80 year old in court for murder of mother and son over 45 years ago – VG

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According to BBC Tuesday was the first day at the Inverness High Court in Scotland.

There, William MacDowell (80) is accused of killing the mother of two Renee MacRae and their common son Andrew MacRae.

De a ble last seen while driving out of Inverness November 12, 1976. She then handed her eldest son over to her ex-husband and, according to the BBC, she would drive with her youngest son to visit her lover. The man explained that they never met.

Later, his BMW was found burnt down on the nearby highway. Neither Renee nor Andrew were seen again.

Denies criminal liability

MacDowell denies any wrongdoing. His defenders have presented a so-called “special defense” in which they claim that someone else committed the murder and that MacDowell has an alibi.

Prosecutors believe MacDowell killed 3-year-old Renee and Andrew in a road pocket on the A9 motorway on November 12, 1976.

He is also accused of getting rid of their bodies and setting a car on fire.

In court Tuesday, Catherine Johnstone explained that her mother Eva McQueen, now deceased, said she heard “a chilling scream the night mother and son disappeared in 1976.

Johnstone also said he saw a car without the lights on standing in a street bag.

Another witness told of a car burning on the stretch at the same time.

MacDowell’s defense attorneys say Renee MacRae’s ex-husband committed the murders with an unknown person. They claim that MacDowell was with three witnesses that night before returning to work. He is also rumored to have visited a shop before returning home at around 8:15 pm.

In 2019, the case gained momentum when the police cleared a quarry for the water in search of mother and child.

The police then asked anyone who knew anything about it to come forward, and noted that there is still a family looking for answers. Morag Govans, Renee’s sister and Andrew’s aunt, also came on behalf of the family a statement in November 2019:

– Andrew was only three years old, a mischievous, funny and beloved boy. It’s impossible to accept that his life ended in such a cruel way – and at such a young age.

The trial continues in the Scottish High Court.

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