His appeal against the murder conviction was rejected by a panel of judges at the High Court in Edinburgh this morning (Tuesday).

He was jailed in 2003 after being found guilty of plotting his 33-year-old estranged wife's murder. Her body has never been found.

Fraser, who was a partner in an Elgin fruit and veg business, had been branded as evil by the trial judge and ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years behind bars.

He was freed in May, 2006, while his appeal was being processed, but when the hearing ended last December he was returned to jail pending the judges' ruling.

Welcoming rejection of the appeal, Arlene's sister Carole Gillies, who lives in Erskine, Renfrewshire, said the family would never have closure until the remains or evidence is found pointing to how mother-of-two Arlene died after disappearing from her New Elgin home. She accepts they may never find out the full truth.

* For all the latest news on the appeal ruling and the reaction of Arlene's family, see Friday's Northern Scot.

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