Couple's torment as prosecutors spend over FIVE years probing tragic son's death

Published: 18:45, 11 July 2026 | Updated: 18:45, 11 July 2026 The family of a man who died from a stab wound to the chest have hit out at prosecutors as a review of his death drags on into its sixth year. Colin Marr, 23, died from a single blow from a kitchen knife in July 2007 after a row with his fiancée Candice Bonar at the flat they shared in Lochgelly, Fife. The initial police investigation concluded that he had killed himself but his family have long challenged that position. A fatal accident inquiry in 2011 was inconclusive, with the sheriff in charge saying that he could not decide if the death was suicide or homicide. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service launched a review ‘of the forensic and pathology aspects’ of the case in 2023. That decision came after a police review that started in 2021 when the family gave the force a report by leading pathologist Dr Nat Cary, stating that it was ‘both possible and plausible’ that Mr Marr’s injury had been ‘inflicted by a third party’. Dr Cary’s report also questioned police reports on the location of the stab wound. Mr Marr’s mother, Margaret, and stepfather Stuart Graham have fought tirelessly for answers but are now losing hope as the Crown Office ‘has taken more than five years to add nothing of value’. On Friday, the anniversary of their loss, the couple attended Kirkcaldy Crematorium where Mr Marr was cremated. Margaret and Stuart Graham want answers over their son Colin's death  Mr Graham said: ‘We do that every year on July 10 and on Colin’s birthday. We lay flowers and spend some time thinking of Colin and promising him we will never give up. ‘After years of being fobbed off and resisting efforts to steer us away from the facts established by a fatal accident inquiry, we actually believed there was something positive going on. The Crown Office gives us updates, sets its own deadlines for the next updates – and then misses them. ‘We wrote to Nat Cary, the UK’s leading pathologist, and asked him for a report, and it was damning. ‘It’s been with prosecutors for more than five years and they have not added anything of value. How long is it reasonable for any investigation to take?’ Ms Bonar told police and paramedics who attended his death that Mr Marr had stabbed himself because she was leaving him. The senior officer present accepted her account, halting detailed forensic work. This meant that the procurator fiscal did not attend the scene, which was not sealed off, and the post-mortem was carried out by a lone pathologist, when murder cases in Scotland require two doctors for corroboration. Ms Bonar, who emigrated with her parents to Australia in 2008, returned to Scotland to give evidence to the fatal accident inquiry in 2011. Asked if she had killed Mr Marr, Miss Bonar, 42, said she had not and has always stood by that position. Colin Marr and his former partner Candice Bonar  Among the family’s concerns is the lack of investigation into claims that a third person was present. An upstairs neighbour said she heard three raised adult voices, and others, including a police sergeant, spoke of seeing a tall man outside the flat. As well as Dr Cary’s report, the Grahams gave Police Scotland other material in 2021, including details via witness statements about a potential third party. Mr Graham said: ‘One of these witnesses was a police sergeant and they didn’t even take a further statement from him to try to establish who he saw. It’s unthinkable and it’s negligent.’ Dr Cary, lead pathologist for the Crown in the Soham child murders, previously condemned Scottish police and prosecutors over their failure to treat the fatal stabbing as homicide. He maintains that the single stab wound was not consistent with Mr Marr taking his own life. Mr Graham said: ‘Our concern is that the barrier to effective prosecution is the previous failings of the Crown Office and the police. ‘It only takes one person with authority and integrity to address this. We are not going away.’ Ms Bonar was contacted via social media but did not respond. A Crown Office spokesman said: ‘Our inquiries are nearing completion. Once they are finalised, the evidence will be reviewed by an independent senior prosecutor.’