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Fraser, Arlene April 28, 1998; Elgin Scotland 24 YO
Topic Started: Nov 30 2006, 10:26 PM (1,284 Views)
monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=263602003

'I think of Arlene always'
Sandra Dick

THE father of Arlene Fraser chooses his words carefully, methodically even, taking time and effort to make sure what he says is exactly what he means.

There is plenty he could have said before now about his daughter’s mysterious disappearance, her husband’s murder conviction and how being at the centre of a remarkable trial which gripped Scotland for weeks has left deep scars on his previously ordinary life.

But it is only now, almost five years after Arlene vanished from her Elgin home, that Hector McInnes trusts himself to speak out. Throughout the twists and turns of the Arlene Fraser mystery and in the aftermath of husband Nat’s murder trial, the voice of her devastated father has been barely heard.

"I just couldn’t speak about this," he explains, hunched low in his armchair in the living room of his comfortable Bonnyrigg home. "Still I can hardly bring myself to speak about it, even five years on. I’d get too emotional, I’d break down, I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t speak."

Arlene disappeared on April 28, 1998. She was last seen dropping her children off at school and Grampian Police were so baffled by her disappearance they launched a major missing person inquiry. But a year later, with still no sign of her, it became a full-scale murder hunt.

Ironically, during this time, Arlene’s husband Nat appeared in court charged with assault and attempting to murder her on a previous occasion. He pleaded guilty to the assault, the attempted murder charge was dropped and he served nine months of an 18-month sentence. It wasn’t until April 2002 that he, along with his friend Hector Dick, was charged with murder.

The fact that Arlene’s body has never been found meant this year’s trial made Scottish legal history. Lack of a corpse didn’t stop a jury convicting Fraser of murder after Dick turned Queen’s Evidence and told how Fraser hired a hitman to kill his wife.

The graphic details of how Arlene’s body may have been systematically dissected to the extent that even her teeth were ground into dust made for gripping courtroom drama _-_ it was standing room only during the trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

For Hector, however, this was much more than salacious detail. Shocked by events as they unravelled, he left the tearful public appeals to his elder daughter Carol and former wife Isabelle, fearful that the deep rage festering inside him might explode in public, jeopardising the fragile police case and doing no-one much good.

"There was a lot I wanted to say, but I felt I couldn’t. I needed time," he says.

His gaze turns towards an ornament perched in pride of place on a shelf in a display cabinet. It’s a figurine of an old man tending to his donkey. To most people it would be a mere knick-knack, yet to Hector it is worth its weight in gold.

"Arlene bought that for me on a visit to Blackpool when she was about 14 or 15 years old," he says fondly. "I was so chuffed at that. There are so many things that I look at and which make me think of Arlene. There’s never a day goes by that she's not in my mind."

He is haunted by what-ifs and might-have-beens: if only he and others had spotted the danger Arlene was in; if they could have seen past her husband’s charming Del Boy manners and spotted that her regular trips down to her father’s home in Preston, Lancashire, where Hector used to live, were an escape from her misery at home . . . perhaps things might have been different.

And Hector’s thoughts are haunted by vivid images of the possible last moments of Arlene’s life and how the lifeless body of his daughter - the little girl he held just hours after her birth - was callously disposed of.

"I remember the day she was born very clearly," he starts, his thoughts rewinding to 1964 and the married quarters at HMS Fulmar, the Royal Navy air station which is now RAF Lossiemouth.

Hector, originally from Dalkeith, was an aircraft mechanic there and already father to 20-month-old Carol when wife Isabelle announced in the early hours of August 18 that he had better call a taxi - and quickly.

"It was two or three in the morning and when the taxi came it was a woman driver," he recalls. "She laughed and said she was doing the maternity run. Arlene was born later that day, a quiet and very contented baby."

He was posted to Malta early in 1966, spending 15 months there before returning to Elgin. But the marriage ran into difficulties and by 1971 Hector and Isabelle had separated. Hector found himself posted south, ending up 700 miles away in Cornwall.

Despite the distance he made sure he kept in touch - the girls were regular visitors during school holidays. When he moved to Preston, the girls would travel south every few weeks to see their dad and enjoy the bright lights of nearby Blackpool.

It would have been easy for the family to drift apart, but father and daughters continued to spend as much time as possible together. Sometimes Arlene and Carol would meet their father halfway, staying with relatives in Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg and Mayfield. The strong bond continued into adulthood, with Hector and second wife Catherine regularly arranging summer holidays with Arlene and children Jamie and Natalie.

In fact, it was a telephone call to finalise arrangements for a trip to Salou in Spain that turned out to be the last time Hector spoke to his daughter.

"I called her on April 21 - a week before she went missing - and she sounded perfectly normal. We chatted about the holiday in July and she mentioned that her car had gone on fire and she was trying to get it repaired.

"I offered to drive up and give her a loan of one of our two cars but she wouldn’t hear it. It was typical Arlene - she didn’t want to make a fuss. It was only after she went missing that I saw the car - there was no way it could have been repaired and, of course, we started to wonder if its going on fire was an accident."

There was nothing, says Hector, to suggest Arlene was in any danger. "Maybe she didn’t want to worry anyone, or maybe she thought we were too far away in Preston to help, but she never suggested she was at risk.

"We knew Nat was a womaniser and a bit of a rogue and that Arlene had left him before to go to a women’s refuge, but it was only much later that we wondered if she had left because she was scared of him."

Such was Arlene’s apparent determination not to make a fuss and worry her father that she even kept secret from him the attack she had endured at her husband’s hands just a month before her disappearance.

"I only found out about that later. All she told me was that Nat had been ‘stalking’ her since they had separated, and I was planning to go up around Easter and find out what was going on."

It was April 28 when Catherine, 66, decided to give Arlene a quick call to finalise that trip north. "The phone just rang and rang," she recalls. "I kept trying, but apart from one spell when it was engaged, there was no one in."

Thinking nothing of it, Hector set off for nightshift at British Aerospace’s Preston works. It was 2.45am when Catherine was awoken by a telephone call. "It was Carol’s husband saying not to be alarmed, but Arlene was missing. The police would be coming to us to see if she was making her way to Preston." Hector arrived home from work convinced he would never see his daughter alive again. "I just knew," he whispers. "It wasn’t something Arlene would have done, she wouldn’t have left the kids, and even if she did want to get away she would have either come here or gone to her mum’s in Hamilton. It just wasn’t right at all."

It was the beginning of a five-year nightmare for Arlene’s family and friends, one which Catherine describes as "surreal". She and Hector brought forward their retirement plans, packing up their Preston home and moving north to Bonnyrigg to be closer to his family and the police investigation. They coped with endless probing questions from detectives and the grief of dealing with the loss of a daughter.

The trial was traumatic. Hector and his family sat through hours of gruesome evidence just yards from the man they once welcomed into their circle, the man now accused of murder simply because he didn’t want to give his wife a divorce.

He was found guilty by a majority verdict and Lord Mackay sentenced him to a life jail term, ordering that he should serve 25 years before being eligible for parole.

"I broke into sobs," recalls Catherine. "It was a mixture of sheer relief and all that stress that we’d all been living under for five years." But Hector sat stoney-faced, trying to come to terms with the unfolding events.

Even now, with Nat Fraser safely behind Saughton’s bars, there is still no end to their nightmare - and perhaps there never will be.

"I felt totally flat after the trial," recalls Hector. "I certainly didn’t feel that everything had come to an end. Perhaps there will be some feeling of that at the end of April, when we hold a memorial service on what will be the fifth anniversary of her going missing. But without her body . . ."

While the family says the tragedy has made their bond even stronger, it has had a devastating impact on Arlene’s two children, Jamie, 15 and Natalie, nine, who now live with Nat’s mother. While Natalie continues to see Arlene’s family, Jamie has steadfastly refused to believe his father’s guilt. "He is at a difficult age," sighs Hector. "Elgin is a small town and everyone knows who he is but he just wants to be normal and to blend in. We’d like him to be at the memorial service but we can’t force the children. He just needs time."

Which is what Hector has needed to finally find the words to describe the devastating loss of his daughter at the hands of a man he liked but now calls "a nonentity". "You can’t say you hate someone - to say that just tortures yourself. You start to hate yourself too."

After what they’ve been through, Hector and Catherine feel deeply for the family of Louise Tiffney, the Edinburgh mother who has been missing since last May. She left with no personal belongings after a row with her 19-year-old son Sean. Hector shakes his head. "All I can say to her family is, just trust the police, they are the only ones who can help, and take each day as it comes."

It’s a motto he lives by. Hector describes the past five years as being like living in a bundle of cotton wool, numbed by events and cocooned inside his own misery, unable to bring himself to speak out about his anger, grief and despair. "It has been very difficult to cope with," he says, sinking lower into his armchair. "Everything becomes black. It’s like living in a black haze and you don’t know really when it will end."

This article: http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=263602003

Last updated: 03-Mar-03 11:08 GMT
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotlan...ast/7361103.stm

Advertisement
The appeal judges deliver their verdict

Elgin man Nat Fraser has lost his appeal against a life jail term for killing his wife Arlene.

The 48-year-old was jailed in 2003 after being found guilty of murdering the 33-year-old.

The mother-of-two went missing in Elgin, Moray, in April 1998. Her body has never been found.

Arlene's relatives cried and hugged at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh and said they were "pleased". Fraser said his fight would go on.

As they emerged from the court, Mrs Fraser's mother Isabelle Thompson, father Hector McInnes, and sister Carol Gillies, smiled.



Nat Fraser leaves court after the appeal hearing
Mr McInnes, who also gave a thumbs-up, said: "We are pleased with the outcome. It has taken 10 years of our life. Unfortunately we have not found out about Arlene but he is where he deserves to be.

"He has given us a life sentence so he deserves a life sentence as well."

As he was led from the court building, Fraser told reporters: "The fight will go on, as will the fight to get to the truth."

Last year Fraser's defence team claimed that he had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

The prosecution case had included claims Arlene's engagement, wedding and eternity rings were placed in the bathroom of her house several days after she vanished.

'Compelling case'

Evidence later emerged that two police officers may have seen the rings in Arlene's house shortly after she disappeared.

However, the appeal judges said the original evidence against Fraser was overwhelming.




'Tell us what happened to Arlene'
Lord Gill said: "The circumstantial evidence alone constituted a compelling case against the appellant."

Fraser was led away, carrying a notebook, to begin the remainder of his sentence.

Grampian Police Assistant Chief Constable Jim Stephen said: "Today's result means that Nat Fraser will continue to pay for his crime. This must be a source of comfort to Arlene's family who have had to endure considerable pain and anxiety throughout the appeal period.

"Their support for Grampian Police has been unstinting and their patience and strength have been quite remarkable. We hope that in some way today's verdict will help them close one traumatic chapter of their lives.

"This outcome recognises the hard work and commitment of the Arlene Fraser inquiry team, which demonstrated, throughout, a commendable level of determination and professionalism in the face of a difficult and complex investigation."

Hunt for truth

Scotland's Solicitor General, Frank Mulholland QC, said: "I am pleased that the Appeal Court has today upheld Nat Fraser's conviction for the murder of his wife Arlene.

"This was an appalling crime and the decision of the Appeal Court will be a small comfort to Arlene's family that justice has been done. Our thoughts remain with Arlene's family at this time."

