Murder of Mary Speir Gunn

55°42′22″N 4°54′11″W / 55.70611°N 4.90299°W / 55.70611; -4.90299

Mary Speir Gunn
Born
Mary Speir Gunn

(1862-08-31)31 August 1862
Died18 October 1913(1913-10-18) (aged 51)
Northbank Cottage, Portencross, Scotland
Cause of deathbullet wound through the heart
Resting placeSouthern Necropolis, Glasgow
NationalityScottish
CitizenshipBritish
OccupationTelephone operator
Parent(s)Gilbert Gunn and Jane Speir
Notes
Murdered by a person unknown

Mary Speir Gunn (31 August 1862 – 18 October 1913) was murdered in a shooting attack at the isolated Northbank Cottage near Portencross in North Ayrshire, Scotland on the evening of Saturday, 18 October 1913. Six shots were fired through the living-room window at night. Three shots struck Mary Gunn, the fatal one piercing her heart. Two shots hit her sister Jessie McLaren, who collapsed with a bullet lodged in her back, but she survived the attack. Jessie's husband, Alexander McLaren, was injured in the index finger of his left hand.

Newspapers described the murder at the time as "a terrible and most mysterious tragedy". Nobody was charged or prosecuted for the crime, which remains an unsolved murder.