What did we learn about Mikus Alps from the sentencing of Neil MacDonald?

Monday 03 September 2018

New information about the mysterious disappearance and death of local resident, Latvian Mikus Alps came into the public eye during a sentencing in Guernsey's Royal Court last week.

Neil MacDonald and another man were being sentenced for trafficking cannabis, with MacDonald also sentenced for possession of firearms, with the court hearing MacDonald was a close friend of Mr Alps, and could have spoken to him on the phone hours before he died.

The two men were sent to prison for 18 months each, but during the sentencing hearing, the court was told how MacDonald was involved with Mr Alps. While the latest information given by Guernsey Police is that they are waiting for results of forensic examinations, never-before heard information was made public in the court about some of Mr Alps' potential final actions.

He was found dead in a burnt out wreck of a car at Petit Bot on the morning of Monday 8 January earlier this year - with the emergency services first attending to deal with the fire, but soon after they found "human, skeletal remains" on the driver's seat.

It has now been revealed MacDonald, a close friend and former neighbour of Mr Alps for nine or ten years, was one of the last people known to be in touch with him.

The court heard how in the weeks leading up to New Year in 2017, Mr Alps had spoken to MacDonald about how he feared for his life.

He told MacDonald - who then told police in interviews following his arrest - that a car of his on the continent had been set alight and burnt out.

He also said he thought he was being followed in Guernsey, with his island car being graffitied with threats and being rammed while on the roads.

A missing persons investigation was the first thing to be bought to the public's attention, but weeks later, the police had forensic confirmation the car and the remains were that of Mr Alps', as was the sawn-off shotgun found in the car. It then received a "sombre and reflective" suicide note which Mr Alps had written before his death, although the details it contained have yet to be revealed. This note, however, was found by police in a stack of documents Mr Alps had given to MacDonald for safekeeping a matter of days before he died.

Pictured: Neil MacDonald and another man were sentenced in the Royal Court on Thursday 30 August. The investigation into the two men only began after MacDonald's phone was seized as investigations into Mr Alps progressed. 

Mr Alps had told MacDonald he was going to leave the island to "lay low" for a short while, and MacDonald gave Mr Alps some money to help him do this - although it is now clear he never did leave the island.

The last MacDonald did hear from Mr Alps was potentially just hours before his death, during the early hours of Monday 8 January. He had received a strange call from Mr Alps', asking him to travel to Mr Alps' workshop to collect two bags that Mr Alps "needed out of the way".

As a friend, MacDonald went to the workshop, following specific instructions, and collected the bags, without checking what was inside them - MacDonald's defence advocate during his sentencing said Mr Alps had told him the contents of the bags were "clean" and that he had not checked because sometimes it was better to not know the answer to some questions.

MacDonald then returned the bags home and put them in the boot of his Mini, leaving it unlocked, expecting Mr Alps to come and collect them soon. 

It was later revealed that the bags contained two double-barrelled shotguns, akin to the third found in Mr Alps' burnt out car. Those shotguns did belong to Mr Alps, the court heard. Police discovering the bags' contents is what lead to MacDonald's arrest.

The last MacDonald heard from Mr Alps was a phone call to confirm he had collected the bags. During that call, MacDonald said it sounded like Mr Alps was trying to mask what he was talking about, and MacDonald said he could hear other people with him.

This phone call could have been hours before Mr Alps' death.

Pictured: The wreckage of Mikus Alps' car, found on the morning of Monday 8 January. MacDonald last spoke to Mr Alps very early on the 8 January as well.

At the time of the car being found, speculation ramped up into a frenzy as the story unfolded, particularly surrounding Mr Alps' role as a freedom fighter in the Ukraine, fighting as a rebel against occupying Russian forces.

News from the area reported it was possible Mr Alps had been murdered by the Russians, particularly following an interview with the commander of Mr Alps' battalion, Andriy Cherven, in which he claimed Mr Alps was "tortured, killed, tied and burnt in a car".

Following this, national media picked up on the angle, reporting stories with headlines such as "Russians accused of murdering Ukraine rebel on Britsh soil".

Pictured: Chief of Police Patrick Rice addressing local media at a conference regarding the death of Mikus Alps in Guernsey. 

Guernsey Police fought to put a stop to the rumours. It held a media conference to properly distribute all of the information it had. At the time, Chief of Police Patrick Rice said the speculation was "unprecendented at a local level".

"This is a highly complex investigation and there is much work still to be done as we try to establish the full circumstances," he said. "We cannot rush it but the community can be assured that we will go where the evidence takes us, not speculation on social media."

The Force made use of UK resources in its investigation, bringing over a Home Office pathologist to investigate the remains and the car, and also using a hand writing expert to confirm the note was written by Mr Alps. 

The latest from Guernsey Police is they are still waiting on the results of the forensic reports now, months down the line. They have put this down to it being a busy department in the UK with constantly arising new cases.