A pensioner has been convicted for the murders of Inverness mum Renee MacRae and their toddler son Andrew, ending nearly 46 years of mystery over who was responsible for the pair’s disappearance.
William (Bill) MacDowell was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum jail term of 30 years.
Lord Armstrong told the callous killer: “These murders appear to have been premeditated and planned in a most calculating way.
“These appear to be in effect executions. You murdered your victims and disposed of their bodies and you took various steps to avoid detection.”
The 80-year-old, who had been having an affair with Mrs MacRae, had denied murdering his secret lover and their three-year-old son.
But after 224 minutes of deliberation, a jury at the High Court in Inverness found MacDowell guilty of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
Murray Macara KC, MacDowell’s legal counsel, had previously urged jurors to find his client not guilty, claiming in his closing speech that the allegations were “so grotesque it is absurd”.
The 36-year-old housewife and three-year-old toddler haven’t been seen since the pair left their home and headed south on the A9 on November 12 1976.
And later that evening, Mrs MacRae’s BMW was found on fire in a lay-by near Dalmagarry, but the mum and son were nowhere to be seen.
Their bodies have never been recovered but blood assumed to belong to Mrs MacRae was discovered in the boot of her car, the court had heard.
A blood spatter expert told jurors that someone receiving a blow to the head and falling partly into the boot may be “one explanation” for the deposit.
During the trial, it also emerged that Renee MacRae had planned to spend the weekend of her disappearance with MacDowell, according to a police statement made by a close confidante of Renee.
MacDowell had been accused of causing the pair’s deaths at the lay-by or elsewhere.
But the wheelchair-bound pensioner denied disposing of Renee and Andrew’s bodies, burning Mrs MacRae’s BMW, as well as destroying or hiding other evidence – including the toddler’s pushchair and a Volvo estate boot floor.
However, a jury of eight women and seven men returned the guilty verdict after hearing the Crown’s case against MacDowell.
‘Blood-curdling scream’ heard
On the first day of the trial, advocate depute Alex Prentice KC – prosecuting MacDowell – introduced evidence that a “blood-curdling scream” had been heard on the night the MacRaes vanished.
Catherine Johnstone, 68, lived with her parents at a farm opposite the Dalmagarry lay-by on the A9, near Tomatin, where Mrs MacRae’s blue BMW was found ablaze.
She told the jury that her now deceased mother, Eva MacQueen, “made reference” to hearing the scream “often in her lifetime”.
The court also heard that a man with “staring, wide eyes” was seen beside a clothed object that was draped over a pushchair on the night the victims went missing.
The mystery man was spotted by a passenger in a car that was driving along the A9 on November 12 1976, close to where the pair disappeared – jurors were told.
‘I did and I didn’t’ kill Renee
In perhaps some of the most damning evidence offered by the prosecution, the jury also heard claims that MacDowell was asked by his handyman if he had killed Renee and he replied: “I did and I didn’t”.
The court was also told that a convicted criminal had informed police that he was offered cash to douse Renee MacRae and her son with acid and kill them by the man on trial for their murders.
In other evidence, it was said to the jury that MacDowell was seen cleaning the boot of his car in the days after Renee and Andrew MacRae went missing.
The High Court in Inverness also heard that the pensioner took his car into a garage and demanded a replacement boot floor because he burned his old one, soon after the mother and son’s disappearance.
MacDowell was arrested in September 2019 after an extensive review and re-investigation carried out by Police Scotland’s major investigation team.
The police probe also involved officers in the Highlands who built on decades of work carried out by detectives since 1976.
Throughout the murder trial, MacDowell maintained his innocence.
He had lodged a special defence of alibi – claiming he was elsewhere in Inverness when the MacRaes went missing.
And the pensioner also blamed his former employer, Mrs MacRae’s husband Gordon, for their disappearance.
But when Renee’s estranged husband gave evidence to the court, the 85-year-old told the jury that he had no knowledge of police ever suspecting him.
Renee’s sister reacts to guilty verdict
Reacting to the guilty verdict, Renee’s sister Morag Govans had her statement read out by advocate depute Alex Prentice, the man who secured justice for her loved ones.
She said: “The pain of losing Renee and Andrew doesn’t ease. Not a day passes when both are not in our thoughts.
“Andrew’s life was cruelly and brutally cut short at such a young age, just three years old and I often wonder what he would be doing now.
“The passage of time has not eased the anguish. We have not been allowed to grieve properly.
“Not knowing how Renee and Andrew died and where their remains lie compounds the anguish.
“I have never stopped trying to find justice for Renee and Andrew who deserve to rest in peace.
“Thinking of the terror they must have felt when they died in such a calculated and callous way continues to haunt me.”
Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Brian Geddes, who led the latest police inquiry, has urged MacDowell to come clean about where he hid his victims’ bodies.
He appealed directly to the convicted killer and said that it would “bring closure to the family”.
Det Ch Insp Geddes added: “Renee and Andrew’s family have waited decades for justice and I hope the outcome in court today can provide some form of closure for them.
“They have carried themselves with absolute dignity throughout and they are very much in my thoughts today.
“The murders of Renee and Andrew have had a significant impact on the people of Inverness and beyond for decades now.
“It is fitting to know that, despite the passage of time, justice has finally been served.
“Although justice has now been done, Renee and Andrew’s bodies have not been found.
“I would urge anyone who may have information about where they are to come forward so they can be provided with the dignity they deserve.
“In particular, I would appeal directly to William MacDowell to speak to us and allow us to bring closure to the family.”
MacDowell’s heinous crimes had gone unpunished for more than four decades.
But now he begins a 30-year-long sentence, locked up behind bars, where the ailing and elderly offender is expected to spend what’s left of his life.