Did William MacDowell kill Renee and Andrew MacRae?
Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Renee and Andrew MacRae, is a compelling BBC documentary detailing one of the biggest unsolved murder cases in Scottish legal history.
With remarkable in-court access, the documentary shines the spotlight on William MacDowell, an 80-year-old man on trial for the murder of Renee MacRae and her son Andrew, who vanished after leaving their home in Inverness in 1976.
The jury found William MacDowell guilty of their murder. However, the case is not as clear-cut as one might assume.
In this article, we take a brief look at this true crime case and ask the question: Did William MacDowell kill Renee and Andrew MacRae?
What happened to Renee and Andrew MacRae?
On the 12th of November, 1976, mother-of-two Renee Macrae, 36, vanished after leaving her Inverness home with her 3-year-old son Andrew.
It was alleged that Renee was heading out to Kilmarnock to visit her sister. However, she never arrived at the home of her sibling as later that night, a train driver discovered her burning car in a ditch on the A9. Police investigated the scene but there was no sign of Renee and her son.
During the search, the police found a rug stained with blood that matched the MacRae’s blood type. This suggests Renee and Andrew may have been murdered but with no sign of the bodies, there was no way of knowing for sure.
Who is William MacDowell?
William MacDowell was a company secretary at Renee’s estranged husband’s company – Hugh Macrae & Co. According to The Sun, he was well known in Inverness for having a short temper and for “hating to lose face.”
During the police’s investigation into the disappearance of Renee and Andrew, they discovered Renee had been having an affair with MacDowell. Not only that but it turned out that he was Andrew’s real father, a fact known by Renee’s friend Valerie who told police Renee was travelling to Perthshire to visit MacDowell on the night she was murdered.
MacDowell, who had a wife and two children, had apparently found a home for him and Renee to live in. When the police questioned him about the disappearance of Renee and Andrew, he admitted to having an affair but denied murder.
An extensive search took place for Renee and her son but their bodies were never found. But over two decades later, in 2019, the police charged MacDowell with the murders.
What happened to William MacDowell?
MacDowell continued to deny his involvement in the disappearance of Renee and her son but during a long-running trial, a witness named Dennis Tyronney told police that MacDowell had offered him £500 to kill the pair in an acid attack. The court also heard that MacDowell had removed and burnt the boot floor of his Volvo two days after the disappearance. (source)
In September 2022, MacDowell was found guilty of both murders and sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison. However, he never got to finish his sentence because he died on the 15th of February, 2023.
Did William MacDowell kill Renee and Andrew MacRae?
MacDowell never admitted to the murders so the truth about what happened to Renee and Andrew MacRae isn’t fully known.
In the years following their disappearance, an extensive search took place but no bodies were ever discovered. So, could MacDowell have killed Renee and Andrew?
As he was convicted of circumstantial evidence rather than definite proof, there’s a chance he may have been innocent. But if he did try to pay somebody to kill the pair, it’s entirely possible that he was responsible for their murders. If he did kill them, it’s possible he destroyed the boot of his car to hide any evidence.
It’s unlikely we’ll ever discover the truth. MacDowell is now dead and if he was guilty, the truth behind the death of Renee and Andrew MacRae went with him to the grave. At least his body can now be found. Sadly, for the surviving members of the MacRae family, the bodies of Renee and Andrew may never be discovered.
For more on this case, watch Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Renee and Andrew MacRae, which can be found on BBC iPlayer.
What do you think about this case? Let us know in the comments below.