00:00:04
NARRATOR: Weeks after her
10th wedding anniversary, Arlene Fisher vanishes. Detectives are baffled.
00:00:11
ALAN SMITH Is this a simple,
straightforward missing person investigation or are we dealing
with something here that's
00:00:17
a little bit more sinister? CAROL FISHER: I felt
that Arlene was gone. Dad felt that she was gone.
00:00:24
Mom was very much
hopeful that perhaps somebody was holding her. That there was, you know,
that she would be back.
00:00:31
NARRATOR: Her husband
is Nat Fraser. Soon, a person of
interest to police. ALAN SMITH: The question has
to be who would gain the most
00:00:40
from Arlene's disappearance? Now in terms of motivation, Nat
had a huge amount of motivation
00:00:48
to get rid of Arlene NARRATOR: Mrs. Arlene Fisher
was missing, bizarrely having abandoned her home
midway through ironing
00:00:55
her children's clothes. Where was she and what
part did her husband play in her disappearance?
00:01:01
She isn't his wife. She's his prize. She's his possession. And Fraser is not
a man who's going
00:01:06
to let his possessions go. He is a man who believes
in, if I can't have you, no one can have you.
00:01:12
NARRATOR: Had Nat
Fraser killed his wife and the mother of his children? [music playing]
00:01:48
Elgin, a small highlands
town in Scotland where locals know each other well. A place where Arlene
Fisher made friends easily.
00:01:55
CAROL FISHER: Arlene was
just the girl next door. She was just an ordinary mom. NARRATOR: Married to Nat,
something of a character.
00:02:04
ALAN SMITH: Nat was
a local businessman. He was involved in the
delivery of fruit and veg
00:02:13
to local businesses. And he was a popular
individual in Elgin. He played in a local band,
a music band on weekends.
00:02:24
So he was a popular
individual in the town. NARRATOR: The couple
had met in 1985
00:02:32
when Arlene McInnis,
as she was then, heard no shortage of suitors. She was a very
confident, outgoing,
00:02:38
and bubbly personality. Very popular. Loads of friends. But they all said that there
was an undercurrent with her.
00:02:44
That she has some deep
insecurity as well. Arlene McInnis is
one of those people
00:02:47
that you just want to be around. She's gregarious. She's confident. She's fun. She's fashionable.
00:02:52
You know, this is the 80s. This is where Madonna
ruled the airwaves and backcombed hair was normal.
00:02:58
And she really played into that. She was the type of person
that you would definitely
00:03:02
want to go to a party with. NARRATOR: It was at
such a party that Arlene would meet the man who would
change her life, Nat Fraser.
00:03:09
Even then, doing
well for himself. NEIL LANCASTER:
It's Hogmanay, 1985. They're both out at a party
to celebrate the new year.
00:03:18
They clap eyes on each other. Now, they're immediately
attracted to each other. He's a good-looking guy.
00:03:24
He's a Jack the lad. He's the man about town. And she's immediately
attracted to him.
00:03:29
And it's definitely
reciprocated. She's there. This outgoing, bouncy,
and good fun girl
00:03:35
dressed up to the nines
for a good night out. He inherited a
successful company.
00:03:39
And to his credit, he
made it more successful. It was a fruit and
veg wholesalers.
00:03:44
And, you know, this is a small
place where any kind of success really makes you stand out.
00:03:49
EMMA KENNY: He would have been
a really attractive proposition. Add to that good looks
in a small place,
00:03:56
he's going to be somebody
who most of the girls are going to want to
call their boyfriend.
00:04:00
When Arlene met
Fraser, he kind of, swept her off her feet. She fell in love with
him very quickly.
00:04:08
Nat Fraser was essentially one
of the most eligible bachelors around. However, Arlene was
warned by her friends
00:04:14
that he was a Jack the lad. But as is the story of every
bad boy, you believe as a woman
00:04:21
that you'll be the difference. You'll be that one. You can tame him. NARRATOR: To the
21-year-old shop assistant,
00:04:27
the 26-year-old
businessman had it all. Fraser was very
full of himself. He liked being popular
with the ladies as well.
