Arlene Fraser’s family hope for closure

20th anniversary of young woman’s murder

The murder of Arlene Fraser has become one of the most high profile criminal cases in Scotland.

It has shocked people across the country for two decades now since the mum went missing from her New Elgin home.

The second trial made British legal history when it became the subject of a TV documentary in 2013.

For the first time, remotely operated cameras were allowed inside a courtroom to capture the proceedings of a murder trial.

The testimony of more than 70 witnesses were pored over for the Channel 4 show, drawing attention to the case for a new generation.

The circumstances remain a cause for speculation in the Elgin area, prompting debate about who was responsible, despite Nat Fraser being convicted twice for murder.

Fraser was a popular businessman who sold fruit and veg and toured pubs in a band while Arlene was known as a doting mother.

However, behind closed doors she was planning to divorce her husband – and he was jealous, suspecting her of having an affair. Fraser had a watertight alibi for the day his wife went missing as he made deliveries across the area with an employee.

But although he appeared concerned about his wife’s disappearance, police suspected him of masterminding a plot to have her killed.

Suspicion of involvement fell on Mosstowie farmer Hector Dick, but the charges against him were dropped after he agreed to give evidence against his former friend. The farmer alleged Fraser had confessed to him, saying he had hired somebody from “down south” to kill Arlene while her body was “ground down and scattered”.

However, his evidence was questioned in court as he had been jailed for a year in 2001 for lying to police about a car that was suspected of being involved in the disappearance.

Suspicion also fell on Glenn Lucas, a fruit and veg dealer from Lincolnshire who later wrote a book about the case, but he walked free after the charges were dropped at the first trial.

Mr Lucas vowed to devote his life to clearing Fraser’s name when he was convicted. He died in 2006.

More than 100 police officers were devoted to finding Arlene Fraser at the peak of the operation following her disappearance.

Eventually a core of about 20 investigators were dedicated to the task for several years to search for clues after it became apparent they were dealing with a murder.

At the beginning of the inquiries, Nat Fraser tried to remain close to the search, regularly visiting the police station to ask for updates – before telling officers she was probably having “the time of her life” on holiday when there was no news.

The convicted killer also made frequent visits to the Press and Journal’s office in Elgin – playing the role of a concerned husband eager to learn the latest on the case from reporters.

However, now Alan Smith, who was deputy senior investigating officer throughout the five-year inquiry, has revealed Fraser’s eagerness would eventually prove one of his many mistakes.

Mr Smith said: “This was just a tactic to give an appearance of concern. At first he wanted to be close to the investigation. We encouraged that because you have got to keep an open mind, at that point he was still a witness.

“But often when he came into the police station he would say flippant things like ‘She’s picked a good time for a holiday.’ or ‘She’ll be away somewhere having the time of her life.’

“That went on for months. Eventually one of detectives said: ‘That’s some length of holiday she’s on.’ You could almost see his face drop as he realised our suspicions.

“From that point on his demeanour and attitude changed towards the investigation team. He ceased daily contact and became completely uncooperative.”

Evidence gathered in the days, weeks and months following the disappearance would eventually convince two High Court juries that Fraser had plotted the death of his wife in a case that has been one of the most rigorously tested in Scottish legal history.

The painstaking investigation took more than a year to confirm that Arlene was even dead – which involved circulating her photograph and medical and eye prescriptions to every pharmacy and optician in the UK. This was only one line of investigation that was necessary to eventually prove that Arlene was no longer alive.

Mr Smith, who retired from the police eight years ago and started up a business in oil and gas incident investigations, believes the “dedicated professionalism” from the officers was one of the biggest factors in gleaning enough circumstantial evidence to convict Fraser.

He said: “Nat’s biggest mistake was he completely underestimated the reaction from the police. At the heart of his plan was to create an impression that Arlene had simply up sticks and went missing – abandoning her kids in the process.

“In his mind it was essential this didn’t look like a crime so he ensured there was no body, no obvious crime scene or forensics at the family home and no witnesses. He was totally confident but equally mistaken that if Arlene’s body was never recovered there could be no murder charge.

“He thought we’d be here for a couple of weeks, Arlene’s picture would go in the local paper, we’d knock on a few doors, then we would be gone.

“He would often say to me: ‘You guys must be about ready to call it a day.’ It was almost like he was willing the whole thing to go away but of course he could never say so and had to play along and even appear grateful for our efforts.”

“In his mind it was essential this didn’t look like a crime”

Wife killer Nat Fraser had been a popular businessman selling fruit and veg, and toured pubs playing in a band, and then featured in a televised trial

Police search the Mosstowie farm of Hector Dick, who said Nat Fraser had confessed to him