The body of publican Billy Sibbald was found next to an embankment on the A1 three months after received a mystery phone call to his house in Edinburgh
04:30, 05 May 2026
(Image: Deadline Scotland)
The murder of publican and former sauna owner Billy Sibbald almost 24 years ago remains one of Scotland’s most baffling unsolved cases and was at one stage linked to the Russian Mafia.
The 48 year old went missing in October 2002 but his badly decomposed remains weren’t found until three months later by a dog walker in woodland near the A1 on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
Sibbald, a father of three, had suffered multiple stab wounds with a number of items of clothing and jewellery – including a gold bracelet and an expensive lighter missing.
At the time Sibbald ran the Pop In in Edinburgh’s Portobello, and had just sold the Orchard House sauna in Dundas Street in the capital’s upmarket New Town.
(Image: Deadline Scotland)
So who would want to kill him and why?
One theory was that he owed £100,000 to a Glasgow gangland Mr Big and was struggling to pay after a drugs consignment was seized by police.
Police believe he was hoping to thrash out a deal when he was lured to his death.
Another was that Billy’s links to the vice trade placed him in danger from a new breed of sauna bosses in the city.
(Image: Deadline Scotland)
Eastern Europeans were trying to muscle in on the scene with girls brought, sometimes against their will from abroad, to work in brothels.
It was even claimed that Billy’s death was ordered by the Russian Mafia after he fell foul of their plans and ended up owing them money for young women they had brought into the country.
At the time of the murder Tom Wood was Deputy Chief Constable of the former Lothian and Borders Police and as Director of Operations received regular updates on the case.
Mr Wood says his officers were hit with a wall of silence from Day One.
He added:Those who live by the sword tend to die by the sword.
“I do remember that case very well and we got very little in the way of assistance or feed back from the public. The problem was that witnesses just wouldn’t come forward.
“Various people, said to us that they didn’t see what the fuss was about and that he ‘had it coming’. “That’s the problem. People make a judgement about who is a worthy and unworthy victim.
“The view of a lot of members of the public was he had led a life of crime and that this was inevitable.
“You tend not to get a big public response to these cases compared to others. If you inhabit that world violence is never far away.”
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On the night he went missing Sibbald had left the home in the Joppa area of Edinburgh after telling his wife he was going to meet a business associate. A car came to pick him up around 8pm, and he was never seen alive again.
Police believe he was killed within a few hours of leaving his wife before being dumped down an embankment of the A1, near the former mining village of Newcraighall.
Sibbald had eft his home suddenly that Tuesday night following a mystery phone call. He had given his wife a goodbye kiss and said he would be home later.
Forensic scientists faced difficulties in examining Sibbald’s remains because the body had frozen to the ground in the recent sub- zero conditions.
It appeared a car carrying the body had stopped only long enough to roll it down the steep embankment into the woods.
A number of people came under suspicion during the long running investigation.
It was said he had crossed a violent Glasgow gangland figure, Martin Hamilton, nicknamed the Butcher of Blackhill, who had moved his operations into the Edinburgh area
It’s also claimed that Sibbald approached Glasgow crime boss, Tam McGraw, to deal with Hamilton but despite paying him money nothing happenned.
Martin Hamilton(Image: PA)
Tam McGraw(Image: Brian Anderson)
Hamilton, who was in prison at the time, was murdered in 2015, a year after being released.
Suspicion also fell on a man who had recently been convicted of blackmailing a banker over his relationship with a female sauna worker, He was said to have a reputation for violence.
Another theory is that Sibbald was killed in business premises in Newcraighall, close to where his body was dumped.
Mr Wood added:”He was working in the criminal underworld and obviously had made enemies.
“Mixing with groups like that you could fall out over a number of things.
“It could have been a debt, it could have been a personal issue, it could have been a vendetta.”
However Mr Wood believes the murder can still be solved and the killers brought to justice despite the passage of time.
He added:”Loyalties change, people die and their control lapses.
“Witnesses feel emboldened
“Any unsolved murder can be solved if the right people come forward.”
Former detective Tom Wood(Image: UGC)
Over the years the Sibbald’s family have defended him over allegations of links to organised crime and shady business dealings instead describing him as “kind hearted” and “good natured.”
On the 10th anniversary of his death in 2012, they released an appeal to encourage anyone with any information to come forward.
His son Craig, then 35, commented: “All the speculation about why it happened has been difficult to deal with.
A person has been murdered here regardless of his background.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said “Unresolved murders are never closed and Police Scotland is fully committed to identifying those people responsible for all such cases.
“The murder of William Sibbald remains unresolved, and any new information about his death will be assessed.”