David Gilroy Found Guilty Of Murdering Former Lover Suzanne Pilley

David Gilroy has been found guilty of murdering his former lover Suzanne Pilley, whose body has never been found.

The Scotsman led a double life, deceiving his wife and children after his affair with his colleague turned sour. He had been plaguing Pilley with messages, which stopped on the day of her disappearance, nearly two years ago.

A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh took just under eight hours to convict Gilroy for the murder of 38-year-old Pilley, as well as finding him guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

Gilroy lured the bookkeeper to their office basement on 4 May 2010, after discovering she had spent the night with a new lover, and murdered her, the court found.

After killing Pilley, Gilroy hid her body in a recess under a stairwell. He then made an excuse to his coworkers to go home, where he collected his car and bought air fresheners.

The 49-year-old used make-up to cover the scratch marks left on his hands and returned home to spend the night with his wife and children, with Pilley's body in his car boot.

The next day, Gilroy made the 85-mile journey from Edinburgh to Argyll on the pretence of checking a school his firm was overseeing.

Despite openly denying any involvement in the murder to members of the press, Gilroy was eventually caught out after detectives pieced together his suspicious movements in the days after Pilley's disappearance.

On 15 March, Gilroy was finally convicted of killing Pilley by "unknown means".

Pilley's family started to cry in the public gallery as the verdict was delivered but there was no visible reaction from Gilroy or his wife Andrea.

Prosecutors believe she is buried in rural woodland in a remote part of Lochgilphead, west Scotland.

On Thursday, Detective Superintendant Gary Flannigan welcomed the Gilroy's verdict and added Lothian and Borders Police would do everything they could to find Pilley’s body.

He said: "We won’t forget that whilst we recognise the significant step for the Pilley family today in the guilty verdict, Suzanne remains missing. We have not been able to recover Suzanne’s body and that will be hugely significant. I can say the Pilley family are relieved that Suzanne has had justice today."

The family released a statement saying Pilley had "finally received the justice she deserved".

"Suzanne was a proud Scot who led a full life. Although the trial has ended our ordeal goes on and we hope one day we can lay our daughter to rest."

Gilroy is due to be sentenced on 18 April.