The Northern Scot's Arlene Fraser and Nat Fraser files: 2012 – Accused told police suspicions 'festered' in his mind
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This story appeared in the Northern Scot, May 25, 2012.
MURDER accused Nat Fraser told police investigating his wife’s disappearance that he suspected her of having an affair – and thought she had run off with his cash.
He said the thought “festered” in his mind – but he denied causing her harm.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how officers spent hours interviewing Fraser after his wife vanished from her Elgin home 14 years ago.
The next day – April 29, 1998 – Fraser told William Robertson, then a detective sergeant with Grampian CID, about his fears.
“Somebody gave me a whisper – I cannot recall who it was – that Arlene was seeing a man who worked in the Landmark furniture store,” he had said.
Fraser told detectives: “I did ask her if she was having a carry-on with another man, and she just told me 'no' and not to be so stupid, but it just festered in my head and kept gnawing at me.”
The trial has heard that at the time, the Frasers were living apart and Arlene was seeking a divorce.
Fraser also told Mr Robertson that he kept money in a deposit account Arlene did not know about.
He continued: “My other stash of money was in the bedroom air vent and in my gun cupboard, which I presume Arlene has emptied, because all the money has gone.”
Mr Robertson (58), who has now retired, was appointed family liaison officer to Arlene’s family in 1998.
As he gave evidence for a second day, the trial heard how Fraser denied involvement in his estranged wife’s disappearance.
“I have not caused any harm to my wife, and I have not arranged for anyone else to cause her harm,” he said.
Fraser's denial
NAT Fraser (53) denies attacking his wife, Arlene, 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 that he knew Arlene had seen a solicitor about divorcing him and getting a cash pay-off.
Fraser has lodged papers in court claiming that on April 28, 1998, 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.
The jury has heard that at an earlier trial in 2003, Hector Dick was one of three men accused of murdering Arlene, but had left the dock and given evidence for the prosecution. Another man then on trial, Glenn Lucas, is now dead.
The third man was Fraser.