The appeal decision came just a few days after the 10th anniversary of Arlene's disappearance.




The wife and mother had waved her two young children, Jamie and Natalie, off to primary school on 28 April, 1998.

Her husband appealed for her to get in touch, but was later charged. He had a previous conviction for assaulting her.

Over the next decade, the case of her disappearance continued to capture the public's imagination as relatives and police sought the truth.

The trial began early in January, 2003.

It heard claims that Arlene's husband had hired a hit man to kill her, and then burned her body and ground up the remains.

He denied any involvement, but the jury found Fraser guilty of murder and he was jailed for a minimum of 25 years.

The case came to appeal in 2007.

The BBC's cameras were allowed into court on Tuesday to film the judges delivering their verdict, with the footage being broadcast on television and the BBC Scotland news website.


Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews...turn.4053442.jp

Fraser loses bid to overturn conviction in wife's murder


Nat Fraser, circa 2003. Picture: TSPL

NAT Fraser today failed in a bid to have his 2003 conviction for murdering his estranged wife quashed at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh.
Fraser's lawyers claimed he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice and argued that vital evidence casting doubt on his guilt was withheld from his defence team. But three senior judges ruled that his appeal against conviction should be refused.

The Lord Justice Clerk Lord Gill concluded that the proposed evidence of Pcs Neil Lynch and Julie Clark was not new evidence and that, even if it was, the verdict could not be regarded as a miscarriage of justice.

He said: "The circumstantial evidence alone constituted a compelling case against the appellant. There was evidence that he had motives for the crime. There was evidence of his previous malice and ill will towards the deceased."

Fraser was jailed for life in January 2003 after a jury convicted him of killing his estranged wife Arlene ten years ago.

Mrs Fraser was 33 when she disappeared from her home in New Elgin, Moray, after waving her two children off to school on 28 April 1998. Her body has never been found.

The disappearance led to one of the largest and most complex investigations ever mounted by Grampian Police, and resulted in a high-profile trial.

In 2003 the trial judge at the High Court in Edinburgh ruled that Fraser should spend a minimum of 25 years in jail before being considered for release. But Fraser walked free in May 2006, having been granted bail ahead of his full appeal. Judges took the step after hearing that the grounds of appeal were "compelling" in Fraser's case.

The trial heard Arlene's rings went missing on the day she disappeared, then turned up in the bathroom of her home nine days later. It was claimed her husband had placed them there, suggesting he had access to her body.

Fraser's defence team appealed against his conviction on the grounds that the evidence of two police officers – Julie Clark and Neil Lynch – who claimed to have seen rings in the house much nearer the time she went missing, was not disclosed to the defence or to the trial. But the appeal judges said the original evidence against Fraser was "overwhelming".

Fraser returned to prison in December 2007 after the convicted killer's bail was withdrawn at the end of submissions in his appeal.

Lawyers for Fraser claimed his trial had been a "farce".

Fraser, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler, had been facing a costly divorce settlement and was suspected by the police, but he had an unbreakable alibi. It was almost five years before he and two other men, Hector Dick and Glenn Lucas, now deceased, were put on trial. A few days into the case, the Crown dropped the charges against Lucas and Dick.

Dick then said Fraser had confided in him about hiring a hit-man to strangle Arlene, and claimed Fraser had admitted burning the body and crushing and scattering the remains.

In today's decision, Lord Gill said there was evidence of "preparatory acts" by Fraser in setting up an alibi.

The judge continued: "There was incriminating evidence in the events and circumstances and in the demeanour and the statements of the appellant immediately after the disappearance.

"In my opinion, the circumstantial evidence alone was not only sufficient in law to entitle the jury to convict, but was powerful in its effect."

Fraser tried to interject as the judges delivered their opinion, saying: "Excuse me, excuse me," while Lord Gill was speaking.

Fraser showed little sign of emotion as he was led away to continue his sentence.

Members of Mrs Fraser's family, including her father and sister also showed little sign of outward emotion as the opinion was delivered.

Speaking outside court, Grampian Police Assistant Chief Constable Jim Stephen, who was the senior investigating officer in the case, said: "Today's result is that Nat Fraser will continue to pay for his crime.

"This must be a source of comfort to Arlene's family who have had to endure considerable pain and anxiety throughout the appeal period.

"We hope that in some way today's verdict will help them close one traumatic chapter of their lives."

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Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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monkalup
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http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.as...25340?UserKey=0

Killer Nat Fraser returned to prison
Fraser judgment filmed
By Fiona McWhirter crime reporter

Published: 06/05/2008


VERDICT: Nat Fraser arrives at court today. Picture by Ciaran Donnelly
More Pictures
CONVICTED wife killer Nat Fraser was today returned to jail after his appeal was thrown out.

The 49-year-old's bid for freedom, claiming he had suffered a miscarriage of justice, was unanimously rejected by the Lord Justice Clerk Lord Gill, and Lords Osborne and Johnston.

He was found guilty of the murder of his estranged wife Arlene in 2003 and locked up with a minimum 25 year sentence.

The body of the 33-year-old has never been found.

Members of the New Elgin mum-of-two's family today smiled, cried and hugged each other after the judgement was delivered at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.

Peter Gray QC, acting for the convicted killer, said the new evidence from two police officers, which cast doubt on the Crown’s main theory about the murder, meant he did not get a fair trial.

Fraser claimed he suffered a miscarriage of justice because his defence lawyers were not made aware that constables Neil Lynch and Julie Clark had seen rings in Arlene’s house the night she disappeared.

The Crown had made the rings the cornerstone of their case, claiming Fraser must have removed them from his wife’s body and put them back in the house later.

The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh had heard from John Beckett QC, for the Crown, who claimed the officers’ evidence would have helped the prosecutor.

Mr Gray rejected suggestions the jury would have found him guilty if evidence about his wife’s rings had been available at his original trial.

Mr Gray said it was “wholly artificial” for appeal judges to consider what the Crown might have done had they been aware of all the evidence.

Fraser was released on bail for 18 months ahead of and during his appeal but was locked up again pending its outcome.

Television cameras were today to be allowed into the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh to film the judgment.


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Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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The full judgment is here

http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/2008hcjac26.html
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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Wednesday, 29 January, 2003, 15:51 GMT
Timeline: Arlene Fraser


The disappearance ended with a High Court trial

29 January 2003
The jury in the trial of businessman Nat Fraser has found him guilty of murdering his wife who went missing almost five years ago.
Husband guilty of Arlene murder
28 January 2003
Defence and prosecution lawyers in the trial of Nat Fraser, who is accused of murdering his wife Arlene, give their closing speeches to the jury
Closing speeches in murder trial

28 January 2003
Nat Fraser has three charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice against him dropped.
Arlene husband charges changed

27 January 2003
The husband of missing woman Arlene Fraser denies killing his wife out of greed as he finishes giving evidence at the High Court in Edinburgh. There is also a clash over evidence provided by key prosecution witness Hector Dick and detectives involved in the search for Mrs Fraser.
Arlene 'killed out of greed'

24 January 2003
Nat Fraser tells the court that he loved Arlene and did not murder her. He says the couple's relationship was "stormy at times" but he added that he still wanted her back when they split up in 1998.
Accused husband 'loved Arlene'

22 January 2003
Nat Fraser allegedly warned Arlene that she would "not live with anyone" if she left him. Marion Taylor tells the High Court in Edinburgh Arlene Fraser talked about the threat just days before going missing.
Claim husband warned Arlene

21 January 2003
Hector Dick denies that he killed Arlene. Mr Dick tells the High Court in Edinburgh that Nat Fraser had hired a hitman to kill his wife.
Arlene witness: 'I'm no killer'

20 January 2003
The husband of missing Elgin woman Arlene Fraser hired a killer to murder his wife and then disposed of her remains himself, witness Hector Dick tells the murder trial.
Arlene husband 'hired killer'


Hector Dick: Turned prosecution witness
20 January 2003
Hector Dick admits burning and crushing a car because of fears that it might be linked to the disappearance of Mrs Fraser.
Arlene witness 'crushed' car

14 January 2003
Two of the three men accused of plotting to murder Arlene Fraser have the charges against them dropped. In a dramatic development, the High Court in Edinburgh hears that the Crown would not be proceeding with charges against Hector Dick and Glenn Lucas.
Arlene murder charges dropped

10 January 2003
Three rings belonging to Arlene Fraser turned up in her bathroom more than a week after she disappeared. Mrs Fraser's stepmother, Catherine McInnes, said she found the wedding, engagement and eternity rings on a rail above the sink.
Rings 'found after disappearance'

9 January 2003
One of three men accused of murdering Arlene Fraser was "hanging about" outside her home a week before she disappeared, the court is told.
Arlene 'saw accused outside her home'

8 January 2003
The mother of Arlene Fraser confronted her son-in-law demanding to know what had happened, a High Court jury is told.
Arlene's mother quizzed son-in-law

7 January 2003
Arlene Fraser disappeared on the day she was due to see a solicitor about a divorce, the High Court hears.
Arlene murder trial opens


Nat Fraser on his wedding day
26 April 2002
Three men are indicted for the murder of missing mother Arlene Fraser. The Crown Office said the men involved were Arlene's estranged husband Nat Fraser, his friend Hector Dick and English businessman Glenn Lucas. They are all charged with conspiring to murder Mrs Fraser, murdering her and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
Husband charged with Arlene murder

20 June 2001
Hector Dick, one of the men charged with conspiring to murder Arlene Fraser, attempts to kill himself in custody.
Arlene accused attempts suicide

4 June 2001
A 49-year-old man is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice in connection with the Arlene Faser inquiry. Glenn Lucas, from Spalding in Lincoln, makes a brief appearance at Elgin Sheriff Court.
Man denies Arlene inquiry charge

2 April 2001
The husband of Arlene Fraser is jailed for 12 months after admitting legal aid fraud. Sheriff James Penman tells Nat Fraser it was a very serious crime and there is no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence.
Arlene husband jailed again

1 February 2001
A man who admitted trying to pervert the course of justice after a woman's disappearance is jailed for a year. Hector Dick had been accused of concealing the whereabouts of a car sought by detectives investigating the case of Arlene Fraser. Dick pleaded guilty to a charge of perverting the course of justice after being caught on video discussing the missing vehicle.
Arlene inquiry man jailed

9 January 2001
A farmer accused of trying to pervert the course of justice in connection with the disappearance of Elgin woman Arlene Fraser changes his plea to guilty. On the fourth day of a trial at Dingwall Sheriff Court, Hector Dick's defence counsel, David Moggach, says his client is pleading guilty to a slightly lesser charge.
Arlene inquiry man pleads guilty

3 January 2001
A Moray mechanic tells a court that he sold a car to a local farmer the night before Arlene Fraser disappeared. Kevin Ritchie claims he did the deal with Hector Dick of Mosstowie, near Elgin.
Arlene case car 'sold to farmer'

2 October 2000
A jury trial linked to the mystery disappearance of Arlene Fraser is postponed. Moray farmer Hector Dick had been due to face charges that he knew the whereabouts of a car which police believed was central to the investigation.
Arlene inquiry trial postponed

