Frank McPhie murder: Cops appeal 20 years on after sniper shot gangster in head in Maryhill

Frank McPhie was shot once in the head by a sniper outside the tenement home in Guthrie Street, Maryhill, he shared with his wife and four children.

At the time McPhie was one of Glasgow’s most notorious underworld figures with an involvement in serious and organised crime dating back to the 1970s.

READ MORE: Glasgow Crime Stories: The murder of Frank McPhie

Since his death on May 10, 2000, two decades ago, no one has been brought to trial for the fatal shooting.

McPhie however had been issued with a police warning at his home six weeks earlier that his life was in danger. He’d become embroiled in a feud with the Daniels’ crime clan after instigating a violent attack on a family member - but no evidence was ever found linking the family to the killing.

Police Scotland say McPhie’s murder is regularly reviewed by their Homicide Governance and Review cold case unit and they are still keen to speak to anyone with information about what happened that night.

Detective Chief Inspector Suzanne Chow of the Major Investigation Team said:”Police Scotland never considers cases closed and the passage of time is no barrier to the investigation of unresolved homicide cases.

“Homicide Governance and Review actively keeps all unsolved and unresolved homicides under review and meets regularly with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to review these cases.

“Police Scotland along with our partners in the Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services, relentlessly pursue advances in technology and investigative approaches which help bring those responsible for serious and violent crimes to justice and provide answers for families of the victims.

“Scientific and forensic developments, combined with information from the public and determined investigative work can yield new opportunities in such cases.

“If anyone has new information that could assist the investigation into the murder of Frank McPhie please contact Police via 101, alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.”

McPhie, a close associate of the late crime boss Arthur Thompson, had served time for armed robbery in 1978 and 1986 and received eight years in 1992 over a £200,000 drug seizure.

Such was his reputation for violence that he was once suspected, albeit wrongly, of being involved in the murders of Glasgow underworld figures Joe Hanlon and Bobby Glover in September 1991.

They were said to have been killed on the orders of Thompson in revenge for the murder of his son Arthur jnr a month earlier.

McPhie also had a keen interest in professional dog fighting and had plans to turn Glasgow into a major international centre for the illegal sport.

In a notorious criminal career McPhie was also famously cleared on two separate murder charges.

Months after his murder police met a wall of silence from local people with few witnesses coming forward.

The man who carried out the murder had shot McPhie from the eight floor of a nearby tower block around 9pm.

A photofit of a possible suspect seen in the area at the time of the murder also brought little response.

Five months into the inquiry a 37-year-old man, also from Maryhill, was arrested for the murder and appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on October 6, 2000.

But the charges were later dropped through lack of evidence and the suspect was never prosecuted.

In 2014 leading criminologist Professor David Wilson theorised that the murder had been carried out by a master hitman.

The Scotsman examined 27 murders carried out by 35 hired assassins included the unsolved murder of Frank McPhie.

Wilson, said at the time:”Like most master hitmen, McPhee’s murderer was never brought to justice.”