Man to stand trial accused of murdering ex-wife more than 40 years ago

An octogenarian is due to stand trial for allegedly murdering his former wife more than four decades ago at a flat in Aberdeen.

Christopher Harrisson is accused of forcing entry to premises in the city’s Allan Street and repeatedly striking 32-year-old Brenda Page on the head and body with a blunt implement or implements and otherwise causing blunt force injuries to her head and body by means to the prosecutor unknown on July 14, 1978.

Harrisson, 81, is also accused of assaulting his wife on various occasions between May 6, 1972, and June 20, 1976, in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and elsewhere in Scotland.

It is alleged that he repeatedly punched her on the head, pulled her hair, struck her with books, threw cups and their contents at her, kicked her on the body and knocked her to the ground.

Brenda Page's flat on Aberdeen’s Allan Street. — Brenda Page’s flat on Aberdeen’s Allan Street. STV News

He is also accused of committing a breach of the peace on various occasions between May 6, 1972, and June 20, 1976, in Glasgow, Edinburgh, an address in Aberdeen, at Aberdeen University School of Medicine genetics department and elsewhere in Scotland by conducting himself in a disorderly manner, threatening violence towards his wife, damaging property and her clothing and placing her in a state of fear and alarm for her safety.

Harrisson faces a further charge of breach of the peace allegedly committed on various occasions between June 21, 1976, and July 13, 1978, at a flat in Allan Street, Aberdeen, the university genetics department in the city, the Treetops Hotel, in Aberdeen, elsewhere in Scotland, and in Austria and Mexico.

It is alleged that he forced open a rear window at the flat, disturbed property within and kept a watch on people coming and going.

It is further claimed that he followed his wife, demanded that she give him property, threatened to kill her, kept track of her movements and those she was meeting with and attended academic conferences in Austria and Mexico knowing she would be at the conferences and placed her in a state of fear and alarm for her and others safety.

Harrisson, of Aberdeen, is also accused of committing an attempt to defeat the ends of justice on July 14, 1978, at an unknown location in Edinburgh or in the course of a journey from Edinburgh to Aberdeen by disposing of a watch, a bag and its contents, including a pair of shoes, with the intent to destroy evidence.

During a brief hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday, when Harrisson was not present, defence counsel David Moggach said he was instructed to tender pleas of not guilty to the charges on the indictment.

The court heard that a trial is estimated to last 15 days. The judge, Lord Richardson, fixed a trial date for August 22 at the High Court in Aberdeen.