00:00:00
[audio logo] [exhilarating music] NARRATOR:<i> Every fraud</i>
<i> begins with a promise,</i>
00:00:07
<i> but most don't end in a murder.</i> BRYANNA FOX: They are
the victim of financial crime.
00:00:12
Now, all of a sudden,
they're at high risk of being the victim of a murder. NARRATOR:<i> A quick fortune, easy</i>
<i> money or a life torn apart.</i>
00:00:22
RHODA MORRISON: He'd
been reported missing, and he'd last been seen
shortly before midnight.
00:00:27
- This is obviously
a very distressing time for Peter's family, and
our priority is to find him.
00:00:32
NARRATOR:<i> But behind</i>
<i> these illusions</i> <i> lie calculated</i>
<i> deceptions, carefully</i>
00:00:36
<i> hidden in plain sight.</i> DAVID SWINDLE: What started
off as a fraudulent intention
00:00:43
to gain money from a vulnerable
man escalated with greed. BRYANNA FOX: And these
types of offenders
00:00:51
tend to be more
cunning, manipulative, and tend to think they're
better than law enforcement.
00:00:57
NARRATOR:<i> Sometimes</i>
<i> these criminals</i> <i> are backed into a corner</i>
<i> and feel their only way out</i>
00:01:02
<i> is to kill.</i> FIONA HOTSTON MOORE:
Fraud is quite regular and fraudsters
move into murder.
00:01:08
In my experience, it's usually
driven by desperation or greed. - People think they
get rid of the body,
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they would get caught. You will, because everyone
leaves a trace. [exhilarating music]
00:01:42
- So I'm Detective
Superintendent Andrew Patrick of the Major Investigation
Team for Police Scotland.
00:01:48
This is obviously
a very distressing time for Peter's family, and
our priority is to find him.
00:01:53
NARRATOR:<i> On August</i>
<i> 12, 2022, police</i> <i> announced they were</i>
<i> searching for a missing</i>
00:01:58
<i> person in the Scottish</i>
<i> capital city of Edinburgh.</i>
00:02:03
RHODA MORRISON: We get
missing person reports from police pretty much
on a daily basis, sometimes
00:02:09
multiple times a day. They're often teenagers,
elderly people, but also quite a lot of middle
aged people go missing
00:02:19
across Edinburgh and the
Lothians and across Scotland as well. NARRATOR:<i> The report named</i>
<i> the missing man as 75-year-old</i>
00:02:27
<i> Peter Coshan, who had last been</i>
<i> seen on Thursday, August 11.</i>
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RHODA MORRISON:
I'm Rhoda Morrison, I've been a journalist
for eight years,
00:02:36
and I'm currently the editor
at the Edinburgh Evening News. He'd been reported missing
and he'd last been seen shortly
00:02:44
before midnight in Seafield
Road in Edinburgh, and the police were
appealing for information.
00:02:49
That's fairly straightforward
for a missing person's report from the police.
00:02:56
DAVID SWINDLE: Peter
Coshan was an academic-- a well-respected
academic that taught
00:03:04
in a prestigious college. RHODA MORRISON: We
found out that he was a teacher at Fettes
College in Edinburgh.
00:03:10
And that sparked our interest
because it was obvious that a lot of people in the
city would know who he was,
00:03:15
and that he would be quite
a well-known character. NARRATOR:<i> Fettes College</i>
<i> is a very famous school</i>
00:03:21
<i> in the center of Edinburgh.</i> <i> Peter taught students</i>
<i> from the ages of 13 to 18.</i>
00:03:28
- I'm David Swindle. I was a former
senior detective-- for murder detective
in the old Strathclyde Police.
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Dr. Peter Coshan was
a biology teacher. He was well respected
and well known. RHODA MORRISON: He was a really
dedicated teacher from what
00:03:43
his former pupil said. A very, very popular teacher. A lot of them described
him as a true gentleman
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said that he'd really
taken them under his wing. DAVID WRIGHT: I'm
David Wright, and
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I was a pupil at Fettes
College between 1981 and 1985. When I first met Peter, he
was my assistant housemaster,
00:04:03
and he came across as being a
very caring, responsible adult. And I suppose he was
my first point of contact
00:04:10
as an adult within that school. RHODA MORRISON: He was
known for after school tutoring and stuff.
00:04:16
He really believed
that he wanted students to be able to have
a really good start in life.
00:04:20
DAVID SWINDLE: He was a person
that was a very private person, very intelligent.
00:04:26
NARRATOR:<i> Dr. Coshan retired</i>
<i> from the school in 2005.</i>
00:04:29
<i> As well as teaching, he had</i>
<i> led the Duke of Edinburgh award</i>
00:04:32
<i> scheme for over 30 years.</i> DAVID WRIGHT: Given that
most of his working life
00:04:38
had been based in that school,
he had lots of contacts, he had lots of friends
who were teachers,
00:04:42
and he liked and enjoyed
living the Edinburgh life. RHODA MORRISON: He lived alone.
00:04:48
His family lived
quite far away. Although he was a very
popular man, known by quite a lot of folk,
he was quite alone
00:04:54
in the city in that sense. He was also obviously
75, elderly. He was quite vulnerable.
00:05:02
DAVID WRIGHT: He had a close
bond with his family, and he particularly talked
in his long and epic letters
00:05:08
about his aged mother, who used
to take all over the country and sometimes all over
the world on great adventures.
00:05:14
DAVID SWINDLE: He was
someone that trusted people. He was a target,
an easy target.
00:05:21
- I'm Dr. Bryanna Fox. I'm a psychological
criminologist at the University
of South Florida and
00:05:26
a former FBI Special Agent. He had a nice little
retirement nest egg, but he was feeling alone.
