What would you do if the person you love told you they had killed a man?
It's easy to imagine you would act rationally, morally and without hesitation but Should I Marry a Murderer?, Netflix's new true crime documentary, suggests that in real life, love complicates everything.
In 2017, drink-driver Alexander McKellar – known as Sandy – struck and killed charity cyclist Tony Parsons in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. McKellar and his twin brother Robert then buried Parsons' body.
It lay there undiscovered for three years until McKellar's new girlfriend, Dr Caroline Muirhead, found out the truth and led police to the shallow grave.
When director Josh Allott first heard of the story he "couldn't believe it was real".
"I thought it was the plot of a drama and it couldn't happen to anyone in real life."
Series producer Clare Beavis, who was aware of the case as it unfolded because it had "had a big impact in Scotland" says that the "missing part of how the story was reported was Muirhead's testimony and her account of events".
The series opens with Muirhead reeling from a difficult break-up before meeting McKellar on Tinder in the autumn of 2020, sparking a whirlwind romance that within weeks lead to an engagement.
Shortly after their engagement, she asked him if there was anything in his past which may affect their future together.
He told her that a few years before he had hit a cyclist as he drove home from a hotel with his brother, but did not seek medical assistance.
It was later revealed that Parsons' injuries were so extensive that he would only have survived for 20 or 30 minutes without help – but it was unlikely that he had died instantly.
The twins left the area and came back to the site in another car before taking Parsons' body to the nearby Auch Estate, where they buried him.
The revelation threw Muirhead into a conflicted position, torn between loyalty and doing the right thing.
For Allott, it was that emotional and moral tension that made the story impossible to ignore.
"The dilemma is impossible not to imagine in your own relationship, it makes you think about what would you do in her position as it's a terrifying, nightmare scenario."
Muirhead reported the crime to the police but what she did next is what makes the story so extraordinary and, arguably, explains why the series exists at all.
Rather than walking away, Muirhead continued the relationship, all while secretly going to the police and cooperating with their investigation, without McKellar knowing she was the one who had reported him.
It would be almost three years after McKellar first confessed to Muirhead that he would be handed a prison sentence.
During that time, Muirhead recorded secret confessions on her phone and went back to the Auch Estate with McKellar where she secretly dropped a Red Bull can as a marker for the spot, before later calling police to tell them where to search for the body on the remote estate.
While some may question such decisions, Allott says Muirhead did the right thing by reporting the crime to the police.
The brothers were arrested in December 2020 and released on bail – they were only charged in December 2021.
"She expected the brothers to be remanded in custody, face trial and be in prison forever and be out of her life but they were thrust back into her life," Allott explains.
He says that she had to navigate this uncertain period alone as she was "left exposed to them for almost a year and that's where the decisions come into it."
It's precisely the complexity of Muirhead's personality that makes her such a compelling figure as, according to Allott, she "was articulate and intelligent, a promising young pathologist with eight years of medical training".
"She had her whole life on track and after meeting Sandy and hearing what he did, everything falls apart."
In the series, Muirhead talks candidly about how she turned to alcohol and drugs in a bid to cope with the situation she found herself in.
Allott and Beavis are clear their intentions are to present a balanced account of the events but want to ultimately highlight "what being on the periphery of crime but not involved can do to someone's life".
There is also a focus on the way the police conducted their relations with Muirhead after she came forward to report a crime.
Allott argues that the police "didn't know how to handle Caroline" and, without giving too much away, says that had she received "consideration and kindness from them she wouldn't have had to make some of the decisions she did."
Beavis agrees and adds that Muirhead's experience "echoes many experiences of people in the criminal justice system".
"The wheels of justice turn so slowly and that affects peoples lives and that's what we wanted to show."
Police Scotland and Victim Support Scotland declined to take part in the series.
Muirhead made multiple complaints against Police Scotland.
After a five-year investigation, the majority were not upheld and the police maintain they offered Muirhead appropriate support.
In a note about the show, Muirhead said she "trusted the system would stand by me and keep me safe when I was at my most vulnerable but that wasn't my experience.
"I hope by speaking out and sharing what happened to me, we can start an honest conversation about greater protection for victims and witnesses and why a far deeper understanding of mental health within the police and court system is so desperately needed.
"All too often the impact of trauma and abuse is overlooked or dismissed entirely and this means people like me are being left high and dry to pick up the pieces alone."
In July 2023, shortly before the brothers' trial was due to begin at the High Court in Glasgow, McKellar admitted the reduced charge of culpable homicide.
His brother had his not guilty plea to murder accepted, but the pair both admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice by covering up the crime.
Sandy McKellar was sentenced to 12 years in jail, while his brother was jailed for five years and three months.
The case was also previously covered in BBC documentary series Murder Case: The Vanishing Cyclist.
Should I Marry a Murderer? is out now on Netflix.
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