The Mysterious Death of Willie MacRae: Time For A Public Inquiry?

Background

The wreck of Willie MacRae's car

Twenty years ago today (6 April) the Glasgow lawyer Willie MacRae was found unconscious in his car by the side of Loch Loyne in the Scottish Highlands. At first seemingly the unfortunate victim of a car crash it later transpired that MacRae had in fact been killed by a gunshot wound to the head. Just one of a series of strange events that set the backdrop to MacRae's last fateful journey.

Willie MacRae had been an active campaigner for Scottish independence since the 1940s and a 'thorn in the flesh' of the British State. At the time of his death and for some years beforehand, MacRae had been heavily involved in various campaigns to prevent nuclear dumping in Scotland, including defeating Thatcher's plans for nuclear dumping at Mullwharchar.

The authorities have consistently refused to release any information about the case. Furthermore the results of the post-mortem investigation, and an alleged second internal police inquiry, have never been released. Had this 'accident' happened in England it would have been subject to a Fatal Accident Inquiry. However the Scottish establishement has simply brushed aside all such requests. For many this only raises more questions as to what they could possibly be trying to cover up.

The MacRae Inquiry

The MacRae Inquiry has been formed to resurrect the campaign for an independent Public Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding MacRae's death. Twenty years is far too long to wait to get to the truth.

Some of the Suspicious Circumstances

	Willie MacRae was found unconscious in his car, some distance from the road, on the morning of 6 April 1985. He never recovered.
	During the recovery of MacRae and his vehicle nobody found a gun, nor noticed a gunshot.
	MacRae's gun, with which he was said to have shot himself, was found over 24 hours later over 20 yards from the crash site, two bullets had been fired. The Lord Advocate would later claim that the gun was found beneath the door of the car, but this was contradicted by the policeman who found the gun, and by those involved in recovering MacRae from his car.
	A small pile of shredded receipts, a credit card and watch were found 15 yards from the crash site.
	He had planned to spend the weekend at his holiday home in Dornie working on a forthcoming book on the nuclear industry. The papers he was working on have never been recovered.
	MacRae is reported to have stated to friends shortly beforehand that, "I've got them" without releasing any details of who, or what, he had got.
	A list of three car number plates alleged to have been following MacRae prior to his death was supplied to a BBC journalist. One apparently didn't exist and another was a 'blocked vehicle' from one of the secret services.

Much of the above claims can at best only be described as circumstantial. But in a matter where there is no hard and fast evidence, e.g. no suicide note, then such evidence is all we have to go on. Whether the real story of what happened that night is ever known will remain to be seen. However we believe that all of these questions, and much more, can be addressed in the course of any impartial public inquiry.

Some Unanswered Questions for the 'Suicide Theory'

A pretty spot for a suicide?

The problem is that the lack of anything even remotely resembling a proper investigation to this case means that we are left with more questions than answers. The book "Britain's Secret War" highlighted some of these questions in 1990:

"While people die in car crashes and people do shoot themselves in cars in remote places, it is not even remotely credible that a man involved in an accidental car crash would then decide to commit suicide - unless, of course, the car crash was a deliberate suicide attempt. And, if it had been, why, knowing the road well, had he not chosen a steeper place where a clean death was more likely? "If I was going to do away with myself I'd have found a better spot. Along that road there are lots of gullies where you could put the car over and vanish for days," concluded the local ambulance driver.

The problem with the case is not the lack of clues but that there are simply too many clues: the car crash that didn't kill him; the gunshot which didn't kill cleanly; the gun itself being at least 20 yards from the car and yet McRae's hands being on his lap; the "neat pile" of papers where they could not have been put if the driver was unable to leave the car; the half-consumed half-bottle of whisky which had not smashed; no trace of alcohol - so often a feature of suicides - in McRae's bloodstream; the missing briefcase and the missing cigarettes - all clues pointing in different directions, all inconsistent with anyone theory. It is the very combination of all these clues which points inescapably to the conclusion that his death was planned -at least in part."

Plans for the 'MacRae Inquiry'

The purpose of the MacRae Inquiry is to resurrect the campaign for an Independent Public Inquiry into the death of Willie MacRae - ultimately leading to the reformation of the now defunct Willie MacRae Society to spearhead this campaign.

What You Can Do

The support you can give is critical. There are a number of things that you can do:

	Sign the petition http://www.petitiononline.com/macrae/
	Write to the Lord Advocate at Advocates Library, 21 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LA. calling for a public inquiry.
	Write to the First minister and the Justice Minister, at the Scottish Parliament HQ, Edinburgh EH1. e-mail them on scottish.ministers@scotland.gov.uk
	Inform other trade unionists, organisations and individuals about the campaign and ask them to pass resolution/ motions in support of a public inquiry.
	Write to your MSPS, MP and other elected representatives.

 

Get involved in the campaign

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