BBC documentary Murder Trial: Body in the Warehouse focuses on David Barnes' trial for killing Ean Coutts. The trial began in November 2023, with the accused David, who was later found guilty. Ean was murdered in Kinglassie in 2019. His body was found over a year later by urban explorer James Fenton, after being being hidden in a cupboard in a disused warehouse in Glenrothes. The heartbreaking documentary hears from Ean's family, including his daughters, Emma and Louise. During the interview, the daughters spoke on how their parents relationship had broke down after ten years of marriage. At the time, Emma and Louise were 2 and 6 years old.
"I remember leaving that day," said the eldest daughter. "We saw him then and then didn't see him again until I was an adult." Ean's daughters then went on to explain how they tried to form a bond again, although it proved quite difficult and 'complicated'. After, they explained how they hadn't seen him for 10/11 years until they got the phone call. Speaking on the trial, they said: "I just wanted to be here because he still is our dad, and really died in an undignified way.
"You kind of almost feel a sense of guilt, in a way because we were estranged. But he was still our dad and there was still a lot of feelings there. We could have had that chance to get back in contact with him, but the fact that someone's taken that chance away for us to ever be able to reconnect with him, I think that was quite gut-wrenching.". Ean's sister Audrey is also interviewed for the documentary. Audrey and Ean were estranged - but reconnected a year prior to his murder. “Every time I walked into that court I stared at him and never took my eyes off him," she said on staring David down every day of the trial.
“Just to say, ‘You’re no winning – I see you,’ and I wanted him to see me and Ean’s daughters were there because Ean had a family – he had people that loved him. “Just to say, ‘You’re not winning, I see you,’ and I wanted him to see me and Ean’s daughters were there because Ean had a family – he had people that loved him.”. David Barnes was later convicted for army veteran Ean's murder and was sentenced to life in prison, to serve a minimum of 23 years. It was also revealed that he had assumed Ean's identity, and “helped himself” to £5,000 of his money using his bank cards.
