Background
Paige Doherty was a 15-year-old student from Clydebank, Scotland. She lived with her mother (Pamela), stepdad (Andy), and her 3 younger siblings in Clydebank. She was visiting her friend’s house on the night of March 18th, 2016. On March 19th, at around 8:21am, she arrived at John Leathem’s Deli Shop. She unsuccessfully showed up at her hairdressing job in Kirkintilloch (which is 12 miles away).
Murder/Murder Investigation
Her body was discovered by passers-by on the street near Glasgow’s Great Western Road (a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness) a couple days after she disappeared. She has been punctured in the head and neck and encountered more than 250 wounds. Nevertheless, her mother (Pamela Doherty) asserted that there were more than 500 wounds. The final sighting of her was on CCTV at a deli store in Clydebank (that belongs to John Leatham) who subsequently acknowledged murdering Paige Doherty.
Trial
John alleged that he overreacted after Paige was going to expose him for sexual assault when he did not give her a job (there was no evidence for that claim).
The foremost evidence utilized in the trial was the CCTV footage of Leathem shutting down the deli, running to the shop next door, and then reappearing with the deli continuing to be closed for about an hour. The footage then displayed him placing a full packed bag in his trunk. The bag was proved to accommodate the body of Paige.
Sentencing
On Oct. 12, 2016, (several months after Paige’s murder) Leathem was convicted at High Court in Glasgow, where the judge set a minimal time of 27 years in jail before granting eligible to apply for parole. Nevertheless in February 2017, succeeding an appeal by Leathem, the minimum term was lessened to 23 years.
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