Robert Rose: Body found buried in sand dunes
A murder accused did not "join the anxiety" over a missing islander he allegedly helped kill, a court heard.
Stephen Crummack had been confronted by friends of Robert Rose, who were concerned about the 54 year-old.
Crummack, 51, along with John Campbell, 59, are charged with murdering Mr Rose - nicknamed Black Bob - in Sanday, Orkney on June 6 or 7 last year.
They are also accused at the High Court in Glasgow of later burying his body in nearby sand dunes.
Sanday hotelier John Sinclair told the jury how he had problems in the past with Crummack.
He had been forced to bar him as he could be "obnoxious" and found he could lose business if he was drinking there.
Mr Sinclair, 61, was on friendly terms with Mr Rose as they would play chess together. Mr Rose would also visit the hotel every Sunday for his lunch.
He had been due to go there for a meal with a local couple on June 7 last year, but did not show.
Mr Sinclair said initially he thought Mr Rose had been busy working on a shelter for his alpacas.
But, when he did not turn up the next day, the hotelier told the jury his "doubts began to grow".
Mr Sinclair and two friends went to Campbell's home where they found him and Crummack.
They asked Crummack if he know what happened to Mr Rose. Crummack said ‘no’ and "shrugged his shoulders".
Campbell's QC Donald Findlay later suggested to the witness that Mr Rose had in the past "bankrolled" Crummack.
Mr Findlay asked Mr Sinclair: "Did he offer any concerns about your concerns?"
The witness replied: "Not to my knowledge."
Mr Findlay asked: "You got no sense from him that he was joining in your anxieties about the apparent disappearance of Bob Rose?"
Mr Sinclair replied: "No.”
The trial also heard claims that Crummack was seen to be "behaving strangely" during the weekend of the alleged killing.
Kirsty Feast, who worked behind the bar of another Sanday hotel, said Crummack had returned for a drink on the evening of June 6 with his head shaved, but chunks of hair had been missed.
Crummack and Campbell deny the charges. The trial, before Judge Lord Turnbull, continues.
