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The brother of a woman tortured to death by a sadistic murderer has travelled to Scotland to fight to keep her killer behind bars.
Auckland man Fred Collie turned detective to track down other victims and compile evidence against John Reid, whom he fears is about to be paroled.
The 61-year-old believes details of some of Reid's previous crimes have been hushed up.
He has presented prison bosses with the evidence in the hope it will keep Reid in jail and away from potential new targets.
Reid, also known as Jock Reid, was 40 when he sexually assaulted and repeatedly electrocuted Elaine Collie, something the prosecution said was done to get her bank Pin.
He went on to withdraw cash from the 46-year-old's account after leaving her body in her Edinburgh flat in April 1999, and was later jailed for life with a minimum of 15 years. He is eligible for parole in 18 months.
Since Collie realised Reid's list of convictions - described to Lord Cameron at Reid's sentencing as "fights" - were far more serious, he has spent years tracing victims, uncovering alleged violent sexual crimes on lone women dating back to 1975.
From his Auckland home, he traced Reid's victims and asked them to help prevent another tragedy, and has praised their courage in "talking to a stranger". Their stories "painted a picture of a man who had always been a danger to women".
Collie's dossier includes three firsthand accounts of attacks by Reid. "Once you go through it, you discover Reid has been a danger to women his whole life, and I'm worried there'll be another victim like my sister.
"We are not a vengeful family on a crusade, trying to stop him ever being released. We just want the authorities to know what they are dealing with. My fear is that without this information being in the hands of his psychologists and the parole board, there could be another woman tortured to death."
As well as getting testimony from other victims, Collie commissioned a report by psychologist Frank McPherson, which concluded Reid was at risk of committing offences involving "extreme and probably sadistic violence" that would be "premeditated rather than opportunistic".
"The ordeals of these women, and the torture and electrocution my sister suffered, prove we are dealing with a dangerous man. Reid's victims have shown immense courage to speak to me, a total stranger. They did that because they don't want another woman brutalised," Collie said.
He was aware prison officials did not have the information, and said knowing it could only help them, and the parole board.
Reid pleaded guilty to murder at the Edinburgh High Court in October 1999. He talked his way into Collie's flat, possibly on the pretence of using her phone, attacked her and dragged her into the bedroom, before tying her to her bed, gagging her and sexually assaulting and electrocuting her.
Prosecutor Ruth Anderson, QC, said: "The cause of death is not entirely clear. It is possible Miss Collie's system simply closed down in the face of what was being inflicted on her, or that her heart stopped as a result of it."
Reid cleaned the flat and dressed his victim in her nightdress, trying to make it appear she had died in her sleep. She was found the following Monday, by which time Reid had been jailed for drink-driving, something Collie believes was deliberate, to provide himself with an alibi.
- © Fairfax NZ News
