Age: 31
Sex: male
Date: 25 Feb 2011
Place: Lauriston Place, Tollcross, Edinburgh
Lee Duncan was beaten to death with a claw hammer in his flat in Lauriston Place, Tollcross on 25 February 2011.
He had 15 injuries to his head and face consistent with blows from a hammer. Some of the injuries had been inflicted with the claw end of the hammer.
A friend of Lee Duncan was tried for his murder but acquitted. He had said 'I wouldn’t have killed Lee for drugs because his drugs were rubbish. Lee was a friend. I bought cannabis from him and heroin a few times, but not much because it was very low grade'.
He said, 'I was at Lee’s between 7pm and 7.30pm on February 24. We had a cup of tea and a joint and that was the last time I saw him'.
Lee Duncan was found dead just before 11am on Friday 25 February 2011 by his girlfriend.
The man said that he had met Lee Duncan in October 2010 when he moved into Lauriston Place.
Lee Duncan had been a heroin addict. Whilst he was living with his mother in Walker’s Wynd there had been a series of drug raids by police and his family faced eviction and so Lee Duncan was forced to leave.
The court heard that Lee Duncan's blood had been found on the tread of his friend’s new shoes and that he had confessed to the murder to a cellmate in prison.
Lee Duncan had started using heroin when he was 20-years-old but at the time of his murder he was on a methadone programme.
He also sold drugs, including heroin, cannabis and Valium, and kept a hammer beside his bed for protection.
The police said that they were also trying to identify four teenagers who were seen near his flat the day before he was found. They were seen talking outside his block around 3.15pm and were said to have been aged between 17 and 19. One of the teenagers was described as being between 5ft 5in and 5ft 6in tall with an athletic build and shaved dark hair. He was described as clean shaven with a gaunt face and to have been wearing dark blue baggy jeans, a grey sweatshirt, white trainers and carrying a white plastic bag. Another teenager was described as being between 5ft 6in and 5ft 8in tall, with a slim build and shaved dark hair, dark stubble and hard features. He was said to have been wearing dark blue baggy stonewash jeans, a dark rain jacket, blue jumper and tan coloured Timberland boots.
The police also searched gardens around the Quartermile district and the grounds of the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. They also searched Middle Meadow Walk and construction sites around the Quartermile.
