Helen Archer | On 05, Sep 2023

Director Matt Pinder (The Hunt for Bible John, The Hunt for the World’s End Killers) was the first to take cameras into the Scottish courts for his 2020 programme Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming. His second foray into the courtroom sees him cover one of Scotland’s longest unsolved murders – that of 36-year-old Renee MacRae and her three-year-old son Andrew, who disappeared from their home in Inverness on 12th November, 1976. Renee’s car was found the same night, on fire in a lay-by some 12 miles away, with no sign of the mother and son other than a rug stained with Renee’s blood.

As with the case of Margaret Fleming, it’s an alleged historic murder with no body, relying on circumstantial evidence after a cold case review finally resulted in Renee’s lover, the now-80-year-old William MacDowell, being brought to trial for the murders.

Though pared back in style, the series delivers both on dramatic, if understated, revelations, and on the human angle. The main players are introduced without fanfare, and within minutes of the two-parter starting, we are plunged into the heart of the trial. Alex Prentice KC delivers his case for the prosecution – with some surprises for those not already aware of the relationships between the main protagonists, while Murray Macara KC attempts to introduce some doubt into the proceedings in MacDowell’s defence. Some witnesses have died in the preceding 45 years, and their statements are read out by police officers; archive footage of people being interviewed by the media at the time are also scattered throughout.

MacDowell was under the impression Renee had told no one about their affair, and initially denied that the pair had any kind of relationship. But for the fact that Renee had confided in her best friend, Valerie Steventon, it may well have remained hidden to this day – the disappearance made even more mysterious. Steventon’s evidence proves to be as crucial now as it was four decades ago. The prosecution’s case hangs on the suggestion that MacDowell, who worked for Renee’s estranged husband, would lose both his family and his job if the relationship was made public – which Renee was increasingly pushing for.
MacDowell does not take the stand – but his wife, who provided an alibi of sorts for her husband, does. Still standing by that alibi, and therefore her husband, she scoffs and sighs her way throughout a mild cross-examination. A sympathetic witness she is not, but she mirrors her husband’s body language throughout the trial, as he is seen rolling his eyes and shaking his head disparagingly. Footage of the interior of the house where Renee lived – her boots and clothes scattered on the floor, suitcase half-packed, milk curdled in the bottle and Andrew’s birthday cards still on display (he turned three just days before he disappeared) – provide more insight into the lives of those involved than anything the MacDowells are willing to divulge.

Balancing out their seeming indifference, though, is Renee’s sister Morag and her husband, Bill. While Morag gives evidence early on in the first episode, it is the interviews she gives outside of court which prove to be the heart of this documentary. She speaks movingly of the type of people her sister and young nephew were, and about the nature of grief, the length and depth of it – the way in which it intensifies rather than recedes as the years go by. “It’s made life very, very sad,” she says, the pain still etched in her face. She asserts, too, the importance of bringing the perpetrator to justice, even after all these years – even after he was able to live a long life in liberty while Renee and Andrew’s family suffered through their years of uncertainty and torment. The trial itself, and the programme covering it, gives voice to the victims and their families, providing something resembling closure as the case is finally heard.

Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Renee and Andrew MacRae is available on BBC iPlayer until July 2024

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