A Penrith man found guilty of a historic double murder more than 40 years ago in the Scottish highlands has died just months after justice caught up with him.
Last September, William MacDowell, aged 81, was convicted of the murder of his secret lover, 36-year-old Renee MacRae, and her three-year-old son Andrew, following their disappearance in 1976.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 11.05am on Wednesday February, 15, 2023, officers were made aware of the death of an 81-year-old man at Forth Valley Royal Hospital.
“The death is not being treated as suspicious and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
A jury had found MacDowell guilty of two counts of murder along with a further charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
MacDowell had denied disposing of the bodies and a boot hatch from his Volvo car to “defeat the ends of justice”.
He had been sentenced at Inverness High Court to life imprisonment, with a punishment period of 30 years.
However, Mr MacDowell’s failing health had been questioned at various points during his trial in Scotland.
Mrs MacRae and Andrew left their home in Inverness on November 12, 1976, heading south on the A9.
Her BMW car was discovered on fire in a lay-by near Dalmagarry later that evening, but with no sign of her or her son.
The two missing people were never seen again and their bodies have never been found.
Lord Armstrong, presiding, called the murders premeditated and execution-style.
The shocking crime had been one of Scotland’s longest unsolved murder cases until he was arrested in September 2019.
That followed an extensive review and re-investigation carried out by detectives from Police Scotland’s major investigation team, with support from local officers, building on decades of work.