22 June 2000
A north-east farmer is accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice in the investigation into the disappearance of Elgin mother Arlene Fraser. Hector Dick from Mosstowie, near Elgin, was to appear at Elgin Sheriff Court on 21 August.
Man charged in Arlene inquiry

1 March 2000
Nat Fraser is jailed for 18 months for assaulting Arlene, who at this stage had been missing for almost two years. Mr Fraser is sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh after previously admitting a reduced charge of compressing his wife Arlene's neck to the danger of her life.
Arlene husband jailed


A huge search was launched days after Arlene Fraser's disappearance
9 February 2000
The family of Arlene Fraser said they are disappointed that an attempted murder charge against her husband has been dropped. Nat Fraser, 41, admits a reduced charge of assault by compressing his wife Arlene's neck to the danger of her life.
Arlene family 'sick' over dropped charge

12 November 1999
Nat Fraser appears at the High Court in Aberdeen charged with assaulting and attempting to murder her. The crimes are said to have taken place in the months before Mrs Fraser vanished from her home.
Missing woman's husband in court

28 April 1999
Arlene Fraser's family mark the anniversary of her disappearance with a new appeal for information. Arlene telephoned her children's school at 0941 BST on 28 April, 1998. She has not been heard of since.
New appeal in Arlene mystery

27 October 1998
The senior detective investigating the disappearance of Arlene Fraser said he believes she is dead and the victim of "something criminal". Detective Chief Inspector Peter Simpson said officers had found no evidence that Mrs Fraser, 33, was still alive.
Police fear missing mother is dead

28 April 1998
Arlene Fraser is last seen dropping her children off to school. Grampian Police admits it is baffled by the disappearance.
Search for missing mother stepped up

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2690847.stm
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://news.scotsman.com/arlenefrasermurde...sers.3498260.jp

Vital evidence on Arlene Fraser's rings 'kept from murder trial'


Nat Fraser at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh. His estranged wife vanished nearly a decade ago

« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryADVERTISEMENTPublished Date: 14 November 2007
By JOHN ROBERTSON
LAW CORRESPONDENT
CRUCIAL evidence which could have cleared Nat Fraser of murdering his estranged wife, Arlene, was withheld from him because of "extraordinary incompetence" by the Crown, it was alleged yesterday.
The man who had secured Fraser's conviction and life jail sentence also knew nothing of a statement by a policeman which had the potential to destroy his case, appeal judges were told.

Senior prosecutor Alan Turnbull, QC, said later that if the statement had been shown to him at the trial he would have fainted. The Court of Criminal Appeal heard the statement, taken in advance of the trial, had been passed to a procurator- fiscal to be followed up, but nothing was ever done.

Peter Gray, QC, for Fraser, 48, who claims he suffered a miscarriage of justice, told the court: "I do not suggest there was a cover-up, but there was an extraordinary degree of incompetence."

Mrs Fraser, 33, disappeared on 28 April, 1998, after seeing her two children off to school from the family home in New Elgin, Moray. Her body has never been found. Her estranged husband, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler, had been facing a costly divorce settlement and was suspected by the police, but he had an alibi.

It was almost five years before Fraser was put on trial.

A crucial part of the prosecution's case was that Arlene's engagement, wedding and eternity rings had vanished with her, but then turned up several days later under a soap dish in her home. Earlier that day, Fraser had been at the house to see his children.

The Crown insisted Fraser had had access to the body after the killing, had taken the rings and planted them in the house.

The evidence about the rings was described as the cornerstone of the prosecution's case, and the trial judge told the jurors that if they were not prepared to hold that it had been Fraser who placed them in the bathroom, they could not convict him.

Last year, it emerged that the defence had never been informed of evidence which suggested that the rings had been in the house on the day Mrs Fraser disappeared. The evidence was said to have come from police officers Neil Lynch and Julie Clark, who had attended the house. The Crown Office set up an inquiry, and Fraser was released on bail pending his appeal.

Yesterday, Mr Gray said Mr Lynch had given a statement in July 2002, six months before the start of the trial. He had mentioned seeing rings in the bathroom after Mrs Fraser had been reported missing. The Crown official who took the statement realised the importance of the information, and left a note with a draft copy of the statement on the desk of the then procurator-fiscal in Elgin, David Dickson.

Mr Gray told the court that Mr Dickson's position was that he had never seen the statement. He was unable to reconcile the fact that after the trial the statement was found in his file on the Fraser case.

"For whatever reason, the information given by PC Lynch on 3 July, 2002, was never followed up," said Mr Gray.

The prosecutor told the inquiry he first learned of it in 2005. He stated: "If, in the course of the trial, I had been shown Lynch's precognition, I honestly would have fainted, so inconsistent would it have been with my thinking and my view of the evidence."

The hearing continues.


OFFICER'S CLAIMS 'A RED HERRING'

THE appeal judges were told that PC David Alexander had been part of the original team investigating Arlene Fraser's disappearance, but he was taken off the inquiry and he raised a number of grievances with Detective Chief Superintendent Keith Wilkins.

One of these related to the rings.

Peter Gray, QC for Nat Fraser, said PC Alexander's belief was that Det Sgt William Robertson had removed the rings from the house, kept them for some days in his drawer and had then returned them to the house, where they were found by a relative of Mrs Fraser. The source of PC Alexander's information had been a colleague, Det Sgt David Slessor, who had later taken his own life.

When one of the appeal judges suggested that this aspect might be a red herring in the case, Mr Gray agreed that Fraser was not basing his appeal on anything said by PC Alexander.

"I simply put it in as part of the background," said Mr Gray.

He added that two officers who were said to have seen rings in the house on the day Mrs Fraser vanished had reported that each had been told by Det Sgt Robertson that they must be mistaken.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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monkalup
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http://news.scotsman.com/arlenefrasermurde...ence.3587175.jp

'Missing statement' refutes police evidence



« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryPublished Date: 05 December 2007
By JOHN ROBERTSON
LAW CORRESPONDENT
JUDGES in the Nat Fraser appeal were stunned yesterday by a "significant development" which prompted one of them to comment: "Curiouser and curiouser."
Both defence and prosecution lawyers in the appeal had believed two new witnesses had not given statements to Fraser's original legal team before his 2003 trial.

However, in the last few days, statements have been found by accident, the Court of ADVERTISEMENTCriminal Appeal in Edinburgh was told. They were among the volumes of case papers held by the defence, filed in a totally separate area of evidence.

The Crown has already questioned the reliability of the evidence of the two witnesses, a former policeman and a serving officer, and yesterday's twist could expose them to further criticism. The court heard that both insisted they never gave statements to the defence.

Fraser, 48, was convicted at his trial of instigating the murder of his estranged wife, Arlene, 33, who disappeared from her home in New Elgin, Moray, in April 1998. A cornerstone of the prosecution's case related to Mrs Fraser's engagement, wedding and eternity rings.

The jury was told, those had vanished with her but had reappeared in the house several days later, when Fraser was visiting his children. The allegation was that he had returned them, showing he had had access to the body.

After the trial, however, it emerged that Neil Lynch, now retired but a constable at the time, had given the Crown a pre-trial statement in which he said he had seen rings in the house on the night Mrs Fraser was reported missing. The statement was left on the desk of the local procurator-fiscal - who said later he had never seen it - and no follow up action was taken, nor was the information disclosed to the defence.

A second officer, PC Julie Clark, said she too had seen rings that night.

Fraser claims he suffered a miscarriage of justice and his appeal is based on the evidence of the witnesses. As the hearing resumed, Peter Gray, QC, for Fraser, announced that there had been a "significant development" over the weekend.

He said: "On Friday evening, it was discovered that, contrary to the belief of PC Lynch, contrary to the belief of PC Clark, contrary to the belief of the advocate depute and certainly contrary to my belief and those instructing me, PCs Clark and Lynch were precognosced [examined beforehand] by solicitors acting on behalf of [Fraser] at the time of the trial."

Mr Gray explained that Fraser's current legal team was different from his team at the trial and his original solicitor had said no statement was taken from PC Clark or Mr Lynch.

One of the judges, Lord Johnston, remarked that it seemed the solicitor was someone else who had forgotten. He added: "Curiouser and curiouser."

Mr Gray said the current solicitor, John Macaulay, had been searching through the case papers when he came to a file which related to lip-reading evidence. That evidence, as it turned out, had never been led at the trial.

"In that file, there were a number of statements and precognitions which had nothing to do with that subject. They were loose and fell out. Mr Macaulay put them back in and put the file to one side, but then looked back at them again and, on doing so, came upon the precognitions of Clark and Lynch," said Mr Gray. He added there was no mention of rings in either statement.

The hearing continues.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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monkalup
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http://news.scotsman.com/arlenefrasermurde...cing.3540033.jp

Detective in Fraser case 'facing action'



« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryPublished Date: 23 November 2007
By JOHN ROBERTSON
LAW CORRESPONDENT
INDIVIDUALS who have been severely criticised in the Nat Fraser case could have action taken against them, it was revealed yesterday.
A detective and a procurator-fiscal have featured heavily, and an assurance was given to the appeal court that the Crown will examine their conduct.

John Beckett, QC, for the Crown, said he conceded the policeman had acted "entirely inappropriateADVERTISEMENTly" to a witness, and he found it hard to square the fiscal's involvement with a missing piece of evidence.

Fraser, 48, of New Elgin, Moray, is challenging his conviction and life sentence for instigating the murder of his estranged wife, Arlene, 33. She disappeared in 1998, and her body has never been found. A crucial part of the prosecution's case related to Mrs Fraser's engagement, wedding and eternity rings. It was alleged the rings had vanished with her and then appeared in her home several days later, when Fraser had visited his children. It showed he had had access to the body, the Crown contended.

However, following the trial, it emerged that a constable, Neil Lynch, had given a pre-trial statement saying he had seen rings in the house the night Mrs Fraser was reported missing.

The appeal court has heard that the statement was left on the desk of David Dickson, the then procurator-fiscal at Elgin, who said he had never seen it.

No follow-up action was taken on the information about the rings, nor was it disclosed to the defence at the trial. During an inquiry, Mr Lynch had faced a "robust interrogation" by Detective Constable Andrew Wright and a colleague, but insisted he was correct that he had seen rings in the house that night. He ordered the officers out of his home.

"They returned for no purpose other than to seek to break him down... he accepted he may have been mistaken after all," Peter Gray, QC, for Fraser, alleged to the appeal judges.

The court has heard that Mr Dickson had been unable to reconcile his position of having never seen the document with the fact it was found, second from the top, in his papers.

Yesterday, Mr Beckett said: "I acknowledge DC Wright did not behave well."

He said the Crown had carefully considered the conduct of individuals, including Mr Dickson, but it had been impossible to reach a clear view.

"The Crown has taken the view that the interests of justice require a resolution of the appeal takes precedence... the circumstances will be reconsidered after the appeal hearing."
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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Arlene Fraser: 'Surely the guilt of what he did will always be there...'


MURDERED: Arlene Fraser

« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryADVERTISEMENTPublished Date: 01 May 2008
By SANDRA DICK
HE has grieved for his daughter Arlene Fraser for ten years, yearning for the day when her body might be found.
Now Hector McInnes, father of the murdered mother-of-two, has to face more emotional turmoil – the possibility that within weeks the husband convicted of her murder might walk free.

