Tributes after ‘pivotal’ witness in Renee MacRae murder trial passes away

By David Love

A vital witness who helped bring double murderer William MacDowell to justice has died at the age of 85 - just two days after the 48th anniversary of the disappearance of Inverness’s Renee and Andrew Macrae.

Retired nurse Val Steventon was Renee's best friend and confidante who knew the building company owner's estranged wife was having a secret affair with her husband's company accountant.

When Renee failed to return from a hush-hush trip away with her lover due to begin on November 2, 1976, Val told police that MacDowell was the other man in Renee's life and he may have done her harm.

So began a four decades long search for the missing mother and son who, as yet, have never been found.

However in September 2022 MacDowell stood trial for killing Renee and Andrew despite the bodies never having been recovered and a jury convicted him of the murders.

Val's evidence was key to the prosecution, led by advocate depute Alex Prentice KC, who described her as "a very important witness in this case. To the extent I doubt there would be a case without her evidence."

The senior investigating officer in the final reinvestigation which resulted in MacDowell being found guilty was Detective Chief Inspector Brian Geddes.

On learning of Val's death, he said: "Valerie’s evidence and steadfast support of her friend over the decades was pivotal in ensuring that justice was ultimately delivered for Renee and Andrew Macrae.

"My thoughts and sympathies are with her family and friends."

Sadly, despite Val's desperation to see MacDowell stand trial and point the finger personally at him sitting in his wheelchair in the dock, she was unable to take to the witness box due to ill health.

However the numerous interviews she gave to the police and media proved crucial to the conviction as her statements were read out to the jury.

Val and I became good friends over the years as cold case reviews came and went, as searches of earth and flooded quarries proved fruitless and the pain that Renee and Andrew had not been found was evident on her face.

When MacDowell died a few months after being jailed for a minimum of 30 years, there was no pleasure in Val's face either. It meant that he took his grim secret of where he had placed the bodies to the grave - and she could not visit their place of rest.

Over the years, Val would conduct her own searches of possible places where Renee and Andrew may have laid. It was to the extent that at weekends, she and family members would seek out derelict cottages where they could have been hidden.

When she planted a tree in their memory at the Dalmagarry layby, where Renee's burning BMW was discovered, sparked the frustrating mystery of what happened to her and her son, she believed it would replace the gravestone she thought they would never have.

She was heartbroken when she returned to the lay-by some time later and discovered the tree had gone. She did not know if it had died or been removed but she took it hard, personally and emotionally.

A retired nurse like Renee's sister, Morag Govans, Val then worked in a silversmith's shop in Inverness's Victorian Market before retiring with her husband, Eric, affectionately known as "Steve". He died in 2022 after years of supporting her in her private quest for justice.

Her health deteriorated in her last few years, cared for by her daughter Kellie, grand-daughters Anna and Martha and latterly in the Lynmore Nursing Home in Grantown of Spey.

She is also survived by her older sisters, Joan and Patricia.

Kellie paid tribute to nursing home staff and to her mum who died there in the early hours of November 14.

"The care they provided mum was second to none,” she said. “We were all grateful for that as she deserved it. We watched the documentary about the trial with her over her last few days so we could see her - a wonderful lady, strong, sassy and gorgeous.

"She's with dad now and at peace. I can't quite believe that she is gone."

I will always remember Val as a strong, determined woman who would not allow her best pal or her son to be forgotten - and I admired her unwavering, steely commitment to seeing MacDowell be jailed before she died. She was remarkable.

Tragically, she never had the opportunity of visiting their graveside and maybe plant that tree which disappeared.

DCI Geddes, however, has not given up hope. This winter, he will meet with some members of his cold case team, review possible sites where they may have been hidden by MacDowell with the hope that the cop will place that final piece of the jigsaw, allowing "Case Closed" to be placed on the file.