00:04:37
I think he also saw himself as
bit of a local celebrity almost because his personality
was very big.
00:04:46
NARRATOR: Born and raised in
the historic cathedral town, Arlene lived with her
parents and sister Carol.
00:04:51
CAROL FISHER: Arlene was
very, very deep person. She wasn't great at
talking about her problems.
00:04:57
You had to, you
know, pull them out and they came out a
little bit at a time. She was very, very untidy.
00:05:04
She was very relaxed
mother, you know. So we had to kinda--
because if you compared--
00:05:10
if you looked at me and
thought, oh, you know, Carol's like Arlene. You know, quite different.
00:05:16
Complete opposites. You know, totally opposite. But you know, we were sisters
at the end of the day.
00:05:22
NARRATOR: Carol and others
had reservations about Nat. TONY KENT: Arlene's
family were very reluctant
00:05:27
for her to embark upon
this relationship. The problem was
Arlene was sold, hook,
00:05:32
line, and sinker by this point. She was quite naive. She was quite sheltered. She hadn't had a huge
amount of life experience.
00:05:38
NEIL LANCASTER: After
just four months together, she moves into his
secluded bungalow
00:05:43
and they begin a proper
live-together relationship. NARRATOR: Arlene and Nat
were engaged within the year
00:05:48
and a wedding date was
set for 10 months later. A few weeks before the
wedding she hears a phone
00:05:53
call where Nat is making
a date with another woman. Her father and
sister do convince
00:05:57
her to actually leave him but
she goes back two days later. This obviously
panicked her and she
00:06:01
went back to her family. She spoke to her dad. And the wedding was off. She tells her
family about this.
00:06:07
She tells her sister. She tells her father, Hector. Now Hector says to
her, just leave him.
00:06:11
And she does. She moves out. Somehow, he managed
to talk his way around. So completely
wrapped up in the man
00:06:17
was she, that she agreed, OK. Despite that it was a mistake. I didn't really hear
what I thought I heard.
00:06:23
And the wedding's back on. EMMA KENNY: What's really
sad about this point in time
00:06:31
is that when somebody is
meant to be getting married they are meant to be smitten,
devoted, hopelessly in love.
00:06:37
There is not another
human being in the world that they would
choose to be with.
00:06:41
If he's philandering
at this stage it's going to be a chaotic
and troublesome marriage.
00:06:47
NARRATOR: On May the
9th, 1988, Arlene arrived at the Gothic Elgin
Church in a white Rolls-Royce.
00:06:53
Nat Fraser was less
well presented. But at the actual
wedding ceremony he turns out with two black eyes
because he's offended someone
00:07:00
during a stag do. And how does Arlene react? She reacts with a smile. She reacts with her, well, boys
will be boys, kind of attitude.
00:07:08
That's where she was at
this point in her life. NARRATOR: Ever the
showman, at the reception
00:07:12
Nat publicly
serenaded his bride. It's unsurprising that Nat
at the end of his wedding night
00:07:18
decides to go and get
changed out of his kilt into a gray suit, get on
stage, and sing Eric Clapton's
00:07:24
"You Look Wonderful Tonight." He had married the
prettiest girl in the town. He had married the girl that
everyone had their eye on.
00:07:31
That everyone noticed. That everyone saw
she was beautiful. NARRATOR: Professor
Jane Monckton-Smith
00:07:35
has charted those
key ingredients in marriages which can lead
to an escalation of violence.
00:07:41
To her, this was never a
marriage of equals in the eyes Nat Fraser. Fraser's choice of
Arlene was perfect.
00:07:48
Perfect for him. He was somebody who needed to
be the center of attention. Didn't really want
a girlfriend who
00:07:55
was going to take any of
that attention away from him. What he wanted was somebody
who would hero-worship him.
