Translated material
Tinder date turned into true crime
Caroline Muirhead met Sandy McKellar on Tinder. The relationship developed quickly: a whirlwind romance grew into an engagement, and within a couple of months the couple was planning a wedding. But the girl’s harmless question cast doubt on the entire relationship and revealed a terrible secret from Sandy’s past - he killed a man and buried the body in the forest. Despite this, Caroline did not break up with Sandy, which is why her life turned into a real trukrime. “Cold” tells how it ended.
The authorities could not solve the obvious crime for six years, but a can of Red Bull helped them 
The couple was happy in their relationship. They were seriously discussing the wedding and plans for the future when Caroline wanted to know if there were any secrets in Sandy's past that could affect their life together. The groom's answer shocked the bride: three years ago he killed a man and buried his body in the forest, on the estate where he works with his brother.
At first, Caroline didn't know what to do, but Sandy's unexpected request changed the situation. He asked Caroline how long it would take to burn human remains, and explained that he was asking her this question because she was a forensic scientist and had knowledge of such topics. It was necessary to deal with Sandy's body because Auch Estate had recently changed hands. The new owner intended to develop the estate, and therefore, to avoid problems, Sandy urgently needed to destroy the evidence.
He promised Caroline that if they destroyed the evidence and got rid of the problem, they could live happily together. Then she remembered that she had indicated her profession in her Tinder profile. Caroline began to seriously doubt the sincerity of Sandy's feelings. She began to have frightening suspicions that he was not looking for love at all, but for a specialist who would help solve his problem.
Caroline took time to think about everything, and she came to her mother and, in tears, confessed to her that Sandy had killed a man. She called the police from her parents' house and reported what had happened. She didn’t say anything to the groom; on the contrary, she decided to play along with him in order to find out the details - Caroline was afraid that the police would not find the body on the gigantic territory of the estate if they did not find out exactly where it was hidden.
“Sandy, if you want me to help, show me exactly where you buried it,” Caroline told him.
In December 2020, she ventured deep into the Auch Estate with Sandy. When he pointed to an inconspicuous piece of land, Caroline thought that she should leave a landmark for the investigators. That's why she took a can of energy drink with her.
“I finished the Red Bull and threw the can over my shoulder,” she said in the Netflix documentary.
Noticing this, the groom ordered her to pick up the garbage. Realizing that this was the only chance to still leave a landmark, Caroline pretended to lift the can, but instead quietly pressed it deep into the ground.
Left to die on the side of the road
The investigation later established that on September 29, 2017, Sandy McKellar and his twin brother Robert drove drunk and hit a cyclist on the highway at high speed. The brothers got out of the pickup and saw that the man was still alive. But instead of calling an ambulance and trying to save him, they dragged the stranger to the side of the road and drove off to the estate. There they changed cars, took out their SIM cards from their mobile phones and changed clothes.
When they returned to the scene of the accident, they discovered that the downed cyclist was still alive, but weakened and clearly near death. Later, forensic experts confirmed that with his injuries, the man could have remained alive for about 20-30 minutes and they could have tried to save him, but the brothers did nothing about it.
Instead, they put him on a tarpaulin, loaded him into a car with his bike, drove him back to the estate and hid him in the forest overnight. The next day, after finishing their shift, the twins transported the body to the so-called “stinking pit” - a cattle burial ground where the carcasses of dead animals were dumped. There they dug a grave, buried the remains and burned the personal belongings of the deceased. The bicycle, as Sandy later admitted to Caroline, he first tried to drown in the lake, and then hid behind a waterfall.
Later the brothers found out who exactly they had shot down. The victim was identified as Anthony Parsons, a 63-year-old former Navy officer and cancer survivor. He had children and grandchildren. In September 2017, Parsons went on a charity bike ride to raise money for the Cancer Foundation. But he never returned home. The police search yielded no results, and Parsons' family lived in the dark for years, begging law enforcement to find out what happened and "bring back" their father and grandfather.
It wasn't until 2018 that police received an anonymous tip recommending they "pay close attention" to the McKellar twins. In January 2019, detectives even came to Auch Estate, but without a warrant they left with nothing - the brothers refused to communicate with investigators and drove them away.
