1927 January 24th:

Glasgow

Convicted of the murder of his aged mother, Mrs Agnes Arbuckle; parts of her dismembered body were found in a sack on the banks of the River Clyde, while the other sections were discovered in a coal bunker at her Glasgow home.

Sentenced by Lord Ormindale at the Glasgow Circuit Court in December 1926 after his plea of insanity was disregarded.

A witness at the trial told the court that McKay had invited him to Mrs Arbuckle's house on 12 October to help move a heavy tin trunk. Together they moved it to McKay's lodgings.

The next day, the trunk was back at the house, only now it was considerably lighter than when it had left. Another witness told how she saw McKay on the day that his mother had disappeared, covered in mud.

After sentence was passed he called out 'Cheer up' to sobbing relatives in the court as he was ushered from the dock. His appeal. the first in a Scottish court, was heard in Edinburgh, and dismissed after the appeal court agreed with the original finding. Hanged by Robert Baxter.

Real-Crime.co.uk