Today the 69-year-old grandfather is at his Bonnyrigg home, braced for news of when the next stage of Nat Fraser's appeal against his conviction might begin.

On Monday he travelled to Elgin, for a sombre family gathering to mark ten years since the 33-year-old disappeared from her home in the town. Family and friends were determined to draw strength from each other and remember the young mother's life.

"I suppose everything that's happened has come to just grow on us," says Mr McInnes, who lives in Harmony Street, Bonnyrigg, with his second wife Cathie, 71. "To be perfectly honest, the tenth anniversary wasn't as bad as the first or the second – those were very hard to bear.

"Besides, I did a lot of my grieving for Arlene when she died and then I grieved for myself too. Now I choose to just remember her."

Arlene disappeared on April 28, 1998, after waving her children off to school – on the day she was due at talks with her lawyer about a £250,000 divorce settlement. A nationwide search yielded nothing. Her husband Nat had attacked her before, yet he coolly went on television to appeal for her return.

Five years later he was in the dock of the High Court in Edinburgh, accused of paying a hitman to strangle Arlene and dispose of her body by dismembering, burning and scattering her remains. He was sentenced to serve at least 25 years of a life sentence.

But instead of the conviction bringing Mr McInnes's anguish to an end, his grief continues. Fraser's appeal began last year – the next stage in the hearing is expected to begin within weeks. "We've been told the appeal is imminent, so we can't make any plans to do anything," says Mr McInnes.

Fraser had enjoyed 20 months of freedom pending the appeal hearing, only to be returned to prison in November.

Today Mr McInnes revealed how he stoically refused to let his emotions spill over as he came face-to-face with his daughter's killer in the court corridors.

"Thankfully we didn't see him when he was out of jail, apart from in the corridor. I would just say 'Good morning' and he'd reply the same," said Mr McInnes.

"It stuck in my throat a bit but I kept reminding myself that it's him that has all the problems, that he is obviously a sick man."

The case against Fraser was one of Scotland's most high-profile court hearings. It hinged on the discovery of Arlene's rings, said to have been missing from the home at the start of the police investigation into her disappearance, only to appear later in the bathroom. The prosecution argued that this showed Fraser had access to her body, had removed the rings and returned them later to the house. But appeal court judges have heard claims the rings were seen by a police officer during the initial search, whose statement was never passed to prosecutors or defence agents prior to the trial. Fraser claims he did not receive a fair trial.

"Obviously we are apprehensive about the outcome of the appeal," admits Mr McInnes. "It is all about procedure, lawyers saying to each other that one didn't tell the other one this or that.

"I can't believe he could be released on a technicality like that. Surely the guilt of what he did is always going to be there."

Had she lived, Arlene would have been 43 years old, probably divorced and enjoying a "new life", her father adds. "She had started college, was talking about becoming a travel agent, working with computers and doing business studies," he says. "She could have gone on to do anything. So of course you wonder sometimes what she would be like now."

The hardest burden of all for the family is the mystery over where Arlene's remains may lie. "It would be nice to find out Arlene is lying at peace in the Moray countryside," says Mr McInnes.

"But will her body ever be found? I really do not know."
http://news.scotsman.com/arlenefrasermurde...uilt.4039478.jp
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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monkalup
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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn41...01/ai_n14610200

Troubling tales of sex, drugs and inf idelity In Arlene Fraser's
Sunday Herald, The, May 1, 2005 by JEAN RAFFERTY
E-mail Print Link IT catches your eye as soon as you walk through the door of WH Smith's bookstore in Elgin. Several hundred copies of a new book on the Arlene Fraser case, Murdered Or Missing? , are on display. Some are stacked up, some fanned out in semicircles, Arlene's fragmented face just discernible through the letters of the title.

Earlier this week the store, driven by deep concern for local sensitivities, cancelled a signing session by the book's co- authors, Reg McKay and Glenn Lucas.

Perhaps the resultant publicity will increase sales.

Today (Thursday), as the book is published, few Elgin bibliophiles even glance at it.

Related Results
ARLENE TRIAL: EVIDENCE...
OUR UNDYING HOPE
Fraser case calls...
THREE RINGS THAT WILL...
CO-ACCUSED WHO HELPED... Why they are spurning the book when many of them have been avidly reading extracts from it in a tabloid newspaper is - like most things connected with the Fraser case - puzzling. On April 28, seven years ago, 33-year-old Arlene disappeared from her home. There was no sign of a struggle, not a scintilla of forensic evidence was found in the house. She had simply vanished. Five years later, her husband Nat Fraser was convicted of her murder, though her body has never been found.

The central message of Murdered Or Missing? is that local farmer Hector Dick lied in court to save his own skin; that Nat Fraser is innocent; and that Arlene Fraser is not even dead but missing. Much of it is based on circumstantial evidence so flimsy it wasn't even used in court by the defence: for example, one friend said that Arlene had shown her a false passport and a pile of cash, her "rainy day money" supposedly for an as-yet-unplanned escape from her bad marriage. The same friend's daughter claimed to have seen Arlene at drugs parties in Buckie and Cullen, although she had severe Crohn's disease and was not physically capable of consuming drugs.



Some Elgin people object to the book because they dislike "muck- raking", others because they dislike people making money from human sadness. Everyone I speak to agrees that the publication date, on the very day that Arlene Fraser was legally declared dead, is cynical to the point of bad taste.

For a long time following Arlene's disappearance, it looked as though no charges would ever be laid.

No body was produced; police investigations made little headway. Not until five years - and [pounds]2million - later were murder charges brought against Nat Fraser and two of his friends, Hector Dick and Glenn Lucas. Only when Hector Dick turned Queen's evidence and spoke out against his former friend, did the Crown obtain a conviction; the charges were dropped against Dick and Lucas. Nat Fraser collapsed in the dock as he was sentenced to serve at least 25 years. He was later reported to have said that he considered the sentence "a wee bittie harsh".

"I think he was still doing his local yokel act, " says Michelle Scott, a close friend of Arlene who was supposed to meet her for lunch on the day she disappeared. "He underestimated the number of people that thought well of her, " adds Marion Taylor, also a close friend. When I meet them, the two women are preparing for a charity night out. They are carefully dressed and look nothing like the drug abusers Hector Dick had accused Arlene's friends of being.

I met Dick earlier in the day, wearing his blue overalls and driving a tractor, his black dog at his side. In pictures he looks thuggish and dull, but in person his skin has the ruddy glow of health and his eyes are clear and blue. He says he is angry at the drugs allegations in Glenn Lucas's book. Arlene didn't take drugs, though her friends did, he says.

Some local people suggested Dick and Arlene had had some sort of relationship, though if that were so, it was a very odd one; here he is protecting her reputation from the charge of drug-taking, yet he claims to have listened to Nat Fraser discussing murdering her without making any attempt to protect her. "She didn't fancy him, " says Marion Taylor flatly, though he may have fancied Arlene; her sister Carol reported that Arlene had phoned her one morning because Hector Dick was sitting outside the house, frightening her.

The day before we meet, Dick gave a long interview to a tabloid newspaper with whom he previously had a financial arrangement. (It was investigated by the Press Complaints Commission at the end of the trial. ) Today he says he is "tired" of talking about it. He denies ever having sat outside Arlene's house. "Arlene was a bedbug. I saw her in the mornings maybe only five times in 10 years, " he tells me, ignoring the fact she disappeared somewhere between 9.40am and 10am, having already phoned her children's school.

The media consensus has been that Elgin, a tightknit community, is closing ranks and protecting its own because of the book's portrayal of Arlene not only as a sexually active young woman who pursued other partners when her marriage failed, but as some kind of party animal who roamed the wilder fishing towns of the northeast, seeking drugs and excitement. In fact, Marion Taylor says, she wasn't fit enough for such activities. "They got people to say she went to parties in Buckie, that she was with this man and that man, was a drug taker and alcoholic.

It's ridiculous. She got sick after two drinks. Nat accused her of having relations with everybody, even females. He told the police a heap of lies."

"He put it about that she was on drugs, " adds Michelle Scott. "But she was waiting for an operation. That's what made her so thin. I don't know when she was supposed to be going to the parties.

Through the week she was with her kids. You'd go round and she'd be with Jamie and Natalie, doing their homework. The only time she went out was Saturday night and then she was with us."

Nat Fraser battered Arlene so badly six weeks before she disappeared that the blood vessels in her eyes and neck were broken. He was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 18 months in jail. Many local people saw her afterwards. "She was a mess then, " says the local butcher, a jolly-faced man whose shop is a few doors from Arlene's house.

"You dinnae ken what goes on behind closed doors."

That is particularly true in Smith Street, where the Frasers' bungalow is tucked away at the back. One local man says he was actually in the street the day she disappeared but heard nothing. In a way that's surprising, because there are people constantly coming and going along the street. "It was a gorgeous day, " he recalls. "I was standing down there chatting.

Whatever happened must have passed me."

An acquaintance of Nat Fraser, he says he'd been at his accountant's when Fraser came in after being charged with murder. "He wasn't worried at all. It's always in the back of your mind; you're thinking, Nat, did you do it or not? But all he said was, 'Fine day.



How are you getting on?'" People in Elgin have always been divided as to Nat Fraser's character. On the surface he is cheery and affable, an unashamed Jack-the-lad who ran a fruit and vegetable business, played in a band and generally took what one local called "short cuts where a buck was to be made". The media portrayed him as one of the most eligible men in Elgin - rich, handsome and attractive - but he was certainly not rich.

"He still owes me 50 quid, " says his acquaintance.

He spent a huge amount of time pursuing women on his delivery runs yet was obsessively jealous of Arlene. Even at his own trial he reportedly tried to get hold of the phone number of a juror who looked like her. "You'd think he was the nicest man you could meet, " says Marion Taylor. "But Arlene would tell you different. She used to say he never even knew his own kids. He was never there. He was always out working or playing in his band."

Media interest in Arlene Fraser was always sharpened by the fact that she was a mother. Of the 10,000 people who go missing in the UK every year most go unnoticed, except by family and friends, but Arlene's disappearance was high profile from the start.

Young, blonde, pretty and vivacious, she was portrayed as the perfect young mum. Arlene was frail because of her illness and unhappy because of her husband's violence and jealousy, but she doted on her kids. That's what kept her going, according to her friends. When she went into a refuge, she took them with her, and when Nat attacked her so viciously it was her children she thought of. "She wouldn't have gone away and left her kids, " says Michelle Scott.

She'd have taken them with her."



Despite the banned signing, the people of Elgin appear indifferent to what many consider the selfserving contents of the current book. Most simply believe Arlene is dead; that if the authors really wanted to contribute to our understanding of Arlene's case they might find out where the remains of her body are hidden.

Elgin's cemetery is ordered and pretty, pink with cherry blossom. It would not be a good thing if Arlene were to lie here; she was too young to die, too much loved. But how much better here than nowhere?

Murdered Or Missing? is published by Black & White, 9.99

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Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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monkalup
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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn41...01/ai_n14610198

'I like to think that, right now, she's lying on a beach in some
Sunday Herald, The, May 1, 2005 by VICKY ALLAN
E-mail Print Link THIS is what Glenn Lucas likes to imagine happened to Arlene Fraser on April 28, 1998. After waving goodbye to her children, Jamie and Natalie, she got dressed, put on her make-up and prepared for the day. She phoned the school to check when her son Jamie would be back from a trip to Inverness.

