The sister of a woman murdered by her husband nearly 30 years ago has told of the family’s ‘torturous journey’ and determination to ensure she is ‘never forgotten’ ahead of a new documentary.
Carol Gillies believes part of Nat Fraser’s ‘plan’ was that people would ‘soon forget’ about her sister Arlene Fraser after he killed her and disposed of her body in 1998, sparking one of Scotland’s biggest missing persons investigations.
But the 63-year-old said with the help of detectives and continued media coverage, interest in her sister’s case has ‘never faded’.
Mrs Gillies said: ‘I feel he is counting on us tiring or giving up, but until Arlene’s remains are located, I see it as my responsibility to ensure that Arlene is never forgotten.’
She was speaking ahead of tonight’s airing of BBC documentary Murder Case: The Hunt for Arlene Fraser’s Killer, which she agreed to take part in ‘to shine a light on crucial matters such as violence against woman and the parole process’.
The filming took place last August in the same week she met justice minister Angela Constance to discuss Suzanne’s Law, which was passed in the Scottish parliament last year and will mean killers are forced to disclose the location of their victim’s remains or face spending the rest of their lives in jail.
Mrs Gillies and her elderly parents have been unable to give the mother-of-two a proper funeral as her killer refuses to reveal what he did with her body.
Fraser is due for parole in two years and she said that while the new law had given them ‘some hope’ that they would finally get closure, she stressed: ‘Further changes are needed, and this can only be done by listening to victims and their families.’
Nat Fraser and Arlen at their wedding at South Parish Church in Elgin
Arlene Fraser disappeared from her home in Elgin in April 1998. Her husband Nat Fraser was jailed for life at Edinburgh High Court after being found guilty of her murder
Carol Gillies, Arlene Fraser's sister, says she will never give up until her remains are located
She admitted she had to ‘think long and hard about taking part’ in the BBC programme, which highlights the family’s unbreakable determination to uncover the truth, saying she was ‘potentially in danger of retraumatising myself’.
But she said: ‘I believe part of Nat Fraser’s plan was that people would soon forget about Arlene.’
The grandmother-of-two added: ‘It is immensely comforting for the family to know that interest in Arlene has never faded. We are very grateful that people are still behind us and support our hunt for the truth.’
She said the documentary ‘outlines the horrendous torturous journey that Arlene’s murder has taken us on’ but added ‘thanks to the efforts of the police, the media and the justice system we have overcome every hurdle and Nat Fraser was convicted and imprisoned twice despite there being ‘no body’.
Fraser was jailed for murdering his wife, who had made plans to divorce him, in 2003 after his friend Hector Dick turned on him in court to escape charges.
That conviction was later quashed but Fraser was retried in 2012 and found guilty of paying a hitman £15,000 to kill Mrs Fraser.
He wanted to dodge a divorce that would have cost him £250,000 and the custody of their children. To this day he has refused to give her family closure by revealing where her remains are.
Mrs Gillies said as the years passed she ‘always worried that the final hurdle of the parole system, would let us down’, as ‘without further information as to Arlene’s whereabouts his release would mean a continuation of the crime and a loss of hope of ever gaining further information or finding Arlene’.
Nat Fraser was found guilty of murdering his wife, Arlene
The last time was last seen was on April 28 1998 after waving her two children, aged 10 and five, off to school.
Mrs Gillies said: ‘Those involved in Arlene’s murder dumped her somewhere and continue to deny her the right to a respectful resting place.
‘We feel incredibly sad that a life watching her children grow up has been taken from her by this brutal crime.’
Former detective superintendent Alan Smith, who worked on the murder investigation, also took part in the documentary. He said: ‘The agony here is the family don’t have a headstone, they don’t have a grave that they can visit.
‘That for me is an extension of the torture that Nat Fraser has exerted on this family.’
But Mrs Gillies said the DS’s professional support and backing, often shouldering the media attention, has enabled her ‘to continue to voice the need for change in the parole system and keep Arlene’s name alive’.
Murder Case: The Hunt For Arlene Fraser’s Killer is available on BBC iPlayer. It will also air on BBC Scotland tonight at 9pm and BBC Two on Thursday at 9pm.
