Making a Murderer meets 19th century Scotland as a grisly triple killing shocks a rural Highland village in His Bloody Project. There’s no doubt about who brutally hacked Lachlan Broad and his two children to death. The perpetrator left the scene calmly, covered in his victims’ blood and let the villagers know exactly what he had done.

The questions on everyone’s lips are why did teenager Roddy Macrae do it, was he in his right mind, and does he deserve the gallows for his crime?

Through scrutinising documents including witness statements, Roddy’s prison diary, medical reports and a transcript of the trial, you piece together the fragments of the tragic story. You are called on to be the judge and jury in this case, deciding who is a reliable witness, who has an axe to grind and who (if anyone) can be trusted. Is Roderick Macrae, as one neighbour claims “a gentle lad, not given to the cruel behaviour sometimes found in boys of that age”. Or is he, as the next one begins, “as wicked individual as one could ever have the misfortune to meet”?

A picture builds of a poor and starving household, grieving the recent loss of Roddy’s mother and struggling to make ends meet with their small patch of land. The beleaguered Macraes are harassed by Lachlan Broad, the landowner’s enforcer, and Roddy grows up afraid and angry at the man who seems determined to ruin what is left of their family. An odd boy with unusual habits, Roddy is led astray by bad friends and is forced to witness his father and sister being abused by Broad.

Some prickly stories from Roddy’s past are dredged up as part of the case. Did he do his best to rescue that sheep from a Highland bog, or take a strange pleasure in mutilating it? The truth is presented as fluid and evasive, with each piece of evidence throwing light or shade on the last, and prejudices against key characters quickly colouring your judgement. The jury has their verdict on Roddy’s guilt, but what will yours be?