At some point after this, she packed the spare passport she had under an alternative name and the money she had secretly stored, and prepared to leave. She did not take her Crohn's disease medication or any clothes. She simply walked away from her Elgin home.

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ARLENE TRIAL: EVIDENCE WAS KEPT FROM JAILED HUBBY
OUR UNDYING HOPE
Fraser case calls justice into question . . . again
THREE RINGS THAT WILL FREE NAT FRASER THE COURT CASE It was his
CO-ACCUSED WHO HELPED SEAL FRASER'S FATE Maybe she got in a car with a boyfriend, perhaps she used some other form of transport, but Arlene Fraser then disappeared, never to contact her family again. "I like to think, " says Lucas towards the end of his book, Murdered Or Missing? , "she breezed through an airport some place flashing her passport under her new name. I like to think that, right now, she's lying on a beach in some sunny land and she's happy. Until I know otherwise, Arlene isn't dead for me. I like to think she's missing."

It's a very different proposal from the one heard in court in 2003. Nat Fraser, Arlene's husband, was convicted of murdering his 33-year-old wife. According to his friend, Hector Dick, he had paid a hitman [pounds]15,000 to kill her and disposed of the body by burning it and grinding up her remains, even her teeth.

Dick knew this because Fraser had confessed to him while they were driving together. He also knew Fraser had cleaned up the house, wiping away any evidence.



Both these accounts seem to strain the limits of credibility. Would an apparently loving mother really leave her children voluntarily? Would she attempt to start a new life, without her vital medication? On the other hand, why was there no DNA or other forensic evidence of a struggle at the Fraser family home? Why involve a hitman then dispose of the body yourself?

Crime-writer, Reg McKay, who co-wrote Murdered Or Missing? with Lucas and accompanies him during our interview, recalls following the Arlene Fraser murder trial in the press and feeling that there had been a wrongful conviction. "I don't know if Arlene is dead or if she's alive, " he says. "But I do want to expose things that have happened that were never revealed at the trial. I was absolutely convinced that Nat Fraser should not have been convicted."

At the time of Arlene Fraser's disappearance, Glenn Lucas, a fruit and vegetable trader, was managing a greengrocery supplier in the town of Elgin. A public school-educated Englishman, he was friends with Nat Fraser, who was in the same business. Lucas is unselfconscious and a little politically incorrect. He boasts, for instance, of having travelled the world yet not learning any foreign languages: "If anyone speaks to me they can speak in English, we used to have an empire."

Though now wed, he has been in his time a selfconfessed "shagger" and talks of how he was once asked if he would have murdered Arlene. "No, " he replied, "but I would have shagged her".

In 2003, he was charged with "conspiracy to murder". He, Hector Dick and Nat Fraser stood accused of hiring a hitman to kill Arlene, then disposing of her body. Lucas was alleged to have been involved in contacting the hitman, Dick in obtaining a car - a beige Ford Fiesta - to dispose of the body. The main evidence against Lucas was a soundless videotape of him talking to Nat Fraser in Porterfield prison, which a forensic lip-reader interpreted to include comments from Fraser such as "her arms are off" and "I pulled her teeth out". This interpretation has been disputed. It was only when Dick made his revelation about Fraser's confession to him, that the charges against Lucas were dropped. Yet, he still feels tainted.

"If you go on Google and put in Glenn Lucas, you find - 'Charged with chopping-up, dismembering, grinding down of teeth.' That will be there forever."

It's difficult to get a straightforward answer from Lucas. It's not that he evades the question; rather, he appears to find it impossible not to wander off the point. I ask him repeatedly why he wrote the book.

Each time he steers on to a different anecdote. There is the one about the day he was taken from his home by the police and driven to Aberdeen, handcuffed and thinking: "They must be trying to scare me."

There is the one about his Russian girlfriend (now his wife) who was taken in for questioning then sent back to Russia. There is the one in which his lawyers took a trip to Applecross to re-enact his movements and stopped off to stay at a hotel. At the time he joked that he planned to write a book and the hotel bill would be set against the royalties.

The book has ignited controversy. Arlene's family have accused Lucas of insensitivity and moral corruption. Its timing - published on the anniversary of her disappearance - seems callous, and book signings at WH Smith's in Elgin were cancelled following objections. In his defence, Lucas argues that April 28 is significant for him too: the start of his own little strand of the nightmare. "The book, " he says, "is about me. It is not about Arlene's family. It's about what happened to me and how I want to find out the truth."

The book's depiction of Arlene's character is rather different from the dutiful housewife described in court. It dredges up stories of affairs, accusations of drug-taking, parties. "Arlene was no angel, " writes Lucas. "And who could blame her? Her marriage was on the rocks, she was young, intelligent and full of energy. Why shouldn't she have a life?"

There is, I suggest, a fair bit of muck-raking.

"Truth-raking, " McKay corrects. The Arlene of Murdered Or Missing? is a flirt who didn't like housework. Lucas lists quotes from anonymous men claiming to have gone out with Arlene or had drinks with her - one says he had "a wee thing going on".

There is the story, too, that Nat told Lucas during a prison visit, about the night he tried to strangle Arlene, for which he was convicted of attempted murder. "She didn't deny being with a guy but refused to name him, " Fraser said. "I pestered, getting angry and burning up with jealousy. And she says, 'Want to know who I was with? I'll tell you. I was with the biggest cock in Elgin'." Her husband then grabbed her by the neck."

"Anybody would have done, " says Lucas.

"No, not anybody, " corrects McKay.

"I don't condone it and I never did, " insists Lucas.

"But I know when I speak to Nat's mum, she says the only time she ever recalled Nat having a fight was with his sister when they were little kids."



It's not hard to see why Arlene's family might object to these stories. Even Hector Dick has commented that: "Arlene does not deserve to be portrayed the way she is in this book." But then, nobody is a caricature and, as McKay points out: "Arlene wasn't just the simple quiet, home-loving mother that she was portrayed, and so what? She was a lovely, vivacious lady who was free." McKay is keen to depict a fuller more inflected story of the Frasers and the world in which they lived.

"I'm from Keith, " he says, "which is 17 miles down the road. I know the kind of communities, I know they're highly sexualised, highly roguish communities."

To the objection that Arlene would be unlikely to walk out on her children, McKay counters: "Many do." Lucas argues that, while a loving mother, Arlene was feeling the lows of a disintegrating marriage. In his book, he quotes an anonymous friend of Arlene's saying she had said: "Yes, I could just leave the kids."

But what about the other question marks around her disappearance? There is, for instance, her Crohn's medication. Lucas claims that she could have paid a doctor and bought medication anonymously. Then there's the condition the house was left in: vacuum plugged in, no note, make-up bag left open, no indication that she had done anything other than step out for a moment. McKay believes this is no reason to discount her leaving.

McKay and Lucas argue that, though Arlene's parents and her sister have objected to the book, Nat's family - his mother, sister and two children (who live with his mother) - are behind it. Copies of the book have been sent to all the family, including Arlene's parents and sister and the authors hope at some time they will meet with them. "Here we have a family, " says McKay, "who must grieve dreadfully for their daughter, and who have sat through a terrible trial and heard hellish things - most of which we prove, I think, to be pulp fiction. Uncertainty is always more difficult to live with than certainty. Even when you suspect the certainty isn't true. In the longer term isn't it better that the truth is revealed?"

One clear accusation underscores the book: that the police and Crown prosecution withheld evidence. Lucas accuses them of "trying to frame me . . . for 20 years." He believes that the police and Crown ignored certain contradictory evidence - including the transcript of a police interview with a friend of Arlene who said Arlene had shown her a box containing a "huge wodge of money" and two passports, one in an alternative name.

Hector Dick recently suggested that the book was really just words from the lips of Nat Fraser. "Here we are seven years on and Lucas is still his ardent lieutenant, just a mouthpiece, still battling for his pal."

Certainly, Lucas likes to see himself as a possible "saviour" of Fraser. "I still believe Nat's a nice guy.

He's a gentle guy. He did not want to bad-mouth Arlene and he never did in the court. That was to his detriment. He refused to for the sake of the children."

But what of Lucas's fond supposition that Arlene is just missing? He conjectures that she might have decided to leave for a few days, never realising that "the s**t would hit the fan" in such a big way. "As it got worse, she couldn't come back, " he continues. "She'd be hated, detested, so she would have to switch off. I would like to think that's what happened. I don't know.

I don't think Hector, or Nat, in my opinion, or anybody I know is bright enough . . . to do the perfect murder."

Is there anything to his theory? Unless Arlene comes back - from the dead or her "sunny beach" - we will never know. That was always the problem:



for the police, for Arlene's family . . . perhaps even for Nat Fraser. And, so the truth-raking continues.

Copyright 2005 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish...86908-20397494/

Nat Fraser can rot in jail, says mum of Arlene Fraser
Apr 28 2008 By Charlie Gall

THE mother of murdered Arlene Fraser has called for her son-in-law to "rot in jail" 10 years after her daughter's disappearance.

Isabelle Thompson spoke out as the family wait for an appeal court decision on whether Arlene's husband Nat Fraser must serve the rest of his 25-year sentence.

As her family gather in Elgin, Moray, on a private 10th anniversary pilgrimage, the man convicted of Arlene's murder is awaiting a court ruling - expected next week.

But Isabelle, of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, said: "I am quite happy he's in jail. I don't care how long it takes for the judges to come back.

"Every day you read about paedophiles, murderers and rapists getting out on some technicality so I don't believe anything until it happens.

"If Nat Fraser walks free, it will be because of the system, some loophole.

"I hope they leave him where he is - let him rot there."

Arlene, 33, vanished from her Elgin home on April 28, 1998, shortly after waving her two children off to school.

Her remains have never been found.

Cheating husband Fraser, a successful fruit and vegetable wholesaler, quickly became the prime suspect.

He had been charged with a vicious Mother's Day attack on Arlene a month before.

Her disappearance led to Grampian Police's biggest criminal investigation.

Fraser and friends Hector Dick, a local farmer, and businessman Glenn Lucas were eventually charged with conspiracy to murder.

But at a High Court trial in 2003, the charges against Dick and Lucas, who has since died of a heart attack, were dropped. Dick became a prosecution witness and said Fraser told him he'd hired a hitman to bump off his wife, who wanted to divorce him.

Fraser was eventually found guilty of murder and the disposal of her body.

But he launched an appeal, claiming prosecutors withheld vital evidence.

However, Arlene's family are convinced of his guilt and that her body is somewhere in Moray.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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Rings found after woman disappeared
(UKPA) – 1 day ago
Three rings belonging to a missing woman appeared in her home more than a week after she vanished, a murder trial has heard.

The engagement, wedding and eternity rings were found on a dowel in Arlene Fraser's bathroom.

Catherine McInnes, who is married to Mrs Fraser's father Hector McInnes, said everybody was shocked and surprised by the discovery she made nine days after Mrs Fraser vanished.

Mrs Fraser's estranged husband Nat was in the house at the time the rings were spotted, the High Court in Edinburgh heard. Fraser, 53, is on trial accused of murdering his wife, who vanished from her home in Smith Street, New Elgin, Moray, on Tuesday April 28 1998. He denies the charges against him.

