The pensioner jailed for life for murdering girlfriend Renee MacRae has been shifted to a new prison.
Frail Bill MacDowell was transferred from HMP Porterfield in Inverness to Glenochil this week because of his complex medical needs. A prison van left the Highland Capital early on Wednesday to travel to Clackmannanshire in a three-hour journey.
It is understood the Scottish Prison Service has been in discussion with medical authorities since the 81-year-old was setenced to life with a minimum of 30 years for the murders of Renee and his three year old son, Andrew, in November 1976. The killer suffers serious liver and kidney issues and needs round the clock care which Porterfield could not provide.
He had spent a large amount of time in Raigmore Hospital in Inverness under constant guard after being admitted there after beginning his sentence on September 30. He recently returned to Porterfield after a care plan for him was finalised.
Sources say he was an “awkward” patient and it is not clear if his wife, Rosemary, or his two daughters ever visited him. A source close to the prison and hospital said: “Preparations have been underway for some time for him to serve his sentence with a proper care plan in place. It was completed last week and arrangements were made to have him accommodated in Glenochil.”
The head of the reinvestigation into the murders, Det. Chief Inspector Brian Geddes, would not comment on the latest development. But he has previously indicated he is anxious to speak with the killer to try and find out where he disposed of the bodies.
However that meeting has been put on hold due to a pending appeal by MacDowell’s defence team against conviction. No date has yet been set but it is understood they must lodge their grounds by the end of this month.
Following the trial at the High Court in Inverness, MacDowell was also found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of Renee and Anddrew and their personal effects. Police have never found the bodies of the 36-year-old mother or her three-year-old son.
During the trial, the court heard MacDowell, of Penrith, Cumbria, killed or abducted Mrs MacRae and their son in a layby on the A9 near Dalmagarry, south of Inverness, on November 12, 1976. An SPS spokesman would not confirm the transfer, saying: “We do not comment on individual prisoners.”
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