Renee MacRae: Prosecution says accused 'only person to benefit'

Renee MacRae and her young son Andrew disappeared in 1976

A jury has been told the only person who would have benefited from the deaths of a woman and her son 46 years ago was the man on trial.

William MacDowell, 80, denies murdering his lover Renee MacRae and their son Andrew MacRae in the Highlands on 12 November 1976.

His lawyers have lodged special defences of incrimination and alibi.

But prosecutor Alex Prentice KC argued there was a classic and compelling circumstantial case against him.

He said Mr MacDowell would have lost his job and lifestyle, and possibly his family, if his secret affair with Mrs MacRae had been revealed before she and Andrew disappeared.

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Mr Prentice told the jury at the High Court in Inverness that Mrs MacRae's last utterance when she was alive was a "blood-curdling scream" in the dark from a lay-by on the A9 south of Inverness.

The motive for murder, he suggested, was that Mrs MacRae was becoming demanding about Mr MacDowell leaving his life. He had told her they would have a new life in Shetland.

Mr Prentice said: "It is obvious. Life for Bill MacDowell would change dramatically if it all came out in the open. He would lose his job, his family, his home."

In his speech on the 10th day of the trial, the prosecutor also said Mr MacDowell had sought an urgent replacement for his company car's boot floor, which he had burnt two days after the mother and son disappeared.

Mr Prentice said to the jury: "When you retire to the jury room, ask yourselves this question - why get rid of the boot floor of a Volvo car?"

The defence will address the jury on Wednesday morning.

Earlier on Tuesday, the court heard that Mr MacDowell, of Penrith, Cumbria, had chosen not to give evidence in his own defence.

His defence counsel Murray Macara KC called two witnesses who said they saw Mrs MacRae with a man sporting a handlebar or "Mexican" moustache.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice objected to the line of questioning, saying: "There is no incrimination of this man lodged. "

Handlebar moustache

Mr Macara said: "I am not incriminating the man with the handlebar moustache."

The court previously heard that police had devoted resources early in the initial inquiry to looking for this man and created a photo-fit.

On Monday, Det Ch Insp Brian Geddes said the sightings had been investigated and ruled out.

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Mr MacDowell has been accused of murdering Mrs MacRae and their son at a lay-by on the A9 at Dalmagarry, south of Inverness, or elsewhere.

He also faces a charge alleging he disposed of their bodies, personal effects and a pushchair, and of setting fire to a BMW car and disposing of a Volvo car's boot hatch.

Mr MacDowell denies all the charges.

His lawyers have lodged special defences of incrimination and alibi.

The defence claims Mrs MacRae's estranged husband Gordon MacRae committed the offences together with persons unknown.

The trial before Lord Armstrong continues.