Mrs McInnes told the trial she searched Mrs Fraser's home in the days after her disappearance in a hunt for clues about what could have happened to the missing mother-of-two. At that stage, she did not see the wedding, engagement and eternity rings in the house and agreed that, if she had spotted them, she would have viewed the find as significant.

Mrs McInnes told the court: "I would have given them to police because they were expensive."

The witness also said she took on responsibility for cleaning the bathroom, which was used regularly, and had not seen the rings on those occasions. Mrs McInnes said she initially removed the rings before telling Mrs Fraser's stepfather Bill Thompson about her discovery.

The court also heard she told police the rings were not visible in a video recording made of the Elgin house the day after Mrs Fraser vanished.

Earlier, the court heard claims the Frasers' marriage was in trouble by the mid-1990s and that Fraser did not seem distraught after his wife disappeared.

The trial continues.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/a...01336736808052A
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://news.stv.tv/north/99132-man-implica...he-disappeared/
Arlene Fraser 'thought her husband was bugging her phone calls'STV 10 May 2012 12:05 BST

Nat Fraser: On trial accused of murdering his wife 14 years ago.SWNS
Facebook Tweet Google Arlene Fraser was worried that her husband was bugging her telephone calls and the pair slept in separate beds, a court has heard.

Nat Fraser once offered his wife £30,000 to "go away" but then threatened to leave her without a penny, her solicitor told the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday.

Loanne Lennon told the trial that Mrs Fraser had contemplated divorce as early as 1990, only three years after her marriage.

She sought advice from lawyers in 1990, and again in 1994, the court heard.

Fraser, 53, is on trial accused of murdering his wife, whose body has never been found, in 1998.

Early in 1998 Mrs Fraser told her solicitor she wanted a divorce, then changed her mind, wanting a trial separation, and then again decided she wanted a divorce. By March of that year the marriage had reached "the end of the road", the court heard.

Mrs Lennon told the trial that she thought Fraser seemed to care more about his car than he did about his children.

Mrs Fraser was due to visit her solicitor the day she disappeared - April 28, 1998 - but never turned up for the appointment, the court heard.

Hector Dick

A man who has been implicated Mrs Fraser's murder was not at his farm when she disappeared, police were told.

Hector Dick's older brother James told police he could not remember seeing his brother "at all" on the morning that the mother-of-two went missing from her Elgin home, on April 28, 1998.

Mr Dick senior insisted that his brother had been on the farm, cleaning out a skip, and said his earlier statement to police had been "careless".

Fraser denies murder and says if his wife was killed, Mr Dick may have been responsible.

Mr Dick, who gave evidence over seven days earlier in the trial, claims he bought a car at Fraser's request, which he burned and took to a scrapyard after Fraser returned it to him.

The farmer was jailed in 2001 for attempting to pervert the course of justice by lying about the car in the early stages of the police investigation.

On Thursday, his 63-year-old older brother said he confronted Mr Dick six months after Mrs Fraser went missing, when details of his link to the car began to emerge. But the farmer denied having any link to the car, the court heard.

James Dick told the court he was "disappointed" that his brother had lied to him.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC asked him: "Would you be prepared to lie for him? Would you be prepared to tell police lies on his behalf? Would you be prepared to come to the High Court, swear and oath and tell lies? Would you cover up for him?"

To each question, James Dick replied: "No."

The court also heard from Kevin Ritchie, from Forres, who sold the beige Ford Fiesta to Mr Dick.

He told the court that Mr Dick had been in a hurry to get a car the night before Mrs Fraser disappeared, and told him: "Just grab the one that is nearest".

Mr Ritchie, who was involved in the trade of illicit alcohol with Mr Dick, said he was paid £50 to "keep quiet".

Fraser, 53, is alleged to have strangled his wife or murdered her "by other means to the prosecutor unknown sometime between April 28 and May 7, 1998.

The indictment against Fraser says he knew Arlene had seen a solicitor about divorcing him and getting a cash pay-off.

Fraser has lodged papers in court claiming that 14 years ago on April 28 he left the address in Burnside Road, Lhanbryde, where he was staying at about 7.30am and spent the day making van deliveries to hotels, restaurants and shops - pausing to make a phone call just after 9am.

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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A farmer implicated in the murder of Arlene Fraser left a suicide note claiming he "had enough pressure" and worse was to come.

Hector Dick tried to hang himself in jail in June 2001 after being detained in connection with an alleged conspiracy to murder Mrs Fraser.

The 56-year-old farmer left a suicide to his wife, parts of which were read to the jury at the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

It stated: "Time will pass and you and everybody will get over me. You're going to do this for me.

"Please be strong, stronger than me. I've had enough pressure now and they say worse to come.

"The guys have heard and say it's almost impossible to prove conspiracy. I don't know if I conspired or not, to be honest."

Mr Dick is in the witness stand for the seventh day at the trial of Nat Fraser, accused of murdering his wife in 1998.

The suicide note also read: "Funny thing, the cops grab the wrong end of things said in jest and go off on the oddest of directions. Some day it may become clear."

Asked in court what that statement meant, he said: "It happened repeatedly. I suppose they just did it to wind me up."

50:50 Chance

Earlier in the day, Mr Dick denied telling police they had a "50:50 chance" of finding Mrs Fraser's body.

He previously told the jury that Fraser had confessed to hiring a hitman to kill his wife and then burning her body and grinding her teeth down.

On Wednesday, advocate depute Alex Prentice asked Mr Dick about statements he made that police had a "50% chance of recovering a body".

Mr Dick denied making the comment, and said there was no "document of percentages", which allegedly also claimed police had a 70% chance of finding a car they believed had been used to abduct Mrs Fraser.

Legal Problem

The jury has not been in court since Friday, when they were told to go home.

Addressing the jury on Friday, Lord Bracadale told them: "A potential issue was raised in relation to one of your number.

"Having taken time to investigate the matter, I am satisfied there is no difficulty."

Fraser, 53, denies attacking his wife between April 28 and May 7 1998, at the home they once shared in Smith Street, New Elgin, or elsewhere in Scotland.

It is alleged that he strangled her or murdered her "by other means to the prosecutor unknown".

The indictment against Fraser says he knew Arlene had seen a solicitor about divorcing him and getting a cash pay-off.

Fraser has lodged papers in court claiming that 14 years ago on April 28 he left the address in Burnside Road, Lhanbryde, where he was staying at about 7.30am and spent the day making van deliveries to hotels, restaurants and shops - pausing to make a phone call just after 9am.

Fraser also claims that if the mother-of-two was murdered, as prosecutors claim, the man responsible could be Mr Dick of Mosstowie, Elgin.

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/98890-farmer-d...s-body-comment/
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://news.stv.tv/scotland/97990-farmer-d...he-disappeared/
Farmer denies visiting Arlene Fraser the day she disappearedSTV 3 May 2012 14:08 BST

Facebook Tweet Google A man implicated in the murder of Arlene Fraser has denied having any reason to visit her on the day she disappeared.

Hector Dick has admitted selling bootleg vodka to the Elgin mother-of-two, including in the days before she went missing on April 28, 1998.

The 56-year-old farmer took to the stand on Thursday for his sixth day of giving evidence at the trial of Nat Fraser, at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Fraser is accused of murdering his wife, whose body has never been found, sometime between April and May 1998.

Fraser denies murdering his wife and claims that, if she was killed, it was Mr Dick who was responsible.

The trial has heard that police believed Mr Dick was making "a reconnaisance" trip when he sat in his burgundy Ford Sierra, parked in Mrs Fraser's driveway at Smith Street, New Elgin, a week before she vanished.

Mr Dick told the court he had called at her house on April 21 to deliver the bootleg vodka, but got no answer and dozed off in his car while waiting for her to return.

He said he returned three days later and had a cup of tea with Mrs Fraser, but she had changed her mind and wanted red wine.

Defence counsel John Scott QC suggested it may have "made sense" for Mr Dick to return to the house on the day Mrs Fraser disappeared.

The witness replied: "That is not correct." He claims he does not remember what he was doing on April 28.

The trial has already heard that in January 2003 Mr Dick stood side-by-side in the dock with Fraser, and a third man, accused of the murder.

The charge was dropped and he went on to give evidence against Fraser, a former friend who was best man at his wedding.

Fraser denies killing his estranged wife between April 28 and May 7, 1998 at the home they once shared.

It is alleged that he strangled her or murdered her "by other means to the prosecutor unknown."

The indictment against Fraser says he knew Arlene had seen a solicitor about divorcing him and getting a cash pay-off.

Fraser has lodged papers in court claiming that 14 years ago on April 28 he left the address in Burnside Road, Lhanbryde, where he was staying at about 7.30am and spent the day making van deliveries to hotels, restaurants and shops - pausing to make a phone call just after 9am.

The trial continues.

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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Nat Fraser 'did not seem bothered' when his estranged wife went missingSTV 24 April 2012 12:15 BST

Facebook Tweet Google A mother has told a court she confronted the man accused of murdering her daughter after she vanished 14 years ago.

Isabelle Thompson is the first witness in the trial of Nat Fraser, accused of murdering his wife Arlene in 1998.

She told the High Court in Edinburgh that her daughter and Fraser had separated before she disappeared and said Fraser had moved out of the family home.

Mrs Thompson said she was told of Arlene's disappearance by her other daughter's husband on April 29, 1998.

She told the court she confronted Fraser and asked if he had "done anything" to her, but said he "didn't seem all that bothered" that his estranged wife was missing.

She said: "I didn't think he was very enthusiastic to find out anything about Arlene."

Mrs Thompson recalled that the last contact she had with her 33-year-old daughter was a phone conversation four days earlier.

The witness also told jurors that Mrs Fraser's estranged husband appeared "agitated" after his wife vanished.

Fraser is charged with killing Arlene at her home in New Elgin, Elgin, Moray, or elsewhere in Scotland, between April 28 and May 7 1998.

The 53-year-old denies acting with others in the killing and has lodged special defences of alibi and incrimination.

Mrs Thompson, 66, told the court that she was contacted by her son-in-law on the morning of Wednesday April 29 that year.

She said: "I was told that Arlene was missing."

Mrs Thompson, from Motherwell, Lanarkshire, described how she then went to Elgin with her daughter, Carol, and they visited the police station.

The court heard she was later informed that Arlene had disappeared on Tuesday April 28.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, asked her: "Did Mr Nat Fraser ever contact you that day, that's the Wednesday?"

"No," she replied.

"Did you speak to him in any way?," the lawyer went on. "I don't think so," said the witness.

Mrs Thompson said she later saw Fraser at her daughter's home. Asked how Fraser appeared, she said: "He seemed agitated."

IN DETAIL

•Businessman Nat Fraser on trial accused of murdering wife 14 years ago
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/304686-nat-fra...d-14-years-ago/
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://news.stv.tv/scotland/305149-farmer-...rning-her-body/
Farmer claims Nat Fraser confessed to hiring hitman to murder wifeSTV 27 April 2012 11:57 BST

Facebook Tweet Google Nat Fraser confessed to hiring a hitman to kill his wife then burning her body and grinding down her teeth, his one-time friend has told a court.

Fruit and vegetable wholesaler Fraser also boasted that he had made fools of the police, the High Court in Edinburgh heard on Friday.