00:05:34
He was looking
for companionship. He was lonely. That's typically what
a skilled conman will look for.
00:05:40
Somebody who wants
to participate, someone who is less
either cognitively sound financially, they have
the ability to pay the money,
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and they are just
a vulnerable victim. NARRATOR:<i> Peter was active</i>
<i> on several different websites</i>
00:05:57
<i> where he connected with</i>
<i> people to arrange meeting</i>
00:05:59
<i> them in person locally.</i> DAVID SWINDLE: Peter
Coshan was trusting.
00:06:04
He doesn't know he's
going to meet someone that could be catfishing
or trying to find
00:06:08
someone who's vulnerable. And that's the sad
reality of online. NARRATOR:<i> In the summer of</i>
<i> 2021, he met Paul McNaughton.</i>
00:06:18
DAVID SWINDLE: Paul McNaughton
is someone that was a lot younger than Peter Coshan.
00:06:23
He was in his 20s. And he met Peter
Coshan online, and they established a relationship.
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POPPY EVERTON:
My name is Poppy. I work for Hourglass. We are a national
charity who support
00:06:37
those age 60 and over dealing
with harm, abuse, or neglect. I do believe there is a very
present stigma around older
00:06:45
people seeking companionship,
seeking that sort of intimate connection. I think as a society, we
have a lot of ageist views
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that can essentially create
a lot of unconscious bias in terms of what we may
expect in those situations.
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A lot of older
people are possibly assumed to be asexual
in the sense of they have no interest
in seeking companionship.
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DAVID SWINDLE: Paul McNaughton,
he was someone that was a young guy in his 20s and this
relationship developed,
00:07:18
and there was a lot
of trust in that. BRYANNA FOX: One
thing that we commonly see with fraud is
that it doesn't
00:07:24
just go straight to the fraud. There are grooming
behaviors that occur. First, they have
to get the person
00:07:30
to trust them, either
through in friendship or through some type
of companionship,
00:07:35
a love relationship. And through that,
the person thinks, why would this person try
to take advantage of me,
00:07:40
especially if they're
a vulnerable victim? POPPY EVERTON:
Online predators are
00:07:44
becoming more
sophisticated, and this is definitely a concern. Everyone is
susceptible to fraud.
00:07:51
It doesn't matter
what age you are, what gender, identity, what
culture you may be from.
00:07:57
It is something that is
an issue across the board. And no matter what you may
feel or be as a person,
00:08:05
there is a fraudster
out there that will prey on anything
they can to try and make those connections
and defraud you.
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DAVID WRIGHT: Peter starting
point was to trust people and to not expect
the worst from people.
00:08:21
POPPY EVERTON: Older
people may feel that they need support in terms
of being able to access
00:08:27
online banking,
and unfortunately, people who are aiming
to defraud older people
00:08:32
will use this level of trust
to gain those details. NARRATOR:<i> Soon after</i>
<i> they met online,</i>
00:08:38
<i> Paul was visiting Peter</i>
<i> at home and also helping</i>
00:08:41
<i> him with any IT problems.</i> - Peter Coshan trusted
Paul McNaughton.
00:08:46
He had the freedom
to roam in the house. He left paperwork lying around. BRYANNA FOX: McNaughton was
a fraudster to begin with.
00:08:56
He had intention to engage
in this relationship with what he saw as a well-to-do,
wealthy, elderly man who
00:09:04
was looking for companionship. It had the makings
of a vulnerable victimhood all over it.
00:09:11
NARRATOR:<i> By September</i>
<i> 2021, McNaughton</i> <i> had logged into Peter's</i>
<i> bank accounts</i>
00:09:16
<i> and could see that he</i>
<i> had a lot of savings.</i>
00:09:20
- Paul McNaughton
saw bank information that indicated
that Dr. Coshan had 102,000 pounds in an account.
00:09:31
And sadly, that would
be the start of it. NARRATOR: 75-year-old
ex-teacher Dr. Peter Coshan had met
26-year-old Paul McNaughton
00:09:46
online, but he had no
idea that McNaughton was a petty criminal whose
eyes were set on his savings.
00:09:53
- When McNaughton
met Dr. Coshan, he probably thought,
here's this elderly man.
00:09:58
I'm going to befriend him. Not unlike a lot of other
type of marriages where there
00:10:03
is a large power
and age differential, we often look
at them and think, why is this a mismatched
couple coming together.
00:10:12
The fact that Peter had so much
money in his bank account probably very enticing
for McNaughton
00:10:20
who sees this and thinks
this is my golden ticket. POPPY EVERTON: McNaughton used
Peter's maybe lack of knowledge
00:10:33
or full understanding
around online banking to steal and defraud money
from him under the guise
00:10:40
of supporting him. NARRATOR:<i> McNaughton enlisted</i>
<i> the help of his 62-year-old</i>
00:10:45
<i> roommate, Paul Black,</i>
<i> to impersonate Dr. Coshan</i>
00:10:49
<i> on the phone to the bank.</i> - Paul Black was a man
in his 60s, and he let Paul
00:10:55
McNaughton move in with him. He was infatuated
by Paul McNaughton. Paul Black was an individual
that just did whatever
00:11:08
McNaughton asked him to do. POPPY EVERTON: Someone
such as McNaughton, who is using that
guise of support,
00:11:15
will set up maybe online
banking without that older person's knowledge. In this, they can also
stop paper bank statements
00:11:23
from arriving, which
a lot of older people do prefer in terms
of being able to check
00:11:29
over their records,
have that physical copy. And if those are stopped,
often, this can be put
00:11:34
off as issues with the bank. - McNaughton having
seen the money that was in Dr. Coshan account,
created a fraudulent scheme
00:11:47
to try and test the water
to see if they can get money from the account. NARRATOR:<i> Paul McNaughton had</i>
<i> started using Peter's cards</i>
00:12:01
<i> to not only withdraw</i>
<i> large amounts of cash,</i>
00:12:03
<i> but also to spend on them.</i> <i> If he got challenged,</i>
<i> he had a plan.</i>
00:12:09
- There are security
measures set up in terms of online banking
and telephone banking,
00:12:14
where things are passworded if
that has been put into place. However, remembering those
passwords may be the concern
00:12:22
and having that written
down, someone accessing that, it can then become
quite easy for somebody
00:12:28
to potentially pretend
to be that person. As in Peter's case, an older
sounding person called the bank
00:12:35
and essentially pretended to be
Peter to gain further access to the bank account.
