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Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
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    Councils ask for planned mayoral election to be postponed

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    Leo Group owner completes epic cycling challenge for MND research

    Support for Penrith Mountain Rescue Team after charity box stolen

    Support for Penrith Mountain Rescue Team after charity box stolen

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    Inspiring Penrith teacher Dawn Coates retires after 26 years

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    Penrith’s Enterprise Hub plans start to take shape

    Nurturing Eden school praised by Ofsted

    Nurturing Eden school praised by Ofsted

    Inflation and the impact on savings

    Inflation and the impact on savings

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    Celebrating Alston’s heritage heroes

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    Success for fighting squad

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    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

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    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

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    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

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Home Latest

Penrith pensioner found guilty of 46-year-old murder

by CWH
29 September 2022
in Latest, News
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Renee MacRae

A Penrith man has been found guilty of murdering his lover and their son 46 years ago.

William MacDowell, now aged 80, has been sentenced to serve a minimum of 30 years after a jury at Inverness High Court returned their verdict this afternoon.

MacDowell was accused of killing Renee MacRae and her three-year-old son Andrew in Scotland in 1976. He was also accused of disposing of the bodies of Mrs MacRae and her son and also disposing of a boot hatch from his Volvo car to defeat the ends of justice, which he denied.

However, the jury deliberated for four hours and returned the guilty verdict. Lord Armstrong, presiding, told MacDowell the murders were premeditated and were executions.

Mrs MacRae and Andrew disappeared on November 12 1976. Her car was found that night on fire in a lay-by on the A9.

The trial heard Mrs MacRae believed they would be meeting up for a weekend away before a planned move to Shetland.

MacDowell has lodged two special defences. He claimed he was elsewhere at the time of the murders and the other is incrimination. MacDowell said if the murders did take place, they were committed by Mrs MacRae’s estranged husband and others.

Earlier in the trial, a worker at the same firm as the Penrith man at the time told detectives he was approached by someone who asked him if he would be willing to kill.

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