Farmer Hector Dick told the court that the fate of Fraser's wife, Arlene, was described to him in the cab of a lorry just weeks after the mother-of-two had disappeared from her Elgin home in April 1998.

Mr Dick, 56, told the trial that Fraser said he had "help from down south" to get rid of his wife, and was confident that nothing would ever be found.

The farmer told advocate depute Alex Prentice QC that he did not tell police of Fraser's statement at the time, because he had helped to destroy a Ford Fiesta which he believed could have played a part in Mrs Fraser's disappearance.

The court heard that the conversation had started when Fraser told Mr Dick he had been given a rough time by police during interviews.

Mr Dick, of Mosstowie, Elgin, said: "He thought it was all a big joke."

Asked by Mr Prentice if he had enquired about Mrs Fraser, Mr Dick replied: "He said she was gone.

"He was very self-satisfied and said she wouldn't be back."

The farmer told the court he had been visited by police in May 1998, when he returned from a holiday to Majorca, and their attitude was "more aggressive" than when he had last spoken with them.

It was at around this time that Mr Dick says he got in touch with Fraser, who accompanied him on a coal delivery.

Mr Dick said he told Fraser about the tough police questioning, but his friend thought "it was a bit of a joke".

Mr Dick said: "His favourite topic was that she would never be found. He said the body had been burned and there would be no DNA.

"His initial comment to me was that he had help and he had gotten help from someone down south."

Asked by Mr Prentice: "Help to do what?", Mr Dick replied: "To get rid of his wife".

Fraser, 53, denies attacking his wife between April 28 and May 7, 1998 at the home they once shared in Smith Street, New Elgin, or elsewhere in Scotland.

It is alleged that he strangled her, or murdered her "by other means to the prosecutor unknown".

The indictment against Fraser says he knew his wife had seen a solicitor about divorcing him and getting a cash pay-off.

He has lodged papers in court claiming that 14 years ago on April 28 he left the address in Burnside Road, Lhanbryde, where he was staying at about 7.30am and spent the day making van deliveries to hotels, restaurants and shops - pausing to make a phone call just after 9am.

Fraser also claims that if his estranged wife was murdered, that the man responsible could be Mr Dick. The trial continues.

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://news.stv.tv/north/304842-nat-fraser...he-disappeared/
Nat Fraser trial: Wife due to see divorce lawyer the day she vanishedSTV 25 April 2012 12:17 BST

Facebook Tweet Google On the day Arlene Fraser disappeared she was due to see her solicitor about divorcing the man accused of murdering her, a court has heard.

The Elgin mother-of-two has not been seen since April 28, 1998, and her body has never been found.

That day Mrs Fraser, 33, had a break from her business studies course at Moray College and had planned to see a divorce lawyer, the High Court in Edinburgh heard on Wednesday.

Her husband, Nat Fraser is on trial accused of murdering his wife between April 28 and May 7, 1998.

Mrs Fraser's friend Patricia Gauld, 47, told the court she went to collect her children from the Fraser home on Smith Street on April 27 - a Monday.

She said: "She had an appointment on Tuesday with a solicitor regarding her divorce from Mr Fraser.

"She said that she was going to file for divorce. All she wanted out of the marriage was the house and the custody of the children."

Mrs Gauld said her friend seemed happier after separating from her husband, who was living at the Lhanbryde home of his business partner Ian "Peddo" Taylor.

The witness told the trial that on the day Mrs Fraser disappeared, she had tried to phone her all day without success.

Margaret Boyce, 68, also said she had tried to phone Mrs Fraser all day, about an anti-litter campaign.

Fraser, 53, denies attacking his wife at their home, or elsewhere in Scotland.

It is alleged that he strangled her or murdered her "by other means to the prosecutor unknown".

The indictment against Fraser says he knew Arlene had seen a solicitor about divorcing him and getting a cash pay-off.

Fraser has lodged papers in court claiming that the day his wife disappeared he left the address in Burnside Road, Lhanbryde, where he was staying at about 7.30am and spent the day making van deliveries to hotels, restaurants and shops - pausing to make a phone call just after 9am.

Fraser also claims that if Arlene was murdered, as prosecutors claim, the man responsible could be Hector Dick of Mosstowie, Elgin.

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2764021
Dick ‘was cleaning skip that morning’
Published: 11/05/2012

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Arlene Fraser: vanishedA man who once stood trial for the murder of Arlene Fraser was not on his farm at the time the Elgin mum disappeared, his brother told police.

But Hector Dick's older sibling, James, 63, yesterday told the High Court in Edinburgh he spoke to the pig farmer that morning and saw him cleaning out a skip on the farm.

The court also heard Arlene had communications from a legal firm regarding a possible divorce settlement in May 1997 – almost a year before she disappeared.

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-nort...etland-18103704
17 May 2012 Last updated at 12:57 ET Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

16ShareFacebookTwitter.Nat Fraser trial: Accused 'faked emotion' over wife's disappearance
Accused Nat Fraser denies murdering his wife Arlene in 1998 Continue reading the Murder accused Nat Fraser put on a show of false emotion when asked if his missing wife Arlene might have killed herself, it has been claimed in court.

Former Det Insp William Robertson told the High Court in Edinburgh there had been "no anxiety or worry" coming from Mr Fraser.

And he claimed Mr Fraser's "numbness" and unwillingness to help the police search had been unique in his career.

Mr Fraser, 53, denies murdering his wife, whose body has never been found.

The trial has heard that the Fraser's 11-year marriage was crumbling and they were living apart when Arlene, 33, vanished from her home in Smith Street, New Elgin on 28 April 1998.

Mr Robertson said he had gone to the house in Lhanbryde where Mr Fraser was staying at 03:00 the next morning.

Mr Fraser, who was described as being dishevelled and grubby, answered the door, putting his finger to his lips to signal that Mr Robertson and his police colleague should not wake the household.

Mr Robertson said Mr Fraser had been "very, very nervous."

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote
There was no distress. There was no anxiety or sign of worry coming from him”
End Quote
William Robertson

Retired police officer
The retired detective said: "He couldn't speak to us. His mouth was very dry and it was as if his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth.

"He was trying to get the words out but he couldn't.

"After a few more minutes he became a bit more calm and was able to speak."

He said Mr Fraser showed concern for his wife "to a point" and told the officers about her medical condition, Crohn's disease, which meant she needed regular medication.

He was "happy enough" that his son and daughter were staying with neighbours, Mr Robertson said, and added: "He wasn't overly concerned about the kids."

Then Mr Robertson said he had asked Mr Fraser if there was a chance Arlene had committed suicide.

He recalled: "A tear came to his eye. I remember him saying 'I don't want to think about that'. He said it but I didn't get the feeling he meant it.

"There was no distress. There was no anxiety or sign of worry coming from him."

Mr Robertson told the trial that in most missing person inquiries relatives were desperate to help police, suggesting lines of inquiry and anxious for news.

Wedding rings

He said he had dealt with missing person searches almost daily but the Arlene Fraser search was "unique".

Mr Robertson said: "I had never encountered such inaction, numbness, before in my police career."

Earlier, another retired police officer told the trial he saw Arlene Fraser's wedding rings on the day she vanished.

Neil Lynch, 59, said he saw them in the bathroom of her home in Elgin shortly after she was reported missing in April 1998.

However, they were not there when a video was taken by police the next day.

Other witnesses have told the trial that the rings reappeared in the bathroom nine days after Mrs Fraser disappeared.

Fruit and vegetable wholesaler Mr Fraser, 53, denies murdering mum-of-two Arlene 14 years ago, claiming he has an alibi and a likely killer is local farmer Hector Dick.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-nort...etland-18072662
15 May 2012 Last updated at 09:53 ET Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

Accused 'making usual deliveries' when wife Arlene vanished
Accused Nat Fraser denies murdering his wife Arlene in 1998 A man accused of murdering his wife was making his usual fruit and vegetable delivery rounds on the day she vanished, a trial has heard.

Nat Fraser, 53, denies murdering his wife Arlene.

Mrs Fraser was 33 when she disappeared from her home in New Elgin, Moray, on 28 April 1998.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard testimony that Mr Fraser was at the wheel of a distinctive lorry on the day in question.

It was decorated with cartoon characters called Natalie Nectarine and Jamie Jaffa - named after his son and daughter.

The trial also heard that wholesaler Mr Fraser paused on his rounds for tea and a scone at an Elgin cafe, and made a phone call.

The events were recalled by Grant Fraser, 32, who said he was not related to the accused and described himself as Mr Fraser's "lorry boy".

Grant Fraser told defence QC John Scott that he had been questioned about the events and had always been telling the truth, even when police put him under pressure.

'Finger pointed'

Mr Fraser said on the day in question his employer had seemed reasonably normal, but his mood had changed afterwards.

"Nat told me Arlene had been reported missing," he said. "You could tell he was anxious and worried.

"As he said himself, he knew the finger would be pointed straight at him."

Jurors were also told that the operation which followed Mrs Fraser's disappearance left "no stone unturned" and ranked alongside the biggest inquiries carried out by Grampian Police.

Supt Mark Cooper said the search was "massive" but no trace of Mrs Fraser was ever found.

Nat Fraser denies he strangled his wife or murdered her "by other means to the prosecutor unknown".

He claims if his estranged wife was killed, another man - Hector Dick - could be to blame.

The trial continues on Wednesday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-nort...etland-18072662
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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monkalup
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-nort...etland-18056969
14 May 2012 Last updated at 13:51 ET Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

73ShareFacebookTwitter.Nat Fraser trial: Children would 'soon forget' mother Arlene claim
Nat Fraser denies murdering his wife Arlene Fraser in 1998 Continue reading the A man accused of murdering his wife said their children would soon forget her as relatives waited for news about her disappearance, a trial has heard.

Nat Fraser, 53, denies murdering his wife Arlene.

Mrs Fraser was 33 when she disappeared from her home in New Elgin, Moray, on 28 April 1998.

Her father, Hector McInnes, told the High Court in Edinburgh Mr Fraser said: "The bairns will soon forget their mother".

Mr McInnes, 71, was recalling a conversation from 14 years ago.

Defence QC John Scott agreed it was an inappropriate remark, but said Mr Fraser had a knack of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Mr McInnes arrived in New Elgin on Thursday 30 April after driving up from his then home in Lancashire.

The retired aircraft fitter said that when he saw Mr Fraser that day he was "just the usual, calm, collected, not fussed".

The trial also heard from a former forensic scientist who examined Arlene's home following her disappearance.

Black Polythene

Neville Trower said he was looking for blood or signs of disturbance at the Smith Street property - but there were none.

He described the house as "very clean".

He added: "This was probably extraordinary in the history of crime scenes I have examined."

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, suggested: "Despite what we may see on CSI, it is not every crime that leaves a footprint?"

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote
Would you have regarded the presence of such rings as significant in this inquiry?”
End Quote
Alex Prentice QC

Prosecutor
Mr Trower agreed. He also told the trial that he wanted to use a chemical that would show up tiny traces of blood, even if someone had attempted to wash them away.

But first the house would have to be in complete darkness and there was not enough heavy duty black polythene in the police station for a blackout, he said.

He told the court that in 1998, when the investigation into Mrs Fraser's disappearance began, her children - Jamie, 10, and Natalie, 5 - were still living in the house.