00:12:42
DAVID SWINDLE: Sadly,
identity fraud is becoming more and more common. They were able to get 8,000
pounds out of that account.
00:12:53
NARRATOR:<i> By using</i>
<i> Peter's cards,</i> <i> McNaughton may have</i>
<i> thought he was untraceable.</i>
00:12:58
- My name is Fiona
Hotston Moore, and I'm a forensic accountant
and expert witness.
00:13:04
Every transaction that
someone does, all the money that they spend and how they
spend it leaves a trail.
00:13:10
It can be found
and will be found, particularly now with
forensic technology, with CCTV, and so on.
00:13:17
So if you are spending the
money, there will be a trail. RHODA MORRISON: They
obviously thought there was
00:13:22
going to be no consequences. They went on a spending spree
with Peter Coshan money,
00:13:27
but they did take
out 8,000 pounds then go down to Blackpool. NARRATOR:<i> Both Paul</i>
<i> McNaughton and Paul Black</i>
00:13:32
<i> proceeded to spend their</i>
<i> illicit money in reckless and</i>
00:13:36
<i> frivolous ways.</i> - This was the start
of them splashing the cash.
00:13:42
BRYANNA FOX: One
of the hallmarks of a fraudster, especially
simplistic fraud like this is
they're not stealing
00:13:50
and then investing their money
or managing it wisely. They tend to steal it and just
as easily squander it.
00:13:58
This is what leads
to this cycle where they need more victims
to support this lifestyle.
00:14:04
And the reason that
they often commit fraud is because they can't support
that lifestyle through any type
00:14:09
of legal activities. DAVID SWINDLE: When Paul
McNaughton saw the money, they became greedy.
00:14:16
And that's what happens
with a lot of criminals. They do something,
they commit a crime,
00:14:21
they make a lot of money,
but they can't resist it. They were going to make
as much money as they could
00:14:29
and bleed poor Dr.
Coshan's account dry. - Typically with simplistic
fraud and by simplistic fraud,
00:14:41
I mean, it is just taking money
from a victim's bank account that they inadvertently
were given access to
00:14:47
of the risk perception
really goes down when they are able
to successfully get away
00:14:54
with taking more
and more sums each time they update their risk
perception and think,
00:14:59
I could do it again. He didn't catch on to that. I could do it again, maybe I'll
take a slightly larger amount
00:15:05
and a larger amount until
eventually, it becomes so much they got caught. DAVID SWINDLE: A few days after
the successful withdrawing
00:15:16
the initial tester amount,
McNaughton did it again, but this time, it
was more substantial.
00:15:22
It was 30,000 pounds. BRYANNA FOX: At this
point, the withdrawals from Dr. Coshan's account
had grown to about a third
00:15:33
of his life savings. For the bank, they were
not let on to the fact that this was fraudulent.
00:15:39
- In June 2022, 15,000 pounds
and then 17,000 pounds. This is significant amounts
of money and it's totaling up.
00:15:53
BRYANNA FOX: It appeared
to be Peter taking money from his own account, doing
it, and small intervals growing
00:15:59
up to this larger amount. But it's not that unusual,
especially for retirees.
00:16:04
Maybe he wanted to buy
a new car or a boat, or renovate his flat. There are rational
explanations for why
00:16:11
he would have done this. NARRATOR:<i> Eventually,</i>
<i> with over 60,000</i>
00:16:16
<i> pounds missing from</i>
<i> his account, Dr. Coshan</i>
00:16:19
<i> finally began to notice.</i> DAVID SWINDLE: Dr.
Coshan had retired.
00:16:24
He was relaxing. He was enjoying the latter
years of his life. He was enjoying that,
and this was his life savings.
00:16:33
And when he found out that that
had been taken from his account and that the person
that was involved,
00:16:39
he suspected it was McNaughton. For him, that's devastating. - When that
realization sets in,
00:16:46
you probably don't want to tell
everyone and own up to the fact you've been taken in.
00:16:52
NARRATOR:<i> It seemed like</i>
<i> Peter had no option but</i>
00:16:54
<i> to confront McNaughton.</i> BRYANNA FOX: After Dr.
Coshan found out about all
00:17:00
of this money that was
taken from his account without his consent,
he was very upset.
00:17:06
But what he had
done at that point was block him online, only
to seemingly unblock him
00:17:14
a little bit later,
which suggests that McNaughton's gift of gab
really got him out of trouble.
00:17:20
POPPY EVERTON: This
is something that will likely come as a shock. It's a huge betrayal of trust.
00:17:25
In Peter's case,
it may be that he felt there was no
alternative but to continue
00:17:33
having those conversations. DAVID WRIGHT: I would have
thought that Peter probably
00:17:38
never saw this coming. He wouldn't have
realized that he would have been a target like this
00:17:43
FIONA HOTSTON
MOORE: Peter Coshan had threatened to go
to the police to report Paul McNaughton for the theft.
