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19 May 2011
Last updated at 11:15 ET
A man has been found guilty of murdering his first wife in a car fire and attempting to kill his second in another crash to get life insurance.
Former nurse Malcolm Webster, 52, had denied murdering Claire Morris in an Aberdeenshire crash in 1994.
Webster, of Surrey, also denied attempting to kill Felicity Drumm in New Zealand in 1999.
Scotland's longest-lasting single accused criminal trial had begun on 1 February at the High Court in Glasgow.
The brother of Claire Morris, Peter Morris, branded Webster a "monster".
Mr Morris said: "Hopefully now Claire can rest in peace. I feel that she hasn't been able to do that until now."
He said of Webster: "He's a monster. If the police hadn't caught him the killing would have gone on."
The jury of nine women and six men took less than four hours to find Webster guilty of all charges as part of frauds to obtain hundreds of thousands of pounds in life insurance.
The fatal crash in 1994 was originally treated as a tragic accident.
However, it was later reinvestigated after concerns were raised in the wake of the second crash.
New tests showed Claire Morris had traces of drugs in her system.
Webster used some of the £200,000 life insurance money from his first wife's death to buy a yacht.
His second wife also suspected that he had later been spiking her food in New Zealand.
Their car crashed with Webster at the wheel, but she survived. She would discover he had cheated her of her life savings.
Webster, of Guildford, was also found guilty of intending to bigamously marry Simone Banarjee, from Oban, Argyll, to gain access to her estate.
He pretended to have leukaemia, which saw him shave his head and eyebrows.
Police closing in on Webster would warn her of his past.
'Rat bag' Advocate depute Derek Ogg QC had said in his closing speech Webster was "a most cruel, practised deceiver" who, if convicted, would become one of the most notorious murderers of modern times.
However, defence counsel Edgar Prais QC said that although Webster was a "liar", a "thief", a "philanderer" and a "rat bag", he was not a killer.
Fifty days of prosecution evidence was followed by a short defence case, after which trial judge Lord Bannatyne told the jurors there was enough evidence in law for them to convict Webster.
Grampian Police Det Ch Insp Phil Chapman, the senior investigating officer, told BBC Scotland: "Malcolm's motivation was money and his insatiable appetite for wealth."
'Charming individual' He said Webster was a "charming individual", but under the veneer there was a "chilling disposition".
Lindsey Miller, head of the serious and organised crime division (SOCD) at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: "This was a hugely complex case, involving hundreds of witnesses, productions, and financial documentary evidence stretching over a 14-year period.
"A vast amount of painstaking work went into this investigation and prosecution.
"Webster was a calculating criminal who wove a web of lies and deceit around people who entered his life in good faith.
"I would like to commend the persistence and tenacity of all those who worked tirelessly to bring Webster to justice for these appalling crimes."
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Former nurse Malcolm Webster, 52, had denied murdering Claire Morris in an Aberdeenshire crash in 1994.
Webster, of Surrey, also denied attempting to kill Felicity Drumm in New Zealand in 1999.
Scotland's longest-lasting single accused criminal trial had begun on 1 February at the High Court in Glasgow.
The brother of Claire Morris, Peter Morris, branded Webster a "monster".
Mr Morris said: "Hopefully now Claire can rest in peace. I feel that she hasn't been able to do that until now."
He said of Webster: "He's a monster. If the police hadn't caught him the killing would have gone on."
The jury of nine women and six men took less than four hours to find Webster guilty of all charges as part of frauds to obtain hundreds of thousands of pounds in life insurance.
The fatal crash in 1994 was originally treated as a tragic accident.
However, it was later reinvestigated after concerns were raised in the wake of the second crash.
New tests showed Claire Morris had traces of drugs in her system.
Webster used some of the £200,000 life insurance money from his first wife's death to buy a yacht.
His second wife also suspected that he had later been spiking her food in New Zealand.
Their car crashed with Webster at the wheel, but she survived. She would discover he had cheated her of her life savings.
Webster, of Guildford, was also found guilty of intending to bigamously marry Simone Banarjee, from Oban, Argyll, to gain access to her estate.
He pretended to have leukaemia, which saw him shave his head and eyebrows.
Police closing in on Webster would warn her of his past.
'Rat bag' Advocate depute Derek Ogg QC had said in his closing speech Webster was "a most cruel, practised deceiver" who, if convicted, would become one of the most notorious murderers of modern times.
However, defence counsel Edgar Prais QC said that although Webster was a "liar", a "thief", a "philanderer" and a "rat bag", he was not a killer.
Fifty days of prosecution evidence was followed by a short defence case, after which trial judge Lord Bannatyne told the jurors there was enough evidence in law for them to convict Webster.
Grampian Police Det Ch Insp Phil Chapman, the senior investigating officer, told BBC Scotland: "Malcolm's motivation was money and his insatiable appetite for wealth."
'Charming individual' He said Webster was a "charming individual", but under the veneer there was a "chilling disposition".
Lindsey Miller, head of the serious and organised crime division (SOCD) at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: "This was a hugely complex case, involving hundreds of witnesses, productions, and financial documentary evidence stretching over a 14-year period.
"A vast amount of painstaking work went into this investigation and prosecution.
"Webster was a calculating criminal who wove a web of lies and deceit around people who entered his life in good faith.
"I would like to commend the persistence and tenacity of all those who worked tirelessly to bring Webster to justice for these appalling crimes."
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