An ex-soldier who killed a fellow pensioner who he believed had sexually abused a woman has died behind bars.
Richard Cassidy, 79, stabbed David Farish 14 times in a brutal attack at his home in the Scottish Borders in February 2016.
He was sentenced to 17 years in prison following a murder trial at the High Court in Glasgow in 2017.
It was revealed today that Cassidy died on June 26 at HMP Shotts in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
The killer had been told that Mr Farish, 75, had abused one of his close friends when she was a child.
When confronted, Mr Farish reportedly told the ex-soldier that the police 'could not prove anything'.
In a 'moment of madness', Cassidy stabbed the victim 14 times and slashed his throat, before waiting as Mr Farish bled to death.
Ex-soldier Richard Cassidy has died in prison nine years after being convicted of killing another pensioner
Cassidy, was jailed for 17 years for the murder of a man he believed had abused a woman he knew
Cassidy used techniques he had been taught by special forces to infiltrate terrorist cells in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, to befriend Mr Farish. He had never met his victim until the day he killed him.
Cassidy never denied killing Mr Farish but claimed it was culpable homicide, not murder.
Although he phoned the police and confessed what he had done, he first disposed of his bloodstained clothes and the knife - which has never been found - and tidied up the crime scene.
A 43-year-old woman told how she had been friends with Cassidy for a number of years and confided in him that she was regularly preyed upon from the age of seven. She claimed that Mr Farish once hit her so hard that he broke his hand.
The court heard that police investigated in 2006 but no charges were brought. In February 2016, Cassidy decided to confront Mr Farish at his home about the incident.
Allegedly, Mr Farish responded: 'The police could not prove anything to what happened to that b****.'
On hearing this, Cassidy 'flipped' and attacked Mr Farish, leaving him to bleed to death. Before the killing, he had taken his victim to the shops twice to buy him cigarettes and alcohol.
The woman who had accused Mr Farish recalled being 'gobsmacked' when Cassidy confessed to her that he was responsible for the killing.
She told the court: 'He was really sad, I think because I have never seen a side like that in him.
'I could not believe what he was saying... that he was able to take a life. It was not his nature.'
David Farish was stabbed 14 times by Cassidy, who used terrorism training to befriend his victim
The woman drove Cassidy to the local police station where he handed himself in. While on remand in prison, he sent her letters saying there must have been a lot of 'hatred and anger' in him to do what he did.
He added it was Mr Farish's 'cocky' comment, like an 'admittance of guilt', that made him lose control. The woman said she did not intend to speak to Cassidy any more.
Before he even stood trial, Cassidy suffered a heart attack and a stroke while in custody.
His defence QC Brian McConnachie said during the trial that it was likely he would die in prison.
He added: 'He had never been in trouble in his life before this incident. He lived a fulfilling life until what he describes as a moment of madness in February 2016.'
Detective Inspector David Pinkney described the act as a 'heinous murder of a frail, elderly man in his own home'.
Judge Lord Summers described the murder as 'a particularly brutal one'.