80-year-old man deemed fit for trial in long-running Inverness mystery
William MacDowell will stand trial in September accused of a double-murder 45-years-ago
An 80-year-old man has been judged fit to stand trial for the murder of Renee MacRae and her son 45 years ago.
William MacDowell will be tried by a jury for the alleged crimes at the High Court in Inverness in September.
Ms MacRae's disappearance – along with that of her three-year-old son, Andrew – is currently the United Kingdom's longest-running missing persons case.
MacDowell’s trial will hear evidence from beyond the grave in the form of police statements given by witnesses who have since died.
There were concerns about his fitness to stand trial after he injured his neck falling off a wall at his home in Penrith, Cumbria.
His solicitor Murray Macara QC told the High Court on Tuesday that MacDowell was still wearing a neck brace and was consulting with his local GP on health issues.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC said the age of the case presented “significant challenges” but stressed that the Crown was nevertheless ready for trial.
“Having considered the matter carefully I’m of the view that the Crown case is likely to take about two weeks and in discussion with Mr Macara there is potential for a defence.
“The Crown also has the challenges of witnesses passing away due to the length of time which has passed. That’s an ongoing feature of this case.”
He said the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service would do it’s best to speed up the process by assisting the defence in overcoming hurdles such as sourcing death certificates.
MacDowell is accused of assaulting his son Andrew and the boy’s mum Christina ‘Renee’ MacRae at a lay-by on the A9 trunk road near Dalmagarry, or elsewhere, on November 12th 1976.
He is charged with causing them injury by unknown means, as a result of which they died, and thereby murdering them.
He is also charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of the two bodies and their personal effects by means unknown to prosecutors.
He is further alleged to have disposed of a pushchair, set fire to a BMW vehicle and disposed of a boot hatch from a Volvo vehicle to conceal the alleged crimes and avoid detection, arrest and prosecution.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Judge Lord Armstrong agreed to a preliminary hearing at Glasgow High Court on April 27th and fixed the trial for September 12th at Inverness High Court.