Scottish pathologist Caroline Muirhead thought she'd found love on Tinder when she matched with Sandy McKellar in October 2020. But just weeks after getting engaged, he confessed to a horrific crime: killing a cyclist and burying his body on the estate where he worked. Now, Netflix's three-part docuseries Should I Marry a Murderer? explores her agonizing dilemma.
"That felt special," Muirhead recalls of McKellar trusting her with his secret, "even though I knew it was so poisonously wrong." Learning that the victim's grave lay along her daily jogging route only deepened the shock.
Initially, Muirhead rationalized staying silent, telling herself "good people make mistakes." But when McKellar began asking how long it would take to burn a body — worried a developer might dig up the grounds — her doubts grew. She also began to wonder if he'd matched with her specifically because her Tinder profile identified her as a pathologist.
"Little did I know that this wasn't just a hit and run," she says. "This was actually something much worse."
McKellar eventually pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and is serving a 12-year prison sentence. But as Muirhead notes, "You can't just turn your affection off for someone even though they've done a terrible thing."
The victim, 63-year-old Anthony Parsons, was a Royal Navy veteran cycling 100 miles for charity when he disappeared in 2017. His son Mike later sent a darkly ironic text: "Are you still alive?" — not knowing that was the last message his father would ever receive.
The series raises uncomfortable questions about love, loyalty, and moral responsibility. For Muirhead, the answer to "should I marry a murderer?" ultimately came down to one impossible choice.