George Murdoch

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Police Scotland Major Investigation (TEAM)

Offense Location:

Aberdeen, Scotland

Summary:

George Murdoch, an Aberdeen taxi driver born in 1924 or 1925, was murdered on 29 September 1983 in a notorious unsolved killing dubbed the 'Cheese Wire Murder'. After picking up a passenger in his 20s or 30s on Aberdeen's Queen's Road, Murdoch was taken to Pitfodels Station Road on the city outskirts where he was attacked with a cheese wire, and two teenagers witnessed him being strangled to death in the street, but help arrived too late. No one has ever been arrested in connection with the murder, and Police Scotland's Major Investigation Team continue to investigate the case.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

On Thursday 29 September 1983, 58-year-old Murdoch was working an evening shift. At around 8:30 pm, his Ford Cortina car was seen parked in the busy Queen's Road in Aberdeen as he picked up a fare in his taxi. His taxi had been flagged down by a man in his 20s. Murdoch radioed through to the taxi control room that he and his fare were heading to Culter on the western outskirts of the city. After driving 2 miles (3 km) in his taxi towards Culter, he turned onto Pitfodels Station Road, just on the outskirts of the city in Braeside, where his vehicle stopped. Murdoch was then brutally attacked by his passenger, who used a cheese wire as a garotte. As the pair struggled, they spilled out onto the road, where two boys passing on their bikes witnessed Murdoch being strangled. Murdoch was desperately calling for help and the two boys raced to call the police, but the police did not arrive in time and the attacker killed Murdoch. The murder weapon, the cheese wire, was found at the scene.

Additional Details:

Murdoch was born and raised in Aberdeen and was described as a likeable individual who was "just an ordinary working man". His nephew described him as "kind and gentle - the nicest of guys". He enjoyed keeping pigeons and boating. He had been happily married for 37 years to wife Jessie, although in the late 1970s had been made redundant from his job at a factory. To make ends meet he took up work as a taxi driver, although he didn't particularly like the job and his wife worried about his safety on night shifts. The police launched a massive manhunt to find the murderer at the time, visiting 10,000 homes and taking 8,000 statements. The killer was described as between 20 and 30 years old, and was wearing dark clothing which police said could have been bloodstained after the attack. He was said to be 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) tall, clean-shaven, thin and with short dark hair. He would have taken the cheese wire out with him that night, indicating it may have been a premeditated murder. A sighting of a man with blood on his hands was made shortly after the murder at the local "Mr Chips" takeaway on the Great Western Road. The sighting was reported by the employee who had served him, but the blood-stained man was never traced. The man was wearing dark clothing, with dark hair and in his early 20s, which fitted the description of the killer. Murdoch's wife Jessie never recovered after the murder and her health declined, fearing that the killer was going to come back for her. She died on 24 March 2004, not knowing who killed her husband. Dozens of people came forward with new information, and Crimewatch Live released a statement saying "The George Murdoch case has clearly struck a chord". Murdoch's nephew pleaded for people to come forward to give the family closure, saying: "Closure to a family is like gold dust, something that you crave for, that you need. Even after 38 years, a family care. Ms Walker took samples from Mr Murdoch's jacket in 2001. However, the DNA had degraded with the passage of time, and it would take another 17 years before a scientific advancement would secure a profile of the killer's DNA in 2018. Working with partners at the National Crime Agency, an initial list of 200 possible genetic matches to the profile from the scene has been compiled. Officers will now attempt to contact these people to establish any family link. In 2022, the family of Murdoch and a local newspaper came together to offer a £20,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the killer. Most recently, £10,000 went on offer to anyone whose swab of their DNA helps identify which of their relatives murdered Mr Murdoch. A separate £50,000 sum is also available in exchange for information leading to the confirmed identification of the Cheese Wire Killer. In September 2022, police appealed for information on a man seen in Aberdeen's Wilson's Sports Bar in 2015, saying he was in his 60s or 70s and wearing an Iron Maiden T-shirt. In September 2022, police revealed they wanted to trace a man seen in Wilson's Sports Bar in Aberdeen in 2015 wearing an Iron Maiden T-shirt. He was described as being small, stocky in his 60s or 70s and local to Aberdeen. The lead detective on the case, James Callander, said: "Following last year's appeal we now have information about a man we would like to speak to as we believe he may be able to assist with our investigation into the murder of George.

Case Last Updated:

Apr 27, 2026