00:08:03
Somebody who would give
him all of the attention that he felt he was due. And I think Arlene
probably did that for him.
00:08:11
NARRATOR: When their first
son was born in 1987, Arlene left her job
at the clothes shop.
00:08:17
With Nat's business booming,
money was not a problem. He's working very hard. The problem is, he's
not been working
00:08:24
very hard at the marriage. Because when he has free time
he's back out with his mates.
00:08:28
He's back out drinking. He's back out singing
with the band. He is still acting like
Nat Fraser the single man.
00:08:34
And unfortunately,
that includes how he behaves with other women. She willingly agrees to give
up her job in a shop to be
00:08:42
a full-time stay-at-home mom. He now has full control of
all the family finances.
00:08:48
He allows her a weekly
amount of money. 100 pounds per week. She's now totally
under the thumb.
00:08:54
Very soon after Arlene and
Fraser have been married, their marriage starts
to get into trouble.
00:08:59
So she's firstly
stuck at home now. She's got a dwindling
social network. She's feeling really isolated.
00:09:05
And her confidence is
at an all time low. Add to this, that
he's out womanizing.
00:09:11
JANE MONCKTON-SMITH: I
think a lot of people thought Arlene had
made a poor choice
00:09:15
with Nat Fraser as a husband. . Largely because
of his womanizing. They never thought
that he would dedicate
00:09:23
himself to Arlene
in the way that she would dedicate herself to him. And that worried people.
00:09:29
Nat is now in control
of this household. He's in control of Arlene. He is the one supplying
her with money.
00:09:37
She's now a stay-at-home mom. Now she's willingly withdrawn
from her circle of friends.
00:09:42
And even on the rare occasions
that she does want to go out, he doesn't like it.
00:09:47
He's hesitant. He doesn't want her to go out. He wants to be in the driving
seat of this relationship.
00:09:52
NARRATOR: New mom Arlene was
lonely and became flattered by the attention of a
young delivery driver
00:09:58
who worked for her husband. They had an affair. He probably worshipped her. Probably thought she
was absolutely stunning
00:10:05
and made her feel
good about herself. But most importantly,
why shouldn't she? Her husband's been
out womanizing
00:10:09
since before the wedding. There could not have been any
bigger slap in the face to him
00:10:14
than that. I mean, the humiliation that
this prize, this possession of his, has not
only had an affair
00:10:22
but has had an affair
with a 17-year-old who he would look at as being
some complete subordinate.
00:10:29
I mean, the insult in
how he would take that. It can't be over-expressed
just how damaging that must
00:10:37
have been to that man's ego. NARRATOR: Nat Fraser was not how
he appeared to the locals who
00:10:42
saw the musician
and fruit and veg man as entertaining
and good company. ALAN SMITH: There's two
sides to Nat Fraser.
00:10:49
There's the public Nat Fraser. The hail-fellow-well-met,
the popular van delivery guy.
00:10:55
Everybody in the town
thinks he's a cheeky chappy. Always cracking a joke. Flirting with the ladies.
00:11:04
He's a real womanizer. All of that. That's one side of Nat Fraser. The other side that we began to
unearth as we looked very much
00:11:14
more closely into
him as an individual, is that there was
very much a dark side.
00:11:19
NARRATOR: Nat and
Arlene didn't take long before starting a family. There's appeared a
cozy highland home
00:11:24
with the couple set for life. But all was far from perfect. Nat, a serial womanizer.
00:11:29
Arlene, already tempted to
find comfort with another man. How far would matters escalate
in the marriage of the Frasers?
00:11:37
I knew that Arlene hadn't
run away, despite what Nat Fraser was saying. And I just knew
because she would
00:11:49
have phoned me on
this Tuesday if she'd ever been in the house. So I suspected right away that
she had possibly been killed.
00:12:10
NARRATOR: The honeymoon
period in the marriage of Nat and Arlene Fraser
had not lasted long.
