A driver saw a man staring with “fear or panic” at the spot where the burned-out car of a woman thought to have been murdered with her son more than 45 years ago was found.
Jean Wallace told cops in 1977 that on the night in question she saw a lone man with a pushchair at a place she later located as the Dalmagarry lay-by on the A9.
Her statement was read out in the trial against William MacDowell, 80, at the High Court in Inverness.MacDowell, of Penrith, Cumbria, denies murdering his son, Andrew MacRae, three, and the child’s mum, Renee MacRae, 36, on November 12, 1976.Jurors heard Jean told police the man she saw was “bending over” the pushchair and had “one arm supporting some stuff heaped on the pram”, adding: “Whatever was on the pushchair was covered by clothing and overhanging the side of the pushchair.”As she and her husband drove past him, she told police: “The man turned, he looked directly towards me.
His eyes were wide and staring and I thought then this was not a natural stare and was caused by fear or panic.“This man’s staring was frightening me and I looked away.” Jean, who has since died, at the time told officers she asked her husband if there was something wrong with their car because she could smell rubber burning, the court heard.Renee’s BMW was found burned out in the lay-by that night.
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