00:17:49
POPPY EVERTON:
In Peter's situation, it would have been really
challenging to know
00:17:53
where to go, who to speak to. And somebody like
McNaughton is going to be playing on that
connection that
00:18:02
may have been built up
over time, which often will have manipulation tactics. Well, you don't want me
to go to prison, do you?
00:18:10
You don't want the rest
of my life to be affected. Think about everything
I've done for you,
00:18:14
everything I've
done to support you. Unfortunately, this can
have severe consequences
00:18:20
when not reported. NARRATOR:<i> Peter</i>
<i> had let McNaughton</i>
00:18:24
<i> know that the money</i>
<i> was missing,</i> <i> but while he</i>
<i> waited for answers,</i>
00:18:28
<i> he probably didn't</i>
<i> know where to turn.</i>
00:18:31
BRYANNA FOX: When I've
spoken to victims of fraud, especially when they feel like
they were defrauded by somebody
00:18:36
that they trusted, they
really feel betrayed, but they also feel ashamed. They think, I
trusted this person,
00:18:44
not only did they
betray my trust, but I was dumb that
I trusted them. And sometimes that
self-blame leads the victim
00:18:52
to not want to tell
family members, friends, even authorities,
which really just
00:18:57
protects the offender,
even if they're not intending to do that. But it just only helps
the offender to get
00:19:04
away with this entirely. - And he would be thinking
that, in his mind, someone has fraudulently
taken money from my account.
00:19:11
He'd be hoping it was an error
or something like that. He would be looking
for the positive for it,
00:19:16
perhaps it was an error. But for him, he was conned. And it was an organized con.
00:19:24
And it was what
McNaughton and Black. POPPY EVERTON: It's
really hard to say
00:19:32
as to whether Peter
reporting would have changed the situation. I would have hoped
that it would.
00:19:39
But ultimately,
we never know what people like McNaughton, who
are predatory perpetrators
00:19:44
and take this level
of advantage are capable of. And that is
the difficulty in terms
00:19:49
of reporting and reaching
out for support is fearing of the consequences. Even if I report to police,
am I going to be safe?
00:20:02
NARRATOR:<i> Peters</i>
<i> family and friends were</i> <i> unaware anything was wrong.</i>
00:20:06
<i> On the 11th of August, Peter</i>
<i> and one of his friends had been</i>
00:20:09
<i> out to the movies together.</i> <i> She had dropped him</i>
<i> home at 10:50 PM.</i>
00:20:14
<i> On the morning</i>
<i> of the 12th, several</i> <i> texts were sent from Peter's</i>
<i> phone to friends and family.</i>
00:20:22
- There was a text message
sent from Peter's phone where ultimately, it
stated<i> phone playing up,</i>
00:20:30
<i> getting fix tom.</i> And he had
abbreviated tomorrow. When Peter's friend
received this,
00:20:40
they immediately contacted
the police because this was out of character. Peter is not known
to abbreviate.
00:20:47
He was a retired
teacher and therefore took this sort of thing
quite seriously, so they knew that that
was not coming from Peter
00:20:53
and raised the alarm
at that point. When an older person
is reported missing, we need to look
at that person's
00:21:02
unique vulnerabilities. Do they have health concerns? - When he attended my 50th
birthday and it was clear that
00:21:09
he had Parkinson's,
albeit he was becoming an older
man, it was clear he wasn't treating him well.
00:21:16
NARRATOR:<i> Parkinson's</i>
<i> disease meant</i> <i> that Peter's movement</i>
<i> and speech could be slow,</i>
00:21:20
<i> but he was still</i>
<i> mentally aware.</i> POPPY EVERTON: Police
will definitely be looking
00:21:25
for last points of contact. Who has that person been
in contact with recently? Are they friends,
family, loved ones?
00:21:38
NARRATOR:<i> On August 12,</i>
<i> following the concern</i>
00:21:40
<i> from friends and with no</i>
<i> sign of Peter at home,</i>
00:21:44
<i> the police issued</i>
<i> a missing person's report</i>
00:21:46
<i> and it was picked up</i>
<i> by the Edinburgh press.</i>
00:21:50
- When we first heard that
Peter had gone missing, it didn't seem out
of the ordinary really at all.
00:21:56
He'd last been seen
shortly before midnight in Seafield Road in Edinburgh. He was last seen
with a walking stick.
00:22:02
He did seem a bit strange
to us in the newsroom that a 75-year-old man had last
been seen at 11:50 PM,
00:22:10
but particularly in Seafield
Road in Edinburgh. And the police report
had said that he'd
00:22:15
been seen a couple
of hours before at his house in South Learmonth
Gardens in Stockbridge.
00:22:21
Seafield Road is-- it's
a bit of a connecting part of Edinburgh, so it's
a bit-- it's industrial,
00:22:26
there's not all
that much around. - The initial investigation
is a missing person's one,
00:22:36
so they're thinking
is there some reason he may have gone off? Is he OK? They may have thought that
he had, due to his age,
00:22:46
had a health issue,
heart attack. And something happened
health wise to him. They wouldn't have immediately
thought that there was
00:22:53
this broad financial scheme. DAVID SWINDLE: When the police
have a missing person report,
00:23:00
the examiner concept
called proof of life. It's actually, is
that person alive?
00:23:06
Most times, it's
proof of death. And the big stuff is
like financial activity,
00:23:11
mobile phone, text
messages, all sorts of other things like that. FIONA HOTSTON MOORE: We will
look at the financial records,
00:23:18
we will look
at the bank statements and we will follow the money. People's financial spending
gives you an indication
00:23:25
of what they are. They tend to be fairly
consistent in what they do. So if normally they spend 1,000
pounds a month on whatever
00:23:33
it is they spend
it, they typically continue with that pattern. So normally if things
change significantly,
00:23:40
you would want to go
and investigate that. BRYANNA FOX: Police
have very big red flags that
something is sinister
00:23:47
about a missing persons case. Is he using his credit cards? Could that help link us
to where he currently is at?
