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Jacqui Low
Brian Low's body was found on a remote path in February 2024
A 77-year-old former head gamekeeper has gone on trial accused of murdering a dog walker in Perthshire.
Prosecutors allege David Campbell shot Brian Low near Aberfeldy on 16 February 2024.
The 65-year-old's death was initially thought to be "medical-related", but a later examination revealed that the retired groundsman had been shot.
Campbell denies a total of eight charges at the High Court in Glasgow.
He is accused of murdering Low, having previously shown ill-will and malice toward him.
Campbell, of Aberfeldy, is alleged to have disabled CCTV cameras at an address in Aberfeldy on the same day, in an attempt to conceal his whereabouts.
He is also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of the alleged murder weapon and an airgun, and having replacement tyres fitted on an electric bike between February and May 2024.
Campbell is further accused of possessing an air rifle without a licence and discharging it on various occasions, and faces five charges of breach of the peace dating back to July 1995.
He is alleged to have acted in a disorderly manner putting three men and two women in a "state of fear and alarm".
One of them was the first witness in the trial - retired police inspector Alan Stewart.
The 78 year-old was latterly a wildlife crime co-ordinator in the Perthshire area after leaving the force.
He met Campbell while investigating alleged bird poisoning on the Edradynate Estate.
Prosecutor Greg Farrell asked the witness if there was "a certain amount of tension" between them due to their respective roles, to which he replied yes.
Farrell asked: "Did you form the impression that David Campbell did not like you much?"
The witness said the two men had a chance encounter at Scone Palace in Perth in 1995
He then spoke of a "chance encounter" with Campbell at a summer game fair at Scone Palace in Perth in the summer of 1995.
The former police officer was there with his wife and granddaughter when Campbell allegedly appeared to threaten him.
The men passed each other in an aisle, and when asked if Campbell said anything, the witness told jurors: "He looked across and said: 'It is great what vermin you see when you have not got a gun'."
Stewart stated he was "absolutely" sure Campbell made the remark at him.
He said: "It was not said as a joke. It was said with a bit of venom. He was not shouting, he was only five yards away.
"It was not a nice thing to have said. My wife and grand-daughter were quite upset."
He added: "I was reasonably used to getting that type of threat, if you want to call it that.
"It upset them, but I was annoyed as it was made in a public place and my wife and grand-daughter were there. I was off duty, so I just let it lie."
In cross-examination, Campbell's lawyer Tony Lenehan KC put to the witness that there was "no dispute" that Campbell said "something unpleasant" that day.
He said that Campbell may not have been the only gamekeeper not to be on Mr Stewart's "Christmas card list".
Lenehan has lodged a special defence of alibi on behalf of his client in connection with the murder accusation.
It is said Campbell was not in Leafy Lane at the time of the alleged killing and was instead at home in Aberfeldy.
The trial before Lord Scott is expected to last three weeks.
