’s phone from 4.52pm that day.

The cyclist is seen again on camera that evening.

The detective claimed at one stage that the individual was seen “heading in the direction” of Campbell’s home.

The officer assessed that Campbell was recorded on the Ring doorbell at 7.32pm at his property – he was said to be wearing a boiler suit that he had on earlier that day.

Mr Low’s body was discovered on the morning of February 17 next to the rural path with his black labrador Millie close by.

He had suffered gunshot wounds to his neck and chest.

The trial, before Lord Scott, continues.