00:23:53
And when they see
the amount of money that was withdrawn
from his accounts so rapidly is when
they think, OK, there's
00:24:01
probably more
to this story that we should probably look into. - In the 31st of August
2022, the police
00:24:11
made a significant public
statement regarding Dr. Coshan. They declared that they were
investigating it as a murder.
00:24:22
- So I'm Detective
Superintendent Andrew Patrick of the Major Investigation
Team, Police Scotland.
00:24:31
This is obviously
a very distressing time for Peter's family, and
our priority is to find him.
00:24:37
I'm therefore seeking
the public's help in trying to find Peter's body.
00:24:42
Extensive enquiries
have been carried out which has led us to explore
and search this area.
00:24:48
- When we got that report
from the police saying that they were treating
Peter Coshan's disappearance
00:24:54
as murder, that was when
we really, obviously, saw that this was
a much darker tale
00:25:00
than it had first appeared
in the missing persons report, initially. DAVID WRIGHT: There
was great shock,
00:25:05
and I think a number
of fellow ex-pupils made comments to the press and-- and they were generally
shocked and concerned
00:25:14
and felt, why would
someone have murdered him? DAVID SWINDLE: I didn't know
the whereabouts of Dr. Coshan,
00:25:21
but they were saying publicly,
we're dealing with this as a murder investigation.
00:25:27
Where was Dr. Coshan's body? - This is obviously
a very distressing time for Peter's family and
our priority is to find him.
00:25:43
I'm therefore seeking
the public's help in trying to find Peter's body.
00:25:49
RHODA MORRISON: In any
missing person case, my mind instantly
goes to the family
00:25:53
and what must be going
through their mind. And I think Peter
Coshan's family
00:25:57
were dealt so many
extra, really heavy blows in this case,
because not only did they
00:26:02
have their week of panic
wondering what had happened to their elderly
relative, but then
00:26:07
within that week, they were
told that the police were treating it as murder, but they
didn't know where his body was.
00:26:12
- Did you see something
odd or out of place? - It's very difficult
to have a missing person's
00:26:17
report turn into a murder
investigation when no body is found. Typically, they say
no body, no crime.
00:26:26
That's until they have reason
to believe a crime occurred. That could be because they're
the victim of financial crime
00:26:33
that goes sideways
and the victim finds out about the crime and
is about to go to the police.
00:26:39
Now, all of a sudden,
they're at high risk of being the victim of a murder. NARRATOR:<i> Initial examination</i>
<i> of Peter's phone and</i>
00:26:46
<i> financial records</i>
<i> had immediately</i> <i> led the police</i>
<i> to Paul McNaughton</i>
00:26:50
<i> and his roommate, Paul Black.</i> DAVID SWINDLE: They had
interviewed key individuals,
00:26:55
significant individuals,
and the evidence pointed to the fact it was
a murder investigation.
00:27:01
NARRATOR:
<i> The investigating officers</i> <i> were looking</i>
<i> at the days following</i>
00:27:04
<i> Peter's disappearance,</i>
<i> hoping to locate his body.</i>
00:27:09
- That really shocked
the community in Edinburgh. There was a lot of former
pupils of Dr. Coshan
00:27:16
saying how awful the news was. Paying tribute to him
already, which was really, really awful and sad.
00:27:24
DAVID WRIGHT: I
suppose it's believable that anyone could be murdered,
but-- but it was very
00:27:27
surprising and unexpected. And the question really came
was why would someone murder him?
00:27:32
What-- what had he
done to deserve this? It was something that
I think stunned people.
00:27:40
- I'm appealing for anyone who
may have been in the Scottish borders during
the hours of darkness
00:27:45
on either Monday the 15th
or Tuesday the 16th this year. RHODA MORRISON:
The release from police
00:27:54
about the fact that
they were treating Mr. Coshan's disappearance
as murder came almost a week
00:28:00
after he'd gone missing. The next update from police
came at the very end of August.
00:28:06
So a couple of weeks
later to say that officers were searching woodland down
in the Scotland-England border,
00:28:15
searching for his body. - People think they
got rid of the body, they would get caught.
00:28:22
You will, because everyone
leaves a trace. RHODA MORRISON: They said
that there were searching
00:28:28
for information about a car, a
dark, old style Vauxhall Vectra that they believe had gone
through the Scottish borders
00:28:36
down into Northumberland area. NARRATOR: Police had linked
this car to McNaughton
00:28:41
and believed it may have
been used to move Peter. - Take time to think
back and consider
00:28:47
if you saw a black
or dark colored 57 plate Vauxhall Vectra
in and around those areas.
00:28:54
Did you notice the car parked
somewhere or even off road? Do you remember anything which
struck you as odd at the time?
00:29:02
RHODA MORRISON:
Police had reason to believe that Peter
Coshan had been taken-- his body had been
taken from Edinburgh
00:29:08
down south in this car. And we assume, obviously,
that these two men had something to do with that.
00:29:15
And the police said that the
car was connected in some way, and now they're searching
the woodland for his body.
00:29:20
So there's definitely
something about that, that told us that it was
much more sinister and
00:29:26
dark than we might have
thought originally, and a lot more to the story. DAVID SWINDLE: The police
in this investigation
00:29:33
are using all the tools
in the box-- everything. All sorts of technology,
including automatic number
00:29:39
plate recognition. Cameras all the way
down the motorway, they would see that
and be able to know where
00:29:45
it was at different stages. - So we knew that
there were searching along the border
in Northumberland,
00:29:52
and we also knew that
they were hunting for this car that was obviously
connected in some way.
