Loving last words of stabbed husband

THE widow of a man stabbed to death in a high-rise flat has told how her husband's dying words were that he loved her.

A man and woman have appeared in court over the alleged murder of William McPhee in the stairwell of the Castleview House block of flats in Moredun

William John McPhee died in the stairwell of Castleview House in Moredun following a disturbance on Tuesday night.

A man and woman - William McArdle, 24, and 18-year-old Chanelle Barrett - have appeared on petition at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in connection with his alleged murder.

The pair were also charged with attempted murder after the alleged stabbing of a second 41-year-old man during the same incident.

Today, bereaved Roseanne McPhee, 38, paid tribute to her "happy-go-lucky" husband who was struggling to cope with her own terminal cancer diagnosis and had said he wanted to die before his wife.

"As a person he was very loving and got on with anyone," said Mrs McPhee. "We both come from the travelling community and he loved the outdoors and being in the fields.

He was passionate about hunting, rabbit hunting, fishing, camping and just being in the outside world."

Originally from Wick in the Highlands, Mr McPhee - who was also known as William Townsley - had lived in suburbs across the Capital, including the Inch but more recently at Greendykes.

He married his wife four years ago in South Queensferry and the couple had one child, a baby girl, who died at six months old of cot death. He also had two children from a previous relationship whom he did not see regularly, said Mrs McPhee.

Mrs McPhee, who is being treated with radiation for Bartholin's gland cancer, said he was so distraught about her illness that he refused to discuss it.

"I have cancer and I'm terminally ill but he couldn't handle that fact.

"Billy couldn't handle me being ill and he used to say, 'I'm going to die before you' which has been going through my head. You couldn't even talk about cancer in front of him."

Mrs McPhee said a resident who was with her husband as he was dying had revealed his final words. "His last words were: 'Tell my wife I love her'.

"A police officer told me that he tapped on a neighbour's door and asked for help to get an ambulance and said 'please tell my wife I love her'. So he must have known he was going to die and that's seemingly his last words."

And she added: "I'm struggling to cope just now. I loved my husband. I loved the ground he walked on. We fought like cat and dog sometimes but I can assure you we loved each other."