00:12:14
Nat was not a man to allow
a wife too many freedoms. ALAN SMITH: This was a man who
existed by being in control.
00:12:24
That-- that's what he was. He-- he needed
control of his family, his lifestyle, his business,
his private life, and Arlene.
00:12:36
NARRATOR: Control came
at the end of a fist. NEIL LANCASTER: Things are
going from bad to worse.
00:12:41
Nat does not trust his
wife even slightly. He's constantly interrogating
her every time she goes out.
00:12:48
And on occasions, he's
even followed her. This all comes to
a head in 1990 when convinced she's
having an affair,
00:12:55
there's a violent
altercation in the house. He rips her clothes off. He pulls her over and he
kicks her in the stomach.
00:13:01
The violence towards
Arlene started quite quickly after they were married. After he had that formal
commitment from her
00:13:11
where she couldn't
just walk out the door. NARRATOR: Arlene seems to
have put up with the beatings
00:13:16
for the sake of the children. By the 90s, the couple had two. JANE MONCKTON-SMITH: Arlene
would have learned very quickly
00:13:23
how to behave around him. To keep things calm and
to keep things even. He was probably,
very nice to her.
00:13:31
Lovely to her, in fact. Prince Charming. Again, in between the violence. NARRATOR: Why had
Arlene not left?
00:13:38
TONY KENT: Now she's trying to
live the life of a 1980s wife. She is-- she'd
given up her career.
00:13:44
She is at home with the kids. She's doing all the things
that since then women have been able to push past.
00:13:50
But in the 80s that's
kind of how life was. And she's trying
to live this 1980s married life as a good wife.
00:13:57
As what would be perceived
then as a good wife while her husband is out doing all
of the things that he likes.
00:14:03
NARRATOR: Arlene took solace
in the company of friends. EMMA KENNY: But the
problem with that
00:14:08
is that Nat Fraser doesn't
feel that's acceptable. He would spoil her opportunity
to go for a night out.
00:14:15
She would get her clothes
laid out, ready to go. And mysteriously,
there would be buttons
00:14:19
that would be missing from--
from-- from an outfit that couldn't be explained. There is now a huge
disparity in their roles
00:14:26
within this relationship. He is still being Jack the lad. He's working very, very hard.
00:14:31
He's working six days a
week in this business. Being very, very successful. But he's also going
out on the weekends.
00:14:37
He's playing with his band. He's still Jack the lad. He's still having affairs. NARRATOR: Nat's was
a pattern of behavior
00:14:43
familiar to psychologists. EMMA KENNY: Nat
Fraser is a predator and he's a violent wife-beater
and he wants to own her.
00:14:51
He doesn't really care about
her but she belongs to him. It's up to him what
happens to her.
00:14:57
When she starts to break
out of that control, seek solace in
other human beings,
00:15:01
tries to create friendships
with her friendship network et cetera, that means that
he's losing incrementally
00:15:08
the control he has over her. So therefore, physically the
domination has to become more
00:15:14
and more strong and powerful. NARRATOR: Behind the door
of the Fraser family home,
00:15:17
the violence continued
and escalated. EMMA KENNY: They have
a really big argument.
00:15:23
And it's about the fact
that she's been out with her friends, and she's been
dressing up and looking nice
00:15:27
and he can't stand it. And he gets to the point where
he physically strips her, throws her on the
ground naked, and then
00:15:33
kicks her in the stomach. That's incredible violence. NARRATOR: A woman's refuge
had recently opened in Elgin.
00:15:41
Arlene seized her opportunity. Barrister Tony Kent has
seen cases like Arlene's many times come to court.
00:15:47
TONY KENT: Arlene to
her credit leaves. She-- she runs away and she
goes to a women's refuge.
00:15:52
She stays there for 10 days. Unfortunately, he
knows where she is. And again, she's his prize.
00:15:59
She's his possession. Will he suddenly
become determined to get this possession back?
