News about Gordon MacRae

Renee MacRae (pictured left) and her son (pictured right) are looking for a remote cottage connected to their murder after a witness told a police he was 'done' if it was discovered. In 1976, William MacDowell (inset) killed the 36-year-old and his son Andrew, three, in Inverness-shire. He was finally brought to justice in September last year, but the 81-year-old refused pleas from her family and police to reveal where he hid their bodies and died in February. MacDowell told a witness that the discovery of a cottage could lead to his downfall years before he was imprisoned.

Renee and Andrew MacRae's abduction is one of Scotland's most well-known unsolved crimes. After telling her family she was off to visit her sister in Kilmarnock in 1976, the 36-year-old girl went missing. After her burnt-out BMW was discovered, foul play was suspected, and suspicion fell on her unknown lover William MacDowell. MacDowell evaded justice for 45 years for his crimes, but what did he do to the mother of two and the child they shared?And what happened to him?

Renee MacRae, 36, (right) and Andrew, her baby (inset), has been long and painful, with police in one point turning to the services of a Swiss clairvoy. William MacDowell (left) and his partner, Rosemary, attended only one media interview, during which he confessed to being Andrew's real father and said he had ended the investigation, and that Renee was still alive, and that, oddly, she was getting encrypted phone calls from her. Pic top: A copy of MacDowell's Volvo.

A jury had found William MacDowell, 80, of Inverness, of killing both Renee MacRae and their infant son Andrew in November 1976. The 36-year-old mother or her son, three, were never found, and Mrs MacRae's sister, Morag Govans, appealed specifically to MacDowell to break his silence. The passage of time hasn't eased the agony we felt; we've never been able to bring Renee and Andrew to rest or properly mourn their loss.' Not knowing where their bodies are buried only adds to the agony.

Renee MacRae's name has occupied near-mythical status as a byword for one of Scotland's most notorious unsolved crimes for almost half a century. On a cold November night in 1976, her unoccupied BMW was discovered ablaze in a Highland lay-by, bringing her killer to justice. Nonetheless, by the time it came to an end at the High Court in Inverness yesterday, it was clear that the key to cracking this most baffling of cases had been sitting just near the outset. Perhaps the biggest surprise in this saga of surprising twists and turns is that it took so long to obtain a guilty verdict against the prime suspect in the lawsuit. When Renee's unknown lover, Bill MacDowell, was eventually found guilty of her murder and the arrest of Andrew, their three-year-old lovechild, was confirmed, his place in Scottish criminal history was promised. He is one of a minority of people found guilty of murder in the absence of a body. Images: MacDowell and his wife Rosemary (main) arrived in court yesterday; victims Renee and Andrew (right) Renee and Andrew (right) Renee and Andrew (left) Renee's possessions, her burned out BMW, and a hunt for her remains at a quarry near Inverness ensued.

William MacDowell (left), 82, was found guilty by a jury in Inverness of murdering both Renee MacRae (middle) and their infant son Andrew (right). He was found guilty of attempting to defy justice by disposing of their bodies and personal possessions.

Murray MacDowell KC, the defense, told a jury that William MacDowell is innocent and did not murder Renee MacRae, 36, and their three-year-old son Andrew MacRae near Inverness on November 12, 1976, and that he did not conceal the murders. The High Court in Inverness has been told by Alex Prentice KC, prosecutors, that the now 80-year-old was the only one with the power to murder due to the danger of his more than four-year affair with Mrs MacRae being exposed and him losing everything. However, Mr Macara dismissed the theory today. 'It's a pretty dramatic solution to the potential deaths of your paramour and your only son,' he told the judge.' If so, Renee MacRae told Valerie Steventon (Mrs MacRae's close confidant) that he was never violent toward her.'