A woman whose brother murdered their mother when she tried to break free after he isolated her from her other children and gained control of her finances has revealed how her mum was totally under his spell.
Lorraine Bristow, 32, from Dunfermline in Scotland, told Channel 5’s Countdown to Murder, airing tomorrow at 9pm, how her brother Ross Raggart violently assaulted her in front of their mother who was so in his control that she did nothing to stop him.
A few years later in 2015, Ross beat, dragged and strangled Carol, 54, before hiding her body at a caravan park, and pretending for weeks that she had gone missing – actively participating in the search for her, while spending her money and pawning her belongings.
Lorraine recalled how Ross manipulated Carol and drove other family members away in order to take advantage of his mother’s trust and get her to give him money.
Ross Taggart is currently serving a life prison sentence for the murder of his mother, but is in charge of her estate and taunts his relatives from jail.
Ross Taggart, left, is currently serving a life prison sentence for the murder of his mother, Carol Taggart, right, in 2015 in her family home of Dunfermnline, but is in charge of her estate and taunts his relatives from jail
Lorraine Bristow, 32, from Dunfermline in Scotland, opened up about the murder of her mother Carol Taggart by her brother Ross Taggart in 2015 at the family home
Grief-stricken Lorraine, who had to identify her mother’s body by the tattoo of a purple rose on her wrist, said her brother dragged her around the house after a night out when she was in her 20s, in front of Carol.
She explained Carol did nothing to help her escape Ross’s wrath.
‘My mum was there and didn’t stop it. Too scared? I don’t know,’ she said.
‘I honestly don’t know why she was so protective of Ross. It was a strange relationship. She would listen to everything he said. I felt like the third wheel. I don’t get why he was the blue-eyed boy,’ she added.
Ross beat his mother, dragged her body to a caravan and strangled her before hiding her body under a neighbourhing caravan (pictured: his mugshot)
The documentary will reveal how Ross manipulated Carol into giving him more money and schemed to isolate her from her other children, so he could exercise his control over her.
The mother and son duo scarcely did anything without each other, and Carol changed her will to make him the main beneficiary and executor of her £350,000 estate.
It is believed Ross killed Carol after she confronted him and tried to break free of his controlling behaviour.
Lorraine said she ‘collapsed’ when she heard her mother had been found dead, three weeks after Ross reported her missing.
Ross had in fact killed Carol after an argument erupted at the mother-of-three’s home, which led him to strike her repeatedly, to the point where she lost consciousness.
Carol, a mother-of-two, had fallen under the control of Ross and was sustaining him financially
Thinking Carol was dead, he dragged her body from her house to the caravan that she owned, where he strangled her and then hid her body under a neighbourhing caravan.
The next day, he drove his mother’s car to the house of a woman he knew from a dating app, whom he met for sex. He later dumped the car.
Ross’s relatives who knew him expressed their disgust at his actions following the murder of Carol.
‘This explains the type of person Ross is. Ross went to Edinburgh, bought himself trainers, and he took himself for a meal. Who takes themselves on a date, buys themselves things, with their mum’s credit card who’s missing?’ said Carol’s son-in-law.
‘There is clearly no remorse for his action. He has quite callously murdered his mother and then goes on to start spending her money, it’s like a free for all,’ said consultant forensic psychologist Dr Vicky Thakordas-Desai.
Scottish journalist Gordon Chree said: ‘This was someone who, having killed his mother in quite a violent way and hidden her body, was able to complete detach from that and go about living what appeared to others a normal life.’
After spending money from his mother’s credit card, Ross placed a called to 101 to report that Carol had gone missing and inform the family.
However, his relatives immediately grew suspicious he was somehow involved in their mother’s disappearance.
‘I knew in my gut he had done something and that he was lying,’ Lorraine said.
‘There’s no way your mum’s left the house, no way, it’s her house,’ Carol’s former partner Shaun said, adding: ‘He’s up to his neck in this. There was something amiss.’
Ross used his mother’s credit card on several occasions after he killed her and reported her missing
But to the public, Ross was perceived as a worried son searching for his mother, sharing updates on social media and thanking the community for their support.
‘He has successfully manipulated the situation to his own advantage,’ Dr Vicky Thakordas-Desai added.
A tearful Lorraine said hearing that her mother’s body had been found was ‘everybody’s worst nightmare,’ and that she had to identify the body using a tattoo.
Ross, who had been pawning his mother’s belongings, was arrested a few days after Carol’s body was found.
Shaun and Lorraine revealed the murder suspect smirked and laughed during their testimonies at his trial, and would give unsatisfying answers to questions, even snapping at the lawyer on occasion.
Ross maintained his innocence throughout the trial, but evidence was building up against him.
A view of the caravan park in Dunfermline where Carol’s body was found nearly three weeks after her murder
He was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for Carol’s murder.
However, the nightmare is not over for Shaun and Lorraine: Ross, Carol’s murderer, is allowed to remain the executor of her will.
While Carol’s home has been sold, he remains in charge of her estate. He legally cannot inherit from her, but can control her assets from his prison cells.
Ross has denied his family access to Carol’s property to collect sentimental items such as photographs and videos, and bills have mounted up at her caravan, but he refuses to do anything about it.
‘He’s the executor of her estate after brutally murdering her. It’s nuts, absolutely nuts,’ Shaun said.
‘It’s raw because he’s getting to control, still from that prison cell,’ Lorraine said.
Countdown To Murder airs tomorrow night at 9pm on Channel 5.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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