Failure after failure
When Caroline told police where the body was buried, the McKellar brothers were arrested on suspicion of murder. Special forces were used for the arrest - the police hoped that a harsh arrest would break the suspects and they would confess to the crime - especially since Sandy had already confessed everything to Caroline once. However, the plan failed: the brothers refused to answer all questions.
The police suffered another setback. Law enforcement officers hoped that while the brothers were under arrest, they would find Parsons’ remains before they were reburied, and this would simplify the investigation. But they miscalculated here too - the search for the body was unsuccessful. As a result, the police had to release the suspects: according to Scottish law, the words of a witness alone are not enough to formally charge them with murder.
At the same time, when Sandy and his brother were released, the police behaved strangely with the main prosecution witness, Caroline. She counted on the support and protection of the police, because now the groom could begin to take revenge on her for “ratting him in.” However, the authorities decided that the brothers were not an organized criminal group, which means there was no risk to Caroline’s life.
One evening she almost got caught. Left without protection, Caroline fell into a panic. She was afraid that she would look suspicious if she suddenly broke off the engagement right now. Sandy would instantly figure out who gave him away and could harm her or her family. To ward off suspicion, Caroline had to lead a double life.
She said that she was constantly stressed and needed at least some kind of support. Paradoxically, this “support” for her was Sandy, who temporarily moved in with her. The fact is that the police have temporarily cordoned off the brothers' estate to conduct an investigation. Then Caroline, portraying a devoted bride, allowed the groom to live in her apartment.
While with Sandy, she secretly recorded his revelations on a tape recorder, hoping that in the meantime he would repeat his confession to the murder and this would speed up the investigation. One evening she almost got caught. Caroline started recording on her laptop, pretending to play online chess. The groom approached her and almost discovered a recording program on the screen. Fortunately for Caroline, the courier who brought the food called at that very moment. She asked Sandy to pick up the order and he was distracted and didn't notice.
Another time, the police themselves almost framed Caroline. This happened when a detective suddenly came to her with a check. Opening the door to the room, the police officer saw the brothers and exclaimed indignantly: “What the hell, Caroline?!” You are our witness!” Robert, Sandy’s brother, instantly became suspicious and began questioning Caroline: “How does she know your name? Have you met her? Have you spoken to the police?
“Caroline would never do this to us. She loves us. I trust her,” Sandy told his brother.
Caroline managed to get out of it this time too. She insisted she was just another victim of police harassment. As a result, Sandy himself stood up for the bride and convinced his brother that in this way the investigators were trying to intimidate them. It was still unclear who had turned the twins over to the police, but Sandy believed that his brother himself might have accidentally spilled the beans to someone while drinking in a pub.
## Red Bull gives you wings
On January 12, 2021, after nearly two weeks of extensive searching, police, guided by Caroline's mark - a Red Bull can - finally unearthed the remains of Tony Parsons. True, the bicycle, which could provide the investigation with information about the very moment of the collision, was never found.
But the body was not enough: according to Scottish law, irrefutable evidence of malicious intent was required to charge him with premeditated murder. And to prove it, you need to know exactly how the person died. But because the remains had lain in the frozen peat bog for so long, it took months for medical examiners to determine Parsons' exact cause of death. And the McKellar brothers were allowed to return home to the estate while the examination was underway.
And then what Caroline had been afraid of all this time happened. A local resident who was helping investigators search for the body told Sandy that a can of sugar-free Red Bull was found at the excavation site. Sandy immediately guessed everything and called Caroline in a rage.
“You little fucking bitch, you did it! <…> You're the only one who drinks Red Bull without sugar, so you left it. You gave me up. You ruined Robert and me. You ruined our lives,” he told the bride and demanded that she meet him immediately.
Caroline was afraid Sandy would kill her, but she didn't call the police. When Sandy arrived, he did not behave as she expected: instead of being aggressive and threatening, he apologized.
“I will never forgive myself for what I did to you,” the man said.
When she asked why he even brought her into this, the killer replied: “I fucking loved you and trusted you. <…> I have never loved anyone as much as you.” Sandy admitted that the responsibility lies solely with him. Caroline secretly recorded this conversation on a tape recorder.