00:16:03
NARRATOR: And
Arlene did go back. EMMA KENNY: And the
reason that she returned is probably more to do with
the fact that she has a child
00:16:09
and she feels that
she's married for life and doesn't necessarily
feel that she has an option
00:16:14
to remove herself permanently. The pressure is so
much and she goes back. It's unfortunate to see.
00:16:19
It's tragic to see it. Because it's almost like we're
watching a film unfold and they
00:16:24
we're getting towards
the final act. And we know what's going
to happen in the final act.
00:16:29
NARRATOR: It was Christmas in
1992 when Arlene had announced that she was pregnant.
00:16:34
The following year
a daughter was born. EMMA KENNY: In
domestic abuse there tends to be an escalation.
00:16:38
And often an escalation occurs
after children are born. It's at the second
child position
00:16:43
that there is a real
escalation in violence. And that's because once you
are married with two children,
00:16:49
your opportunities
become very limited. Where do you go? How do you fund your life?
00:16:54
How will you manage without your
partner bringing in the money and so on and so forth.
00:16:58
So that gives the predator
a perfect opportunity because now you really
are within their control
00:17:04
and they know that your
position is weakened. That is a perfect breeding
ground for violence.
00:17:09
NARRATOR: When the
two children were old enough to be at
school, Arlene launched
00:17:12
herself into new interests. She enrolled on a two-year
business studies course at the nearby Murray College.
00:17:18
She was obviously a housewife,
which was a full-time job. But she decided to
take up studying again.
00:17:29
So she was going to college. And not know what
she wanted to be. A travel agent or something.
00:17:37
But-- Yes. She was trying to be
more than a housewife because those children
were at school.
00:17:48
From looking at all Arlene's-- her life, and the way
she lived her life. I mean, she had been
a mother for 10 years.
00:17:58
She was going back to college. She was doing that on a Tuesday. She was trying to build
up her own real life.
00:18:05
NARRATOR: It was the sort of
independence which Nat Fraser may have felt threatened by.
00:18:09
EMMA KENNY: This Is going to be
a huge problem for Nat Fraser. Because the more contact she
has with the outside world,
00:18:15
the more she grows academically,
the more opportunities are put in front of her,
then the more likely
00:18:21
it is that his control
will be diminished. And that means that he starts
to lose his grip on her.
00:18:26
TONY KENT: The instances of
the violence become more often. And the violence itself
becomes more and more extreme.
00:18:33
And it culminates, ultimately,
in him hitting her so hard that he effectively
shatters her jaw.
00:18:40
She can't eat. She can't-- she can't do
very much to sustain herself. And this-- this
lovely, voluptuous
00:18:46
woman who goes sees her weight
plummet to just 7 stone. . She's almost skeletal
by this point.
00:18:53
NARRATOR: Her weight loss
was made worse by a condition from which she suffered.
00:18:57
CAROL FISHER: You know,
the fact that Arlene was such an awkward eater. You know, she had
Crohn's disease.
00:19:03
NARRATOR: Sleeping
in separate rooms, the couple were now
married in name alone.
00:19:07
NEIL LANCASTER: The
marriage is in trouble. We can see this by the fact
on at least three occasions
00:19:11
over the next five years she
goes to a solicitor to seek advice about getting a divorce.
00:19:16
But this is never
followed through. Arlene got to
the stage where she really did not want to
put up with any more
00:19:26
of his violence and-- and his disrespectful
behaviors going off with-- with other women.
00:19:32
She really did reach the
end of her tether with him. After 10 years of marriage,
Arlene actually tells a friend,
00:19:37
Michelle Scott, who
she'd become very close to in the last
18 months, that she's
00:19:40
leaving her marriage.
It's over. She's done with it. She's not loved him for a
while and she wants out.
00:19:45
But, and this is
really important, she acknowledges that
she's scared of him. And it all culminates,
really, in an evening out.
00:19:53
Arlene takes and it has an
evening out with her friend. She says she's going to stay
over at her friend's house.
