A woman has spoken of her family’s relief after her sister’s murderer finally revealed where he had dumped her body.
Andrew Wallace, 42, was jailed for 28 years in February for killing 47-year-old Julie Reilly in Govan, Glasgow.
At the High Court in Glasgow, he pled guilty to the murder in February 2018 and attempting to defeat the ends of justice – but refused to say what he did with Julie’s body.
It wasn’t until police officers questioned him in prison in March that he confessed that he’d hidden her remains.
The trained butcher had cut up her body and hid the remains in suitcases which he dumped in various spots in Glasgow.
His confession meant Lynne Bryce, 37, of Auchinleck, Ayrshire, was able at last to give her sister a proper funeral.
She said: “I would never have given up searching for her remains, so I’m glad that he finally did the respectful thing. The whole family are relieved that Julie has finally come home to us, where she belongs.”
Lynne and her big sister were always close despite the age gap.
After Julie lost her baby daughter Roxanne to cot death in 1993, she moved from Auchinleck to Glasgow to make a fresh start.
Lynne said their “strong bond stayed the same despite the distance”.
Julie got married but after splitting from her husband she struggled to cope and took an overdose. Her brain was starved of oxygen and it left her confused and forgetful.
Lynne said: “She stayed in hospital for six months and then went to a rehabilitation centre. By 2017, Julie was living alone again, she
was determined to be independent.”
In December 2017, Julie told her mum Margaret, now 70, that she’d taken in a lodger.
Lynne said: “Mum thought it was a bad idea, but I was relieved she had someone to take care of her.
“We never met the lodger and Julie never mentioned him again.”
In February last year, Margaret got a call after Julie missed a hospital appointment. Lynne said: “Immediately, we started worrying.”
The next day, police launched an investigation into her disappearance. A month later, officers told the family they had arrested Julie’s lodger, Wallace.
In April last year, police found Julie’s thigh bone.
Wallace – who featured in the BBC docmentary Murder Case: The Disappearance of Julie Reilly – was charged with murder. Police suspected the trained butcher had dismembered her body.
Lynne said: “He showed absolutely no remorse in court. He even refused to tell us where Julie’s body was.
“It took us almost 18 months to give her the dignity of having a proper burial.”
Lynne and Margaret are backing Helen’s Law, which means that parole will be blocked for murderers who withhold information regarding the location of their victim’s remains.
The proposed legislation, named after Helen McCourt, 22, who was murdered in 1988 and whose body was never found, has been backed by the Scottish Government.
