A murder suspect’s wife blurted: “I never stabbed her” when arrested over the disappearance of a mother and child, a trial heard. Rosemary MacDowell’s husband Bill MacDowell, 80, denies the 1976 murder of his lover Renee MacRae, 36, and their three-year-old son Andrew.
The jury was told the MacDowells were quizzed by police in 1986. Mrs MacDowell was questioned in court yesterday by advocate depute Alex Prentice about a statement she gave to Det Sgt Peter Black at the time.
Mrs MacDowell, now 80, said to the detective: “I don’t know what you are getting on to me for. I never stabbed her or whatever happened to her.”
Asked by Mr Prentice why she had said that, Mrs MacDowell replied: “It just came out that way in the spur of the moment. There was nothing meant by it.”
Mr Prentice asked her: “Did you know she had been stabbed? “ Mrs MacDowell told him she did not. Andrew and Renee’s BMW was found burned out at the spot.
Witness Martin Shand, 65, told the trial he passed the layby on the evening of November 12, 1976. He said there were two vehicles: “The first was a pale-colour BMW. The second one was a Volvo.”
The court has previously heard MacDowell had a Volvo as his company car. The trial at the High Court in Inverness continues.
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