00:19:57
Things really came to a
head on Mother's Day, 1998. Arlene went out with friends.
00:20:03
She didn't come home until
5:30 the following morning. NARRATOR: Arlene's night
out with her friend
00:20:07
Michelle would cost her dearly. Now we know that they spent
a really good night together.
00:20:12
But for some reason,
Nat Fraser has been tracking where his wife is. And he's seen this black
car outside Michelle Scott's
00:20:19
and decided that that means that
his wife is having an affair. So when she actually
returns home
00:20:25
he's obviously built up a rage. Remember, he's been pumping and
thinking about this constantly.
00:20:30
He's going to be so angry. TONY KENT: When she's
home the next day it turns into just an all out
brawl between the two of them
00:20:35
again. It's screaming, shouting. The-- the abuse that
she's receiving, it's just getting
worse and worse.
00:20:42
And instantly he grabs
her, throttles her. And it's so serious that she
doesn't know whether she's
00:20:47
going to pass out or die. Nat Fraser strangled
Arlene possibly to unconsciousness because
she had blood in her eyes
00:20:57
and bruising to her neck. Arlene's jaw was so
badly damaged that she had to seek medical attention.
00:21:03
She couldn't eat for a
considerable amount of time. Arlene's actually had a
fit during that episode.
00:21:07
And she goes to the
doctor's obviously clearly very concerned about
her health and well being.
00:21:11
And the doctor basically says,
you are lucky to be alive. The doctor was so
concerned that they
00:21:17
urged Arlene to go and report
this assault to the police. Arlene did do this and
Fraser was arrested.
00:21:26
That's a very serious charge. You're looking at time inside. NARRATOR: Charged
with attempted murder,
00:21:32
Nat Fraser is bailed and ordered
to leave the family home. Nat Fraser was
barred from the house.
00:21:38
NARRATOR: A major affront
to a man like Nat Fraser. Denied access to his own home.
00:21:44
NEIL LANCASTER:
Menacingly, Nat said to Arlene that he would never
forget what she had done
00:21:49
by reporting him to the police. JANE MONCKTON-SMITH: People
who are arrogant like that
00:21:55
are equally as entitled. Everything they have
they are entitled to. So if you take something
away from them,
00:22:05
you're taking away some kind
of right that they have. And they can be justified
then in responding either
00:22:12
by punishment or revenge. Anything. By this point she
wanted nothing more to do with Nat Fraser.
00:22:20
By this point in her mind
that marriage was over. That relationship was over. They would have nothing
more to do with one another.
00:22:27
But she wanted the children
to have the father. So she wanted a divorce. NARRATOR: Fraser
was a wealthy man.
00:22:33
He knew he stood to
pay a hefty settlement. ALAN SMITH: We knew
that she had been
00:22:37
in talks with her
solicitor around about a divorce settlement. A six-figure divorce settlement
which was going to hugely
00:22:45
damage him financially. She was likely to
get 250,000 pounds in a settlement of divorce.
00:22:51
That's a lot of money. NARRATOR: On the afternoon of
Tuesday 20th of April, 1998,
00:22:56
Arlene was to see her solicitor
to start divorce proceedings. It was an appointment
she would not keep.
00:23:02
CAROL FISHER: Now it
all started with a knock on the door about 2
o'clock in the morning
00:23:07
of the 29th of April. There was a policeman standing
there from Strathclyde Police.
00:23:14
My husband answered the door. And I could hear him saying,
is Arlene Fraser here?
00:23:21
Well, I thought to myself,
why would Arlene be here? Arlene lives in Elgin. And he came into the house
and he said, um, your sister's
00:23:31
been reported missing. NARRATOR: Arlene
Fraser's 10-year marriage had not been a happy one.
00:23:44
That she seeks a
divorce is unsurprising. But what no one expects is
that she will suddenly vanish.