Mr Trower said that at the time, there was thought to be a cancer risk from the blood-revealing chemical, so there were health and safety considerations.

The tests were finally carried out on 11 May, 1998 when everyone had left.

Mr Trower said that in December that year, he also visited Wester Hillside Farm at Mosstowie, near Elgin, because pig farmer Hector Dick, now 56, was suspected of conspiring with Mr Fraser to murder Arlene.

Muck and animal droppings in an outhouse were examined without result.

Air vent

The trial heard that blood was found on a Nissan Bluebird - but it turned out to be deer's blood.

Also giving evidence was trained searcher, PC Peter Hall.

He said he went to the Fraser house on the evening of April 28, as soon as Arlene was reported missing by a neighbour.

He said he met with her husband Mr Fraser that evening, who told him there were two stashes of money in the house, one behind an air vent in Arlene's bedroom and another in a locked gun cabinet in the loft.

He said: "I assumed he was suggesting she had taken it to go away."

PC Hall said he had searched for the cash but found nothing.

He also helped search the house the following day and told the trial that Arlene's rings were not in the bathroom.

"Would you have regarded the presence of such rings as significant in this inquiry," asked Mr Prentice.

"Yes," PC Hall told him and said he was in no doubt that the rings were not there.

They were found more than a week later on 7 May.

Mr Fraser denies he strangled his wife or murdered her "by other means to the prosecutor unknown".

Mr Fraser claims if his estranged wife was killed, another man - Hector Dick - could be to blame.

The trial continues.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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monkalup
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-nort...etland-17989301
9 May 2012 Last updated at 08:31 ET Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

7ShareFacebookTwitter.Nat Fraser trial: Hector Dick denies chance of finding body was 50-50
Nat Fraser denies murdering his wife Arlene in April 1998 Continue reading the main story
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Trial told of body search claim
A witness in the trial of a man accused of murdering his wife has denied telling police they had a 50-50 chance of recovering the body.

Hector Dick has been giving evidence in the trial of Nat Fraser, 53, who denies murdering wife Arlene.

Mr Fraser claims that if his estranged wife was killed, Mr Dick could be to blame.

Mrs Fraser was 33 when she disappeared from her home in New Elgin, Moray, on 28 April 1998.

The High Court in Edinburgh has been hearing how police questioned Mr Dick, 56, at length and on a number of occasions.

It was claimed that during one interview Mr Dick told the officers they had a 70% chance of finding a car they believed had been used to abduct Mrs Fraser.

He was also supposed to have said there was a 50% chance of finding the body.

Mr Dick stood trial in January 2003, but was cleared of involvement in Mrs Fraser's murder and went on to give evidence against her husband.

For a second time he told a jury how fruit and vegetable salesman Mr Fraser confessed to hiring a hit man to strangle his wife, then cleared up himself and burned her body, scattering the ashes and ground up teeth.

No chance

Mr Fraser has lodged papers in court claiming Mr Dick is the true culprit and defence QC John Scott has quizzed the pig farmer about the "percentages" he is supposed to have given police.

Mr Scott told the trial that if Mr Dick's story of the body burning were true the police would have no chance of finding Mrs Fraser.

On his seventh day in the witness box, Mr Dick faced further questions from advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting.

The prosecutor showed Mr Dick a transcript of his first appearance before a sheriff when he was accused of being part of a conspiracy to murder Mrs Fraser.

Mr Dick - who agreed he had made inconsistent statements - told the sheriff he had given police information which he thought might give them a 50% chance of recovering a body.

"I don't know what the outcome of that investigation was," he added.

'Potential issue'

Mr Prentice said there had been talk of a document in which there were percentages quoted.

"Is there such a document?" asked Mr Prentice. "No," Mr Dick told him.

Throughout his evidence he has denied giving police percentages.

The jury has not been in court since Friday.

Lord Bracadale told them: "A potential issue was raised in relation to one of your number. Having taken time to investigate that matter, I am satisfied there is no difficulty."

The trial continues.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-nort...etland-17853188
26 April 2012 Last updated at 12:33 ET Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

ShareFacebookTwitter.Nat Fraser trial: Arlene's husband 'said no-one else could have her'
Nat Fraser denies murdering his wife Arlene Fraser Continue reading the main story
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Fraser 'joked about missing wife'
Man on trial over wife's murder
A man accused of murdering his wife 14 years ago told a friend "if I can't have her, nobody will" before she vanished, a trial has heard.

Arlene Fraser, 33, disappeared from her home in Elgin, Moray, in 1998. Nat Fraser, 53, denies killing his wife.

Witness Hector Dick said Mr Fraser had an "ill will" towards her and spoke of people going missing, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

Mr Fraser claims Mr Dick could have been behind Mrs Fraser's disappearance.

The court heard he told Mr Dick a separation would cost him about £86,000.

Farmer Mr Dick, 56, told the fourth day of the trial Mr Fraser adopted quite a "hard-headed" approach to his wife and "wasn't going to be beaten".

Jurors were also told that Mr Fraser said he did not want anybody else to be involved in the upbringing of his children following any separation.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, asked Mr Dick if Mr Fraser had offered him anything.

"Yes, that's right," he said. "He was trying to limit the damage at that time and he offered me his whisky collection at a knock-down price."

Good friends

Mr Dick said he thought the collection was worth about £10,000. Mr Fraser wanted to sell it for between £1,000 and £2,000, but on condition that he could buy it back at a later date for the same amount.

Asked about the purpose of the arrangement, Mr Dick replied: "To do his wife out of 10 grand."

Mr Dick said that Mr Fraser had bought potatoes from him in the 1980s, and that they became good friends.

He said Mr Fraser acted as his best man at his wedding in 1996.

It is alleged that Mr Fraser strangled or murdered his wife "by other means to the prosecutor unknown" between 28 April and 7 May 1998.

Mr Fraser has lodged special defences of alibi and incrimination.

Made deliveries

He names Mr Dick, of Mosstowie, Elgin, as the possible murderer.

The alibi describes how Mr Fraser left the address where he was staying in Burnside Road, Lhanbryde, on 28 April at about 07:30 and spent the day making deliveries to shops, hotels and restaurants in the area, pausing just after 09:00 to make a half-hour phone call.

The court has heard that there had been an earlier trial in 2003 when Mr Dick had been one of three men accused of murdering Mrs Fraser, but had left the dock and given evidence for the prosecution.

Another man on trial then, Glenn Lucas, was now dead.

The trial, before judge Lord Bracadale, continues.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-nort...etland-17910113
1 May 2012 Last updated at 13:11 ET Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

ShareFacebookTwitter.Nat Fraser trial: Court told of Hector Dick farm search claim
Arlene Fraser was allegedly murdered by her husband Nat Fraser Continue reading the main story
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The Arlene Fraser murder trial has heard claims a witness misled police by saying he had searched his land for Mrs Fraser's body.

Mrs Fraser vanished from her Elgin home in 1998. Farmer Hector Dick was giving evidence at the trial of her husband Nat Fraser, who denies killing her.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Mr Dick said he did not search the whole farm.

Previously Mr Dick has claimed Mr Fraser confessed to him he had hired a hitman and burned the body.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote
Nat would never answer my questions”
End Quote
Hector Dick

Witness
The court heard that in a statement to police in October 1999, Mr Dick said: "We were all worried that she would turn up dead locally. I had searched my own land."

Defence QC John Scott pointed out that the statement was made more than a year after Mr Fraser's supposed confession to Mr Dick.

"You had been told by Nat Fraser what had happened to his wife, so there would be no point in looking for her," he said.

Mr Dick replied: "I never searched the whole farm."

Mr Scott continued: "You were searching for something which, if you have told the truth, you couldn't possibly find and you say you didn't search the whole farm, suggesting you searched part of it."

Police were also trying to trace a beige Ford Fiesta - which officers believed could be the key to the case.

Mr Dick told the police in the statement: "I do not know where Arlene Fraser is and I do not know where the car is."

Secret recording

The farmer has now told the trial that he bought the Fiesta, on Mr Fraser's instructions, and later burned, and crushed the vehicle before taking it to a local scrap yard in May 1998.

He also said Mr Fraser - a former friend and best man at his wedding - had attempted to go back on his "confession" of July 1998.

Mr Dick said he had asked him about Mrs Fraser and the car.

He said: "Nat would never answer my questions. By the end of the summer he was pretending what he had said to me was jokes and by the end of the year he was denying he had said anything to me."

The court earlier heard how officers seeking the car arranged a secret recording of Mr Dick.

They fitted second-hand car dealer Kevin Ritchie, who sold the car to farmer Mr Dick, with a wire.

'Disparaging comments'

Mr Scott quizzed Mr Dick about a 55-page transcript of the conversation which followed in January 1999.

During the chat, Mr Dick told Mr Ritchie to say nothing to police about the car, saying that he would deny everything himself and say he could not remember.

Asked if that was what he was doing in court to avoid telling the truth, Mr Dick said it was not.

The jury also heard Mr Dick had made a string of disparaging comments about Mrs Fraser and her family after she went missing.

Mr Fraser, 53, denies all the charges against him.

It is alleged that he strangled or murdered his wife "by other means to the prosecutor unknown" between 28 April and 7 May 1998.

He has lodged special defences of alibi and incrimination.

Mr Fraser also alleges that if his wife was murdered, as prosecutors claim, the man responsible could be Mr Dick.

The court has heard of an earlier trial in 2003 when Mr Dick had been one of three men accused of murder, but had left the dock and given evidence for the prosecution.

The trial, before judge Lord Bracadale, continues.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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http://news.stv.tv/scotland/102851-police-...made-a-mistake/
Police investigating the disappearance of Arlene Fraser 'made a mistake’STV 23 May 2012 12:57 BST

Senior officer: Court told mistake was made in murder investigation.© STV
Facebook Tweet Google Returning jewellery to the estranged husband of an alleged murder victim was a mistake, a former senior police officer has told a court.

Alan Smith, 51, who was a detective superintendent with Grampian Police, said the decision to hand over Arlene Fraser's wedding, engagement and eternity rings to Nat Fraser was not something he was happy with.

Fruit and vegetable wholesaler Fraser, 53, denies acting with others to murder his 33-year-old wife. He pleads alibi and incrimination.

The mother-of-two, of Smith Street, New Elgin, Moray, vanished on April 28, 1998.

Mr Smith, now a company director, was deputy senior investigating officer throughout the investigation into Mrs Fraser's disappearance.

It was "well known" that he was not happy with the decision to return property to Fraser months after she went missing, he said.

The decision to return property to Fraser was not taken lightly, Mr Smith told the High Court in Edinburgh.

"In this case, my assertion was that the return of the rings was a mistake. It was a mistake," he said.

"I did not like the idea of returning property to Nat Fraser at that time. I felt it was the wrong thing to do. Did I have reasons to justify that? Probably not because we did not have a crime. He was not a suspect, so we could not just retain that property indefinitely."

The court later heard the police then asked for Fraser to return the rings to officers.

John Scott QC, defending, asked: "When asked to return the rings, Nat Fraser did so without any difficulty?" Mr Smith replied: "Yes, absolutely."

The rings were found on a peg in her bathroom by her stepmother nine days after the disappearance, the court has heard.

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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