In the quiet village of Langbank, Renfrewshire, Scotland, a gruesome discovery in July 2004 shattered the rural peace and launched one of Scotland’s enduring murder mysteries. On July 13th, 2004, a local farmer stumbled upon a body concealed under a hedgerow while collecting hay bales in a field off Gallahill Road. The deceased was identified as thirty-four-year-old Martin Toner, a father of two from Glasgow, who had been reported missing by his wife exactly two weeks earlier on June 29th, 2004.
Martin, a businessman facing upcoming court appearances on serious cocaine smuggling charges alongside three others, had vanished under suspicious circumstances. His death was quickly ruled a homicide: he had been repeatedly stabbed and his throat cut. Police believe he was lured to a meeting by someone he knew and trusted before being attacked and dumped in the remote location.
The case initially went cold, with investigations yielding no immediate arrests despite public appeals and rewards offered for information. Martin was described by his family as a devoted father, not a “gangster,” though his impending drug-related trial suggested ties to organized crime, leading to speculation of a drug-motivated killing.
Nearly a decade later, in 2013–2014, breakthroughs emerged. Douglas Fleming, a forty-nine-year-old former police officer turned property developer from Inverness-shire, was charged with the murder. A second man, fifty-six-year-old John McDonald from Bellahouston, Glasgow, was arrested shortly after. The pair stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow in March 2015, accused of stabbing Martin Toner to death on June 29th, 2004.
Prosecution evidence included witness testimony that one of the accused was seen with a shirt “saturated in blood” on the day of the alleged murder, and claims that Fleming had given Martin a lift to the area where his body was later found. Martin’s widow, Michelle, testified that she “knew” the discovered body was her husband’s. Other witnesses denied involvement when called to the stand.
The trial was dramatic. Midway through, charges against McDonald were withdrawn by the Crown, allowing him to walk free. On April 28th, 2015, after deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of “not proven” for Fleming—a unique Scottish legal outcome meaning neither guilty nor innocent, but insufficient evidence for conviction. As the verdict was read, Martin’s brother James erupted in court, shouting, “You made a mistake—a big mistake. He’s a murderer. He murdered him.” Michelle Toner sobbed, telling jurors, “You are wrong.”
Fleming was acquitted and left the court a free man. The “not proven” verdict left the case effectively unresolved, with no convictions secured.
In November 2021, on the seventeenth anniversary of the murder, Police Scotland renewed appeals for information, emphasizing that homicide cases are never closed. Detectives reiterated their belief in a targeted killing but noted no new leads had emerged to bring the perpetrator(s) to justice.
More than two decades on, the murder of Martin Toner remains officially unsolved.
Crime Immemorial 