Nat Fraser given life term for murder of wife

A "possessive and controlling" businessman who arranged the murder of his estranged wife after she began divorce proceedings was jailed for life today following a retrial.

Nat Fraser was ordered to spend at least 17 years behind bars for killing mother-of-two Arlene Fraser, whose body has never been found.

Mrs Fraser was 33 when she vanished without trace from her home in New Elgin, Moray, on April 28 1998.

Nat Fraser, 53, was today convicted of "instructing, instigating and organising" her murder after a fresh trial lasting more than five weeks at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The trial heard claims the former fruit and vegetable wholesaler admitted to paying a hitman £15,000 to kill her and said his wife's body had been burned.

Fraser was originally found guilty of the killing in 2003 but his conviction was quashed last year and a fresh trial was granted after the UK Supreme Court ruled that the initial conviction was unsafe.

PA