Emma Faulds murder: Former prison guard Ross Willox jailed for 20 years

Senior investigating officer described him as a ‘selfish, arrogant monster’

Emma Faulds was just 39 when she was murdered by her friend, Ross Willox (Police Scotland)

A former prison officer has been sentenced to a minimum of 20 years behind bars for murdering his friend and dumping her naked body in a forest.

Ross Willox, 42, killed Emma Faulds after inviting her to a party at his home in Monkton, Ayrshire, in April 2019.

The 39-year-old’s body was found six weeks later, in Glentrool Forest, within Galloway Forest Park, after a major search involving specialist officers, dogs and cell tower analysis.

Willox, who denied the charges, was found guilty of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice at the High Court in Glasgow last month.

Returning to court for sentencing on Tuesday, he was told he must serve a minimum of 20 years before he can apply for parole.

Judge Lord Mulholland told the defendant: “Only you will know what happened in your house that night that led to you killing your friend.

“Having murdered her you created an elaborate scheme to cover up your crime.”

He said Willox had placed Ms Faulds’ body in a shallow grave, covered it up and tried to ensure it would decompose more quickly by placing it in a wet area.

“You hoped it would never be found and her devoted family would have to spend the rest of their lives wondering where she was and if she was alive or dead,” Lord Mulholland added.

Willox has never revealed why or how he killed Ms Faulds.

Detectives said the pair, who became friends when they worked together as prison wardens at HMP Kilmarnock, had agreed to meet at Willox’s house for a party on 28 April two years ago.

At about 8pm, Ms Faulds messaged a friend to say she planned to have a few drinks and stay over – but suspicions arose when nobody heard from her the following day, and when the primary school she was working at reported she had not turned up that morning.

Willox’s version of events was that he had been partying with Ms Faulds before they then went in her car to her flat in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire – around nine miles away – where he claimed he left her fit and well.

Willox has never revealed why or how he killed Faulds (Police Scotland)

However, police became suspicious about his movements when they found CCTV footage that showed a man driving Ms Faulds’ car back to her street. Her neighbour also reported seeing a man driving the car.

The driver was then captured on private CCTV wiping down the interior of the car, with Willox’s DNA later being found on a seat lever.

Detectives also found footage of him driving his Mercedes jeep through Girvan on 29 April, towards the Galloway Forest area, a region where it was discovered he had previously worked building wind farms.

Meanwhile, separate footage captured him in Ayr going to various shops buying bottles of bleach, rubber gloves, shower curtains, tins of outdoor disinfectant and waterproof trousers.

The trail heard that officers thought all of this, plus the fact Willox twice called the police for updates on the case and gave different accounts to Ms Faulds’ sister, Sarah, about how she left his home in Monkton, was enough to make him a person of interest.

Police called in search experts from the UK National Crime Agency, as well as an officer who had expert knowledge of Galloway Forest Park, to narrow down the remote search area of where they believed Ms Faulds’ body could be buried.

Despite the park covering over 700 square miles, specialist methods such as cell site analysis from Willox’s phone, overlaid with CCTV analysis, allowed officers to narrow down the search area to between just 10 and 15 square miles.

On 12 June, six weeks after she disappeared, Ms Faulds’ naked body was found in Glentrool Forest, east of Loch Moan.

A pathologist was unable to confirm how she died due to the “degree of decomposition”. However, the jury heard that soil found on boots owned by Willox was a 92 per cent match for mud at the spot where the body was recovered.

Police and forensic officers outside 61 Fairfeild Park, Monkton, Ayrshire, where Faulds from Kilmarnock was last seen alive (PA)

“You were not as clever as you thought you were,” Judge Mulholland told Willox.

Prosecutor Paul Kearney told the jury Willox had made a “determined attempt to create a false narrative to conceal and destroy evidence”.

Donald Findlay QC, representing Willox, said it would not be appropriate to express any contrition on behalf of his client because he claims he is not responsible.

Mr Findlay added: “He is not the kind of person I would have expected to have found himself guilty of a crime of murder, murder of somebody that he knew and cared for – they cared for each other, not in any romantic sense, but as friends.

“Something catastrophic went wrong in the early hours of the morning, and one life was lost.”

Det Insp Peter Crombie, deputy senior investigating officer on the investigation, codenamed Operation Solzen, previously described Willox as a “selfish, arrogant monster”, and criticised him for failing to provide a motive for the crime.

Another senior Scottish police figure, Det Supt Int Suzie Chow, from Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team, welcomed the sentencing, saying: “I hope the knowledge that Ross Willox has now been held accountable and will be behind bars for a long time provides [Ms Faulds’ family] with some comfort.”

PA contributed to this report