WILLIAM MacDowell finally paid the price for the 1976 murders of his secret lover Renee MacRae and their son Andrew on September 29, 2022.
But who is William MacDowell and where is he now?
Who is William MacDowell?
William MacDowell, also known as Bill, was a company secretary at Renee MacCrae’s husband’s company — Hugh Macrae & Co.
He was well known in the Inverness area for for having a short temper and hating to ‘lose face’.
MacDowell had an affair with Renee MacRae which reportedly started in 1973, with their lovechild Andrew being born the following year.
Despite the birth of their son, Renee kept the identity of her lover tightly under wraps, even after moving out from the home she shared with husband Gordon.
The only person Renee told about the identity of Andrew’s father was Val Stevenson, her best friend.
Mrs Stevenson told reporters that Renee was besotted with MacDowell and believed she was moving to the remote Island of Shetland with the him, along with their three-year-old son.
Mrs Stevenson recalled: “He really took Renee in completely. She even packed up everything.
“Things were getting a bit hot for MacDowell because little Andrew was starting to point at him and call him Daddy.
“I think he knew Renee was getting very involved with him, more than he was with her.’
What happened to Renee and Andrew MacRae?
The disappearance of Christina Catherine MacRae, who was better known as Renee, and her son Andrew was one of Scotland‘s most notorious unsolved crimes for over four decades.
Renee and Andrew MacRae were murdered by William MacDowell in 1976, but the crime went unanswered for until September 2022, when justice finally caught up with MacDowell.
Police believe MacDowell’s motive for the heinous crime was that he feared losing his comfortable lifestyle if the affair were to become exposed.
After murdering his lover and son, MacDowell put their bodies and the boy’s pushchair into Renee’s BMW and set it alight; the discovery of the burnt out vehicle led to detectives suspecting there was foul play, with suspicion falling on MacDowell.
After three separate investigations he finally paid the price for his crimes aged 80.
Judge Lord Armstrong told MacDowell in court: “On the evidence at your trial, these murders appear to have been premeditated, planned and carried out by you in the most calculated way – not a spontaneous event or on the spur of the moment.
“These appear, in effect, to have been executions.”
Detectives never found the bodies of the 36-year-old mother and her three-year-old son.
Where is William MacDowell now?
Following being convicted of murdering Renee and Andrew MacRae, William MacDowell was given a life sentence to be served at Glenochil Prison.
The cold-blooded killer died on February 15, 2023, just a year into his sentence.
He was 81 years old at the time of his death.