00:29:56
There was no mention
whatsoever of motive, and everybody was
just wondering what
00:30:00
on Earth had happened there. NARRATOR:<i> While they were</i>
<i> searching for the car,</i>
00:30:04
<i> it was clear to the police</i>
<i> that McNaughton and</i>
00:30:07
<i> Black were involved</i>
<i> in Peter's disappearance.</i>
00:30:11
<i> They had been</i>
<i> formally arrested.</i> RHODA MORRISON: When we
got the release from police
00:30:16
saying that two men had
been arrested and charged, there wasn't much information.
00:30:20
BRYANNA FOX: They saw this
type of circumstantial evidence that comes with phone calls
and financial documents,
00:30:26
the type of things that we
would know link these three characters together and led
police to infer most likely,
00:30:34
not only is he deceased, but
they are responsible for it. NARRATOR:<i> The only lead</i>
<i> the police had to Peter's body</i>
00:30:48
<i> was the Vauxhall</i>
<i> Vectra that had</i> <i> been tracked to the same area</i>
<i> near the Scottish border twice.</i>
00:30:55
DAVID SWINDLE: And they
had established that the Vauxhall Vectra
that they had access to
00:30:59
had been down south
of the border to Northumbria, and then had been back
up and back down again.
00:31:08
BRYANNA FOX: Beyond
the bank records, the cell phone interactions
between McNaughton and Black
00:31:14
and with Peter, the only
other type of evidence that would link
them to the crime
00:31:20
is the type of murder
weapons and murder cover up. NARRATOR:<i> Looking at local CCTV</i>
<i> between the dates of the two</i>
00:31:29
<i> car trips, police found</i>
<i> footage of McNaughton</i>
00:31:32
<i> in a hardware store</i>
<i> buying shovels.</i> BRYANNA FOX: Seeing
them go to the store,
00:31:37
get shovels, go back
to where the body was found, it really puts them in a
tighter bind, where they're
00:31:44
going to have all
of the documentation evidence against
them, but now there's
00:31:48
more behavioral evidence
that adds on to it. NARRATOR:<i> On Sunday,</i>
<i> September 4, 2022,</i>
00:31:54
<i> officers searching the land</i>
<i> adjacent to the A696</i>
00:31:59
<i> near the village</i>
<i> of Kirkwhelpington</i> <i> in Northumberland with a victim</i>
<i> recovery and detection dog,</i>
00:32:04
<i> found Dr. Peter Coshan's body.</i> RHODA MORRISON: The release
came out kind of midday
00:32:09
on Sunday, and it
said that a body had been found that morning
on the A696 in Northumberland.
00:32:17
DAVID SWINDLE: Who
intended to bury his body? But the ground was too hard,
so they didn't bury the body.
00:32:21
They just left poor Dr.
Coshan behind a wall. How undignified is that? RHODA MORRISON:
The state of the body
00:32:30
meant that they couldn't
conclude how he'd been killed. The body hadn't been
formally identified,
00:32:34
but Peter Coshan's
family had all been told. NARRATOR:<i> Dr. Coshan's</i>
<i> body had been found,</i>
00:32:45
<i> and the police already had</i>
<i> suspects Paul Black and</i>
00:32:48
<i> Paul McNaughton in custody.</i> RHODA MORRISON: It was
clear from the timeline
00:32:53
that something was
a bit off with-- when Peter Coshan
had been murdered, and when his body
was found, or when
00:33:00
the car was seen going
through the Scottish borders to Northumberland. There was a few days
in between there.
00:33:06
NARRATOR:<i> Bank records showed</i>
<i> that having murdered Peter,</i>
00:33:08
<i> Paul McNaughton and Paul Black</i>
<i> went back to his apartment,</i>
00:33:12
<i> took his bank cards</i>
<i> and proceeded to withdraw</i>
00:33:15
<i> as much cash as they could.</i> RHODA MORRISON: He actually
took out some money in euros
00:33:19
and then changed it
back into pounds. And that was what they used
to buy the car that they were
00:33:23
seen driving through
the Scottish borders to dump his body in. - McNaughton and Black
went off on vacation.
00:33:28
They went have fun. They did things-- they
just enjoyed life. Eventually, they knew they
had to dispose of the body,
00:33:34
but it wasn't a priority. And that really
shows they didn't think through this crime.
00:33:39
There was no real forethought
showing that this was a very impulsive type of behavior.
00:33:47
NARRATOR:<i> It would</i>
<i> be almost two years</i> <i> after Peters body was found,</i>
<i> before Paul McNaughton and</i>
00:33:53
<i> Paul Black faced court.</i> - In that space
of time, while I was in
00:34:00
the newsroom always asked
what on Earth had happened. We always wondered. We attempted to speak
to family to no avail.
00:34:07
They didn't want
to speak, understandably, and we tried to speak to
neighbors and things as well,
00:34:12
just to get a better
picture of Peter Coshan and what kind
of person he was like.
00:34:18
DAVID WRIGHT: Peter was
known was lovingly or slightly jokingly as Doc Cosh. He was a doctor and his
name was Coshan.
00:34:26
He was our go-to person. Obviously, a lot
of us were living away from home for the first time.
00:34:31
We had any problems at all. We knew there was an open
door for us to-- to help us.
00:34:39
NARRATOR:<i> Paul McNaughton</i>
<i> pled guilty to the murder</i>
00:34:41
<i> at a preliminary hearing held</i>
<i> on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.</i>
00:34:46
<i> A separate trial for Paul</i>
<i> Black began in May 2024.</i>
00:34:51
RHODA MORRISON: It
was really shocking when Paul McNaughton
and Paul Black went to court.
