Conspiracy Theorist?


By Paul Watson T


HIRTY years aſt er he died in mysterious circumstances nationalist fi rebrand Willie MacRae continues to cause controversy.


In April 1985 the SNP politician and anti-nuclear campaigner was found dying in his car on a lonely highland road with a single gunshot wound to the head.


Offi cially the death was recorded as suicide but it was believed by many at the time, and even more now, that it was murder.


If MacRae’s death was a suicide, the circumstances are bizarre to say the least. His car was found some distance from the road in what initially looked like a road traffi c accident. MacRae was unconscious, his hands folded in his lap and the gun he had been shot


Above:


Willie MacRae, SNP activist and Polititian, campaigning in the ‘80s to stop the disposal of nuclear waste in the Mullwharchar area of the Galloway Hills.


with was later found some 60ſt from the car. Documents and other items were missing from the vehicle.


Theories abound. If MacRae shot himself – why pack a bag for a weekend at his holiday cot age? Those who saw him leave Glasgow on the weekend of his death describe his mood as upbeat – happy. Friends and colleagues fi nd it diffi cult to believe that MacRae died by his own hand.


Playwright and actor Andy Paterson, whose acclaimed one


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