Mystery surrounds both the life and death of “kind-hearted” but sometimes “naïve” Annie Börjesson and, according to the Scottish Review, “the story of the last weeks of [her] life is disturbing in its emotional complexity and profound sense of incompleteness.” Born in Sweden, but resident in Edinburgh at the time of her death, Börjesson’s body was found washed up on Prestwick Beach on 4th December 2005.
A language student in Edinburgh from 2004, Börjesson was a member of a band and also won a scholarship to the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre in February 2005. She was known to have spent time with a man who pretended to be the rugby player Martin Leslie in the days before her death (in spite of the New Zealander not being in Scotland at that time) and though the police believe she simply committed suicide, she had a number of “injuries” on her body including a “massive bruise on her head” and “bruises on her arms” that seem to have no association with her death.
Known for always carrying a Filofax (this item was not found on the beach, with items found near her body or at her home after her death), inconstancies about where Börjesson was on the day she allegedly drowned have emerged. Questions raised relate to her having made an appointment with her hairdresser in Sweden on 5th December, her email account being wiped of messages, her mobile phone records disappearing and the fact that she spent less than five minutes inside Prestwick Airport also. DNA from an unknown individual was also found on her hands (which, according to her family “suggests that Annie’s body was in water for a very short time or/and that she was transported to the shore and put there.”) and hair from her head was missing also.
According to reports, “[her parents] have long suspected [their daughter] did not drown in Prestwick bay; that she was murdered elsewhere and that her body was dumped on the beach.” They go further and suggest there is a “a compelling argument for a fresh look at this case.” On a website dedicated to “getting answers about the death,” the family offer “Annie’s Harley Davidson or the value in cash for information about [her] murderer.”