00:23:51
Her home, left empty. The iron, still on sitting
on an ironing board. ALAN SMITH: Arlene was
a creature of habit.
00:23:58
She had a set routine. And she went missing
on a Tuesday morning. Now a Tuesday morning was pretty
much the only period of time
00:24:09
that she would have been at home
alone or known to be home alone by those who knew her.
00:24:14
She went to college. She had the kids, obviously in
the evenings, in the weekends.
00:24:20
So the period of time that she
would have had peace at home was really very much only
on a Tuesday morning.
00:24:26
And then she always met a
friend for lunch on a Tuesday in the town. NEIL LANCASTER:
She was due to meet
00:24:32
her friend for a
lunch appointment later on during the day. But she was going to busy
herself with some housework
00:24:38
before then. We know for a fact that she
called the school at 9:41 in the morning to discuss
what time one of the kids
00:24:45
was coming back from an event. The school were going
to call her back. However, when they did
try and call her back,
00:24:53
the phone just rang out. I used to phone most Tuesdays
because I knew Arlene was at--
00:25:03
didn't go to college
on a Tuesday. And for some obscure reason,
I woke up about 20 past 9,
00:25:14
usually slept right through. And tried to phone her. And I tried to phone
right through the day.
00:25:25
NARRATOR: Later that afternoon,
Arlene's children would return from school to an empty house.
00:25:31
Their aunt, Carol
Gillies, came to help. She recalls their devastation. CAROL FISHER: We collected
the kids, Jamie and Natalie.
00:25:39
And obviously, they needed
night clothes, school uniform, et cetera. They're both standing in the
doorway with two plastic bags,
00:25:49
you know. It was just-- it was very,
very-- it was just very sad. They just looked so
bewildered and so lost
00:25:58
as to what was happening. Bearing in mind, Natalie
was 5 and Jamie was 10. NARRATOR: Grampian
Police were concerned.
00:26:05
They assigned one of their
top officers to the case. ALAN SMITH: I was on call. The detective
inspector at the time.
00:26:13
And so I went up to Elgin
with some other officers. When we arrived at
the home it looked
00:26:20
like she had been in the
process of doing some vacuuming. Some hoovering. So there was a strangeness
around the house
00:26:28
but there was no upset. There was no-- there was
no signs of violence. There was nothing knocked over.
00:26:34
There were certainly
no crime scene. It just looked like
the house had emptied. Arlene is now missing.
00:26:42
This is incredibly
out of character. Worryingly, they
find her spectacles. They find the medication
that she really does need
00:26:51
to control her Crohn's disease. There is no forensic evidence. There is no sign
of any foul play.
00:26:57
But something is clearly wrong. NARRATOR: The story attracted
national media attention.
00:27:01
The search for Mrs. Arlene
Fraser, the wife of Nat, was underway. It was all over
the television.
00:27:09
Everyone was hunting for her. She wouldn't do
that to her family and her parents and her sister.
00:27:16
She just wouldn't--
because she knows us. She knows how we would, you
know, the grief, the worry.
00:27:23
There's no way that she
would put us through that. No way. There were no
signs of violence.
00:27:28
There was no obvious
signs of a struggle. So if the assumption was
that Arlene had been abducted
00:27:36
from the family home or
encouraged or enticed from the family home
to some location
00:27:41
where something
had befallen early. Every day that passed
without any indication
00:27:49
of Arlene's whereabouts
it became more alarming. NARRATOR: Detectives spoke
to her estranged husband.
00:27:56
On bail for the earlier
assault on Arlene, Nat was living with a
friend in the nearby village
00:28:01
of Lhanbryde. NEIL LANCASTER: Nat
Fraser has a cast iron alibi for his whereabouts at the
time of Arlene's disappearance.
00:28:08
He was undertaking
deliveries with a colleague in the local area. This is something he
doesn't normally do,
00:28:14
which in itself is
quite significant. He maintained an
impression that he thought
00:28:19
she had gone on holiday. And I remember saying to Nat,
this is some lengthy holiday
00:28:25
that Arlene's gone on. And-- and even then, he-- he-- he tried to maintain,
no, that it was credible.