00:34:56
Even though we hadn't
heard all the details yet, it was easy to kind of see
what the motive had been here
00:35:02
and what they had been hoping
to gain from killing him. BRYANNA FOX: McNaughton
was ultimately seen
00:35:06
as the ringleader
of this, that he was the one who
initially identified Peter Coshan for this fraud.
00:35:15
He was the one who was bringing
the financial elements into it, stealing from him, and only
after the murder occurred,
00:35:22
did Black really become
a true partner in this crime? He may have financially
benefited earlier,
00:35:28
but it wasn't his
financial scheme. But afterwards, that changes
and Black really became part
00:35:36
of the cover up of this crime. RHODA MORRISON:
As the court case unraveled, it became clear that this was
a much, much longer running
00:35:44
thing than we'd ever thought. Paul McNaughton had stolen
money from Peter Coshan
00:35:48
before his death. And obviously had
decided that killing him was the last way
that he could try
00:35:55
and get the rest of his money. POPPY EVERTON: McNaughton
when confronted with the possibility of this
being reported to police, made
00:36:05
the decision to protect himself
and continue to be greedy, made the decision
to take Peter's life
00:36:15
and ultimately continue to
defraud him after his passing. DAVID SWINDLE: What started
out as an individual
00:36:23
targeting a vulnerable man
for the purposes of money. Financial gain
escalated by greed.
00:36:31
And then they have to find out
a way to get themselves off. NARRATOR:<i> At Edinburgh</i>
<i> Crown Court,</i>
00:36:40
<i> Paul Black was facing</i>
<i> Peter Coshan's friends and</i>
00:36:42
<i> family charged with</i>
<i> having fraudulently</i> <i> stolen thousands of pounds</i>
<i> from the pensioner</i>
00:36:47
<i> and then killing him.</i> DAVID WRIGHT: I suppose
in any court case,
00:36:52
you want someone to have
to answer for it, but it was still
a shock but why. I'm not sure we ever really
got to the bottom of that.
00:37:00
RHODA MORRISON:
Paul McNaughton must have known that he was almost
the kind of perfect person
00:37:03
to prey upon. This is a man who
lives alone, who's got a really private life.
00:37:07
But little did they know
that it actually took not 24 hours to report him missing,
they knew him that well
00:37:12
and knew that something
was really, really wrong. POPPY EVERTON: Peter
obviously did have
00:37:17
a close network of friends. Unfortunately, he didn't
make any disclosures, particularly around what was
happening in this situation.
00:37:25
And this could have been
for a variety of reasons. But ultimately, there may have
been some embarrassment there.
00:37:32
- So when the information
about the fraud came out, I think we obviously
wondered why Peter
00:37:37
hadn't revealed anything. I think it might have been
that he just hadn't quite
00:37:43
understood what was happening. RHODA MORRISON: Had
Peter Coshan not found out about
them taking money,
00:37:49
maybe it would have ended
without-- without him dying. NARRATOR:<i> It seemed that</i>
<i> despite their friendship,</i>
00:37:55
<i> Peter was unaware</i>
<i> where McNaughton lived</i>
00:37:57
<i> and had been lured to his house</i>
<i> on the false promise of a date.</i>
00:38:02
RHODA MORRISON:
It became apparent that Peter Coshan had
been lured to his address
00:38:06
through that dating app. Paul McNaughton had
made a fake profile and asked Peter Coshan to go
and meet him in Seafield Road.
00:38:15
Obviously, not knowing
who it actually was. - Online, there are
people who are pretending
00:38:21
to be somebody
they're not, and this can be particularly
difficult to spot, even for younger people.
00:38:27
I think, technology has
moved along quite quickly. DAVID SWINDLE: He knew the
vulnerabilities of Dr. Coshan,
00:38:35
and he would know
what would tempt him into communication because
the fake profile was him.
00:38:42
And he communicates with Dr.
Coshan in the name David. This is someone
that's organized.
00:38:48
Someone that's trapped
like a wild animal trapped in a corner. He's been found out.
00:38:53
He knows fine well that
the police are going to find out that he stole that money.
00:38:57
What's he going to do? NARRATOR:<i> In court,</i>
<i> McNaughton's roommate and</i>
00:39:00
<i> accomplice, Paul</i>
<i> Black, realizing he</i> <i> was facing a life sentence</i>
<i> for murder, decided</i>
00:39:06
<i> to turn on his friend</i>
<i> and reveal the horrifying truth</i>
00:39:09
<i> behind Peter's death.</i> RHODA MORRISON: Paul Black
gave evidence in the court,
00:39:14
and he was the only
one to really paint any kind of picture
that we could have of what actually happened.
00:39:21
When Peter Coshan got
to Paul McNaughton's flat, Paul Black said he opened
the door and let Peter Coshan
00:39:28
and led him through
to a room where Paul McNaughton was waiting. And he then said that
Paul McNaughton attacked
00:39:35
Peter Coshan,
and the next he knew was that Paul
McNaughton had come out and told him that
he had killed him.
00:39:46
BRYANNA FOX: After
Peter was killed, his body was stuffed into a
suitcase, put under a bed,
00:39:51
essentially just forgotten. If there's a risk of a body
being linked to you when
00:39:58
it is found
in the middle of nowhere, the risk of a body
being linked to you when
00:40:03
it's found in your house
under your bed is exceptionally higher. And so the fact that
they were willing to do
00:40:10
that does emphasize the point
that McNaughton was pretty confident in his ability to get
away with this, despite nothing
00:40:16
really to back it up. RHODA MORRISON:
While Peter Coshan lay dead in Paul
McNaughton's Leith flat.
00:40:26
He and Paul Black
actually almost were seen to kind of celebrate. They went up to Burntisland
in Fife to go to a funfair.
00:40:34
All the details
that come out of it really seemed like they
had no remorse at all,
00:40:38
that they were
relishing in the fact that they'd come
across this money and they were intent
on spending it.
00:40:45
NARRATOR:<i> Police were able</i>
<i> to link a recorded card</i>
00:40:47
<i> transaction on that</i>
<i> day with CCTV</i> <i> showing McNaughton</i>
<i> eating fast food.</i>
00:40:53
DAVID SWINDLE: That just
shows that they had absolutely no respect for Dr. Coshan.
00:41:04
BRYANNA FOX: This crime was
not very thought through. Each step seemed to be an idea
as it occurred to McNaughton.
00:41:10
He thinks, let's go for it. He doesn't think through
the consequences. He doesn't think, how am I
going to get away with this?
00:41:17
He just thinks,
I'm going to do it and I'll figure
it out from there. That does display two features.
00:41:22
One is a lot of impulsivity,
which is highly characteristic of psychopathy. The second is he doesn't
have a lot of reason
00:41:31
to be so confident in his
ability to get away with it, and yet he has it. So the type
of grandiosity, especially
00:41:38
in light of no reason to think
that he's going to pull this off, is really notable.
00:41:47
NARRATOR:<i> Paul</i>
<i> McNaughton had already</i> <i> pleaded guilty to murder,</i>
<i> but Paul Black had faced trial</i>
00:41:53
<i> after pleading not guilty.</i> DAVID SWINDLE: Black was found
guilty of attempting to defeat
00:41:59
or pervert the course
of justice. He was well aware
of what had happened, and he was out in part
with McNaughton
00:42:08
in disposing
of the body and carrying out the fraud that led to it. RHODA MORRISON: It's so hard
not to feel really, really
00:42:21
sorry for a family
who have been waiting so many years for answers
and then to learn
00:42:26
of all the horrible details. Unthinkable what his family
must have been thinking when
00:42:30
they found out about
what had happened to him, and how he'd been lured
there, and they didn't
00:42:35
really stand a chance at all. DAVID WRIGHT: Well, I
think there was obviously a degree of relief
that they'd been caught
00:42:41
and that there was someone
going to face justice for this. But still, a bit of disbelief
about why would-- why would
00:42:49
someone have killed them? Why would these people
have killed them? You know, what-- what--
what was the motivation?
00:42:54
NARRATOR:<i> With</i>
<i> their continued spending,</i> <i> McNaughton and Black</i>
<i> had successfully stolen</i>
00:42:59
<i> an estimated 70,000</i>
<i> pounds from Peter,</i> <i> some of it after killing him.</i>
00:43:05
BRYANNA FOX: The fact that
McNaughton and Black take steps to try to dispose
his body, but they
00:43:12
engage in even more telling
financial crimes, stealing money after he's dead, which
could be the clearest thing
00:43:19
to link them to him. It shows that is just
doubling down on a bad hand. They are doing
things that are just
00:43:28
implicating them even more. This was not planned out. This was highly impulsive.
00:43:33
They were really
making stupid errors. And there's really
nothing more to say other
00:43:38
than they had no planning
in this crime whatsoever. RHODA MORRISON:
They weren't very
00:43:43
careful about their actions. They obviously
thought there was going to be no consequences.
00:43:47
They did take out 5,000
pounds and buy a car. They sold the watch
at a pawn shop.
00:43:54
It was very much anything
they could get out of it, and they obviously just didn't
have any kind of awareness
00:43:59
that the police would be able
to track anything they did, which, of course, they did.
00:44:06
DAVID SWINDLE: People
think that they can commit the perfect
murder and get away with it.
00:44:10
You can't do that nowadays. And people naively think
if they get rid of the body
00:44:15
or conceal the body, that
they won't be caught. RHODA MORRISON: The jury
would have been left in
00:44:22
almost no doubt that it was a
premeditated crime, that they'd planned to kill Peter Coshan
in order to get his money,
00:44:28
and that they had
plans in place of how they were going to spend it. They had wanted his money and
that they were going to get it.
00:44:36
DAVID SWINDLE: It's
about proving the case beyond reasonable doubt,
and there's plenty of evidence
00:44:41
that you get together
without a body. Telephone footage,
forensic evidence, CCTV, witness testimony.
00:44:50
It's a conglomeration
of things that are put together that prove that case
beyond reasonable doubt.
00:44:59
RHODA MORRISON: The jury
found Paul Black not guilty of murder. So the sentence that the judge
ended up handing down,
00:45:06
he sentenced Paul Black
to 5 and 1/2 years. He sentenced Paul McNaughton
to life imprisonment.
00:45:18
DAVID WRIGHT: I
think Peter's story makes us all feel very sad. We lost a good friend
for no apparent reason,
00:45:26
and it-- it just doesn't--
doesn't do him justice. RHODA MORRISON: He
was such a private man
00:45:34
that any details that he could
have given during his life, he was never, ever
going to have given.
00:45:39
And Paul McNaughton knew that. Case is one that, I
think, will probably stick with me for many, many years.
00:45:46
It's something that
you can't help but picture your own
family members, the elderly people you know and
just wonder what on Earth he
00:45:54
must have been thinking. There must have been a real
sense of panic for him when he found out this
man was stealing money,
00:46:00
and he felt like he couldn't
tell anybody about it. But almost certainly,
they would have got away
00:46:05
with stealing that
money from him, and he would never
have told us all. But they just couldn't
leave him be after that,
00:46:11
and had to rid him of his life
in order to get the rest of it. It's impossible not to feel so,
so sad when you think about it.
00:46:19
- All of me
and my friends who knew him would like Peter
to be remembered for his caring and support and
friendship through our school
00:46:28
and beyond. And the unfortunate
way in which he met his end should not be
the way he's remembered it,
00:46:34
should be what he
achieved in life. [somber music] [exhilarating music]