“In the end, what happened, happened. But you weren't involved in this. I'm the one who got you involved. Deep down, it's not your fault. It's my fault. <…> Lord, you have done more for me than anyone ever in my life,” Sandy said.
Caroline did not dare to break up with him in this situation either. Moreover, she has now moved to his estate. But the investigation and life in constant fear tore her down: amid stress, she became addicted to alcohol and drugs. She places much of the blame for this on Police Scotland. Caroline claimed that investigators put pressure on her, threatened her with criminal charges for hiding evidence if she refused to cooperate, and did not provide psychological assistance.
The relationship lasted another six months. The final straw was Sandy's confession while playing a board game. He stated that he does not regret what happened. Then Caroline realized that she was living with a real killer, and found the strength to break up with him. And Caroline also secretly recorded that conversation during the game on a tape recorder. She returned to live with her parents and gave the recordings to the police.
Six years of investigations
Soon after the separation, it became clear that the results of the forensic examination were ready. Experts confirmed that Parsons was still alive for some time after the accident and the brothers could have saved him. The prosecutor's office reclassified the case as premeditated murder and finally arrested them at the end of 2021. The McKellar brothers were sent to pre-trial detention without bail.
The trial did not begin until July 2023. Caroline was to be the prosecution's star witness. Having learned that there would be journalists filming a documentary at the hearing, she panicked and did not show up for the first day of the hearing. Instead, she went out of town to look for Parsons' bicycle.
She was afraid that they would not believe her in court, because she was in a relationship with a criminal, and had recently been abusing alcohol and illegal substances. Caroline felt that all this discredited her. And she decided: if she found Parsons' bicycle, then no one could accuse her of lying.
Caroline traveled more than 22 kilometers - first on foot and then on a stolen tractor. She filmed herself all the way, trying to get the main evidence and prove that her testimony was “not just the words of a crazy woman.”
Meanwhile, due to the failure of the main witness, the meeting was disrupted, and the court issued an arrest warrant for Caroline. The police found the girl right at the waterfall - she never found the bike and was in complete despair. She was arrested for contempt of court and sent to jail for two days.
This episode had an even worse impact on Caroline's reputation in court. Prosecutors stopped trusting her testimony and decided to make a deal with the brothers: reduce the punishment in exchange for admitting guilt under more lenient charges. Sandy was eventually sentenced to 12 years for manslaughter and attempting to pervert justice, and his brother Robert was sentenced to 5 years and 3 months for attempting to pervert justice.
At court hearings, Sandy's lawyer said that his client was not an evil person, but simply acted out of "fear and panic" and was "too cowardly to tell the truth." In turn, Robert's lawyer tried to justify his complicity in hiding the corpse as "misplaced devotion" to his twin brother.
Defense lawyers also publicly condemned Caroline's behavior. The prosecutor categorically refused to grant her “vulnerable witness” status (which would have allowed her to testify anonymously). She made complaints against Police Scotland over pressure and denial of protective measures, but most were not upheld. Police say they provided her with "appropriate support".
The story of Tony Parsons, Caroline Muirhead and the McKellar brothers was the basis of the two-part Netflix documentary Should I Marry a Murderer? (“Should I Marry a Murderer?”), which immediately shot to the top of the streaming platform’s charts.
For the Parsons family, the case never brought complete relief. For six years, relatives lived in the dark, unsuccessfully trying to get answers from the investigation. And although after the trial the family thanked Caroline, realizing that without her the truth would not have been revealed, not everyone considered the outcome of the case fair.
Friends of the Parsons said that because of the plea deal and the reduced charges, the McKellar brothers "essentially got away with murder." The six-figure settlement paid by Sandy's insurance company in January 2025 was , according to the family's lawyer, a legal formality, since no amount of money can compensate for years of lies and heal the pain of loss.
Caroline herself was able to start life from scratch. According to media reports, she moved to the Scottish coast, completely abandoned bad habits, works with a psychotherapist and is happy in a new relationship.
Author: Nikita Chernyshov
Photo: Netflix