LANARKSHIRE killer George Francis Shaw features in the latest of our true-crime series.

POLICE launched a murder investigation after the death of a reclusive pensioner affectionately known as ‘Old Mick’.

The body of Michael Conly, also known as Connelly, was found in a hut in Lanark and pension money he had withdrawn was missing.

This gave police a line of inquiry they needed as the 80-year-old victim had withdrawn two weeks of money yet he was penniless when his body was found, and his pension book was also missing. 

Described as a hermit, ‘Old Mick’ was found dead in the tumble-down hut where he lived in Huntlygate Farm, Lanark. 

Soon after, however, police made their arrest, and farm workers George Francis Shaw, 25, and George Dunn, 22, appeared in the dock at the High Court charged with his murder.

They were also accused of assaulting Old Mick who lived on the farm. The accusation was that the men had struck him on the hands, face and head with a brick, an iron bar and bottle or similar instruments. 

They were also accused of robbing him of two pairs of socks and a sum of money, the amount of which was unknown. 

The murder was said to have taken place sometime between August 17 and 24, 1952. 

The men entered not guilty pleas, and Shaw entered a special defence of alibi, and the Lanarkshire murder hut trial began.

Shaw was found guilty of murder while his accomplice Dunn was ordered to be detained in Carstairs State Hospital. He was found guilty of culpable homicide. 

Previously, during the trial, Dr James Curran gave evidence which said Dunn was a feeble-minded person with a mental age of eight.

The verdict of the jury of seven women and seven men was by a majority after a seven-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow

Shaw appealed the court’s verdict on December 9, 1952, which was dismissed by the Scottish Criminal Appeal Court in Edinburgh.

They set a new date for Shaw’s execution and in a judgement, which took the Lord Justice Clerk Lord Thomson half an hour to read, all 22 grounds of appeal were rejected.

In the appeal, Shaw’s counsel Mr Hector McKechnie QC attacked the presiding judge conduct of the trail and his charge to the jury. 

He also maintained that his client did not know the victim Old Mick.

The Evening Times reported: “The defence case is that we did not know who committed the murder but it is much more likely to have been either a passing tramp or Dunn.”

Despite the protests, however, the execution took place on January 26, 1953. 

Shaw, who was originally from Ireland, made a statement to the Magistrates who visited him prior to his death. 

The Evening Times reported on that statement in which Shaw said: “I am as innocent as anyone.”

His last words came out during an inquest which was held after the execution.

Bailie R A  Buchanan told a formal inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court that he had seen Shaw before he was executed. 

Next week: The series draws to a close with the stories of Peter Manuel and Tony Miller.