In the windswept Orkney Islands, a murder that stunned a tight-knit community more than three decades ago is once again making headlines. The tragic killing of 26-year-old Bangladeshi waiter Shamsuddin Mahmood in 1994, and the subsequent conviction of Michael Ross, a local policeman’s teenage son, has resurfaced in the public consciousness thanks to a gripping new BBC Scotland documentary series, The Man in the Mask: An Orkney Murder. The series, which aired on November 24, 2025, brings fresh revelations, new interviews, and a rare look into the minds of those closest to the case.
Shamsuddin Mahmood, known as Shamol to friends, had come to Orkney from Bangladesh, working at the Mumutaz restaurant in Kirkwall. On a June evening in 1994, as diners—including children—enjoyed their meals, a masked man entered the restaurant and, with chilling composure, shot Mahmood in the head at point-blank range. The brutality and apparent randomness of the crime rocked the island's 20,000 residents and quickly made national news, as reported by BBC News.
Michael Ross, just 15 at the time, was soon identified as the prime suspect. The son of local police officer Eddy Ross, Michael was an army cadet and, even at a young age, reportedly familiar with firearms. Yet, despite initial suspicions, prosecutors found there was not enough evidence to charge him. The case went cold, and Michael moved on with his life—joining the Army, serving as a sniper in the Black Watch, and earning decorations for his actions in Iraq. He married and started a family, his past seemingly behind him.
But the shadow of that night in Kirkwall never truly faded. In 2006, 12 years after the murder, a new witness stepped forward. William Grant, whose testimony would later prove pivotal, delivered an anonymous letter to Kirkwall Police Station: "This is a true letter. I promise that I saw the person who killed the Indian waiter…" Grant, who had never spoken publicly before, recounted in the BBC documentary how he was in the public toilets near the restaurant on the night of the murder. "Somebody came out of the toilet. It was a young boy. He had a gun in his hand. I knew it was Michael's face. I was terrified. I thought to myself I could be the next victim. I stupidly stayed quiet. I thought it was the best thing to do."
Grant’s testimony, though crucial, was not without controversy. During the trial, the defense highlighted inconsistencies in his story—he had changed his account several times and admitted under cross-examination that police acquaintances might have influenced him. As Grant told the BBC, "I have heard that people reckon the police told me what to say. I wasn’t lying. I was just being asked so many questions. It was panic." Despite these doubts, his statements provided the breakthrough authorities needed to charge Ross in 2008.
There was, notably, no forensic evidence. No DNA, no murder weapon, and no physical proof tying Ross to the crime scene. The prosecution’s case hinged on Grant’s recollections and the circumstantial evidence surrounding Ross’s whereabouts. Ross maintained he had an alibi, claiming he was cycling near Kirkwall and had encountered two friends. Initially, both friends told police they hadn’t seen Ross, but later, one partially changed his statement when interviewed by the defense’s investigator, George Thomson.
Thomson, a retired detective who had spent years working as a criminal defense investigator, was hired by Ross’s legal team to help clear his name. His job was to unearth evidence and interview witnesses who might support Ross’s version of events. But, in a remarkable twist, Thomson now says he believes Ross is guilty. "Michael was keen for us to trace this guy and take a statement from him as to the night of the murder... I did this, but I didn't believe what was said," Thomson explained. Reflecting on the alibi witness, he remarked, "He could be easily led or influenced either way."
What changed Thomson’s mind? According to the BBC and The Scottish Sun, it was information he gathered from a witness in England who had been present on the night of the murder. "We got a statement from a person who had been there on the night. Based on that, I think he did," Thomson told the BBC documentary. He added, "That’s all I can say." This admission, coming from someone paid to defend Ross, has added a new, unsettling layer to the case.
Michael Ross, for his part, has never testified in court. However, the BBC obtained rare audio recordings of him speaking from prison. In these tapes, Ross denied any involvement in the murder, stating, "There's a view that [I] had done this, to see how it felt to kill somebody. The thought of doing something like that was just totally out of the question. All I ever wanted was join the Army, be a soldier. Get married and have a family and have a normal family life."
The drama didn’t end with the guilty verdict. On June 20, 2008, when Ross was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow, he attempted a daring escape—leaping from the dock and sprinting into a court corridor. The next day, police discovered a hire car in a Tesco car park in Springburn, loaded with a Scorpion machine gun, 545 rounds of ammunition, a grenade, and a hunting knife. Many saw this as a tacit admission of guilt, but Ross, speaking from prison, insisted, "At no point there was there any risk or threat to the public. I was a serving soldier. I had regular access to assault rifles, pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles."
Ross was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 25 years. He has now spent 17 years behind bars, making multiple failed escape attempts and unsuccessful appeals. Despite the passage of time, he continues to proclaim his innocence.
The case remains a source of pain and division in Orkney. For the Mahmood family, the loss is immeasurable—a young man’s life ended in senseless violence, far from home. The Ross family, too, bears scars, having lost a son, husband, and father to a crime he insists he did not commit. And for the community, the murder of Shamsuddin Mahmood is a wound that has never fully healed.
As The Man in the Mask: An Orkney Murder brings new voices and perspectives to the story, it’s clear that the search for truth and closure continues. The documentary’s revelations—especially the reversal of belief by Ross’s own defense investigator—have reignited debate and introspection in Orkney and beyond. For those who lived through the events of 1994, the questions remain as raw as ever: What really happened that night? And can justice ever truly be served in a case so marked by doubt, grief, and the passage of time?
