Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The Renee and Andrew MacRae murder: Renee’s close friend who was crucial to getting justice

Val Steventon knew something crucial to the murder case - something the killer didn't know she knew.

Valerie Steventon was Renee MacRae's closest friend. Image Firecrest Films
Valerie Steventon was Renee MacRae's closest friend. Image Firecrest Films

The prosecution and conviction of Renee MacRae’s killer would not have happened without the evidence of Valerie Steventon.

Growing up, they were best friends and Val was Renee’s closest confidante.

And it was the biggest secret the pair shared that helped eventually to bring MacDowell to justice.

The key role played by Mrs Steventon in the notorious murder investigation is highlighted in a new documentary series which went behind the scenes of the case as it neared its conclusion.

‘A very important witness’

Renee and her three-year-old son Andrew disappeared on November 12 1976. Their bodies have never been found.

Renee’s burned-out BMW was later discovered in a lay-by on the roadside of the A9.

Murder Trail: The Disappearance of Renee and Andrew MacRae will be aired on BBC on August 22 and 28.

As the case unfolded, Alex Prentice KC, for the prosecution, told the programme: “Valerie Steventon is a very important witness in this case.

“To the extent that I doubt there would be a case without her evidence.”

Valerie Stevenson photographed in 2004. Image Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

MacDowell’s affair with Renee and the fact he was Andrew’s father had been kept secret from all but one person.

“I knew, nobody else knew” Mrs Steventon told the programme. “He didn’t know I knew and I think he would have been shocked because as it turned out it was a big secret that no one was supposed to know about or ever find out about.

“His wife didn’t know either I don’t think. She didn’t know he was having an affair.”

Mrs Steventon was too unwell to attend the murder trial, but her witness statement from 1976 was read to the court.

In it, she said Renee had planned to spend the weekend of her disappearance with MacDowell.

‘She was going with the man she loved’

She said Renee was deeply in love with MacDowell and she was told that, on the weekend of her disappearance, a chalet had been booked at a Rannoch hotel to spend the weekend with him before a move to a new life in Shetland.

MacDowell insisted that Andrew come along, claiming he wanted to get to know the boy well, and also that Renee did not tell anyone else, the jury heard.

Mrs Steventon told the programme: “She was happy she was going away with the man she loved.

“She was going away for the weekend. I was the only one who knew she was going away.

“And thank God she did tell me because MacDowell denied everything.”

Alex Prentice KC highlighted the importance of Valerie Steventon’s evidence. Image Jack Warrander/Firecrest Films

The trial heard that MacDowell initially denied he had any association with Renee in a statement three days after her disappearance.

But, three hours later, he made a second statement after Mrs Steventon had told police of his affair with Renee.

This time he said an affair had started in 1972.

Mr Prentice said: “In 1976 police, through Valerie Steventon’s account, learned there was a relationship with William MacDowell.

“One would have thought that if Mr MacDowell were entirely innocent in this he would do everything he possibly could to provide information he might have.

“But he didn’t.”

Jailed for life

MacDowell was found guilty of the murders last year and jailed for life. He died five months later.

Police were unable to speak to him about the missing bodies before he died

Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Renee and Andrew MacRae is available to watch from August 22.

See a preview here

Conversation