The prosecution and conviction of Renee MacRae’s killer would not have happened without the evidence of Valerie Steventon.
Growing up, they were best friends and Val was Renee’s closest confidante.
And it was the biggest secret the pair shared that helped eventually to bring MacDowell to justice.
The key role played by Mrs Steventon in the notorious murder investigation is highlighted in a new documentary series which went behind the scenes of the case as it neared its conclusion.
‘A very important witness’
Renee and her three-year-old son Andrew disappeared on November 12 1976. Their bodies have never been found.
Renee’s burned-out BMW was later discovered in a lay-by on the roadside of the A9.
Murder Trail: The Disappearance of Renee and Andrew MacRae will be aired on BBC on August 22 and 28.
As the case unfolded, Alex Prentice KC, for the prosecution, told the programme: “Valerie Steventon is a very important witness in this case.
“To the extent that I doubt there would be a case without her evidence.”
MacDowell’s affair with Renee and the fact he was Andrew’s father had been kept secret from all but one person.
“I knew, nobody else knew” Mrs Steventon told the programme. “He didn’t know I knew and I think he would have been shocked because as it turned out it was a big secret that no one was supposed to know about or ever find out about.
“His wife didn’t know either I don’t think. She didn’t know he was having an affair.”
Mrs Steventon was too unwell to attend the murder trial, but her witness statement from 1976 was read to the court.
In it, she said Renee had planned to spend the weekend of her disappearance with MacDowell.
‘She was going with the man she loved’
She said Renee was deeply in love with MacDowell and she was told that, on the weekend of her disappearance, a chalet had been booked at a Rannoch hotel to spend the weekend with him before a move to a new life in Shetland.
MacDowell insisted that Andrew come along, claiming he wanted to get to know the boy well, and also that Renee did not tell anyone else, the jury heard.
Mrs Steventon told the programme: “She was happy she was going away with the man she loved.
“She was going away for the weekend. I was the only one who knew she was going away.
“And thank God she did tell me because MacDowell denied everything.”
The trial heard that MacDowell initially denied he had any association with Renee in a statement three days after her disappearance.
But, three hours later, he made a second statement after Mrs Steventon had told police of his affair with Renee.
This time he said an affair had started in 1972.
Mr Prentice said: “In 1976 police, through Valerie Steventon’s account, learned there was a relationship with William MacDowell.
“One would have thought that if Mr MacDowell were entirely innocent in this he would do everything he possibly could to provide information he might have.
“But he didn’t.”
Jailed for life
MacDowell was found guilty of the murders last year and jailed for life. He died five months later.
Police were unable to speak to him about the missing bodies before he died
Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Renee and Andrew MacRae is available to watch from August 22.
See a preview here
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