00:28:36
She-- she-- she's
gone off to Spain. I knew that Arlene hadn't
run away, despite what
00:28:44
Nat Fraser was saying. I just knew because she would
have phoned me on this Tuesday
00:28:54
if she'd ever been in the house. There was no way Arlene
would do this to her children,
00:28:59
absolutely no way. ALAN SMITH: A very early
stage, there were curiosities that we're beginning
to start worrying
00:29:07
us as an investigation team. And that heightened this-- this assessment of is this
a simple straightforward
00:29:18
missing person
investigation or are we dealing with
something here that's a little bit more sinister?
00:29:23
NARRATOR: For Detective
Inspector Alan Smith, there were inconsistencies
which could not be ignored.
00:29:29
ALAN SMITH: The
initial crime scene examination of the house within
a day of Arlene gone missing.
00:29:38
The house was sealed and it
was looked at forensically. And including that
forensic examination
00:29:47
was a full video
sweep of the house. Days after that, once
the family had moved back
00:29:54
into the home, one
of the family members recovered from the
bathroom three rings.
00:30:04
Arlene's wedding ring,
engagement ring and eternity ring. And they were recovered
on a wooden dowel
00:30:11
in the bathroom on a soap dish. They hadn't been there during
the course of the video two
00:30:17
or three days earlier. So there was an
obvious curiosity. NARRATOR: As investigators
conducted inquiries
00:30:28
throughout the town, the
missing woman was the subject of unfounded allegations.
00:30:33
CAROL FISHER: There was a
lot of bad press about Arlene which was, you know, it
was hard to-- to read.
00:30:39
There were talks of, you
know, being on drugs, which was just ridiculous. You know, absolutely ridiculous.
00:30:46
ALAN SMITH: Despite
Nat's best efforts to paint Arlene as a
Scarlet woman who had upped
00:30:52
sticks and abandoned
her children, run off into the sunset
with some man or other.
00:30:58
That never hung together in
terms of what we uncovered within the investigation.
00:31:06
Whatever else we knew, we knew
with certainty that Arlene was a devoted mother. She was not promiscuous
as Nat had tried to paint.
00:31:19
She was not involved
in the local drug scene or involved in drug abuse
as had been suggested.
00:31:27
So those who knew Arlene began
to-- to within days and weeks question how Arlene could
ever have abandoned her kids.
00:31:41
It made no sense. NARRATOR: As days
turned to weeks, it appeared increasingly
unlikely that Arlene
00:31:46
had left voluntarily. CAROL FISHER: There's no way
that Arlene would disappear. And practically,
I don't think she
00:31:53
would manage to just disappear. She had a medical problem. She had Crohn's disease.
00:31:59
She suffered from migraines. So to actually just
up sticks and go would have been quite difficult.
00:32:05
ALAN SMITH: She also
had a prescription for contact lenses. So-- so we had the
wherewithal to--
00:32:13
to look for that. And what we discovered was
that the medication and contact lenses that we would
have thought she
00:32:22
would have taken with
her if she'd simply left and gone missing, were-- were in the house.
00:32:28
You know, there was
more and more information, I think, coming into the-- the police that they were
starting to really, you know,
00:32:35
realize that, you know,
the difficulty of Arlene actually being able to take off.
00:32:40
No transport. Who's going to help her? She's lived in
Elgin all her life. You know, how possibly
could she do that?
00:32:50
NARRATOR: The investigation
team had little to work with. ALAN SMITH: We had
no crime scene.
00:32:55
We had no forensic evidence. We had no witnesses
telling us that something had happened to Arlene.
00:33:00
We had no CCTV evidence
that was helping us point in a particular direction. So really what we were dealing
with was-- was largely unknown.
00:33:09
NARRATOR: But what they did
know was that the man Arