The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Sad end fora a ‘lost soul’
Aristocrat found dead d
AN ARISTOCRAT who stood by her lover when he burned down her parents’ mansion has been found dead in mysterious circumstances.
Frances Faucet- Reid’s body was discovered in a house in Perth on Tuesday, and detectives have confirmed they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the grim find.
Faucet-Reid, 60, had continued an on-off relationship with her toyboy lover Gus McConnell after he burned down her £415,000 family home more than a decade ago.
McConnell claimed he had set fire to the property after being enraged by finding a bag of sex toys and pornography hidden in a cupboard within Balnakilly House, Kirkmichael.
McConnell was jailed for four years after being found guilty of fireraising and Ms Faucet-Reid vowed after the trial to stand by him. She later claimed she was going to marry him in jail.
Although they never did marry, they did resume a relationship upon his release and had continued to see each other while Faucet-Reid owned a bed and breakfast in Perth.
A neighbour said yesterday : “We heard what happened to Frankie (Frances) and it’s a terrible shame. She was always a bit of a lost soul, to be honest.
“Her parents were very well to do and that just didn’t seem to sit easily with her. They did everything they could to help but it was a thankless task.
“Frankie got hooked up with the McConnell fellow and he wasn’t exactly a good influence. They would drink together with a crowd around Perth. It’s a pretty sad end.”
McConnell’s trial heard how he and Ms Faucet-Reid visited Balnakilly House when her elderly mother and stepfather were in South Africa on holiday.
She was to take care of bookings for holiday cottages on the 5,000-acre estate. They had enjoyed a meal and wine in the smoking room before deciding to sleep in the fourposter bed in Ms FaucetReid’s old bedroom.
She told the court McConnell came in carrying sex toys which he said he had found and talking about “photographs”.
“He was in shock. He broke the bed,” she said. She went on to describe how McConnell took a piece of wood from the broken bed and went on smashing things — including a clock on the stairs.
When the couple fled Balnakilly House in the early hours to return to the house on Bridge Lane, Perth, where they were staying, the mansion was in flames.
Neighbours attracted by the noise said there were flames shooting up over the trees. The building had to be demolished.
“It’s a terrible shame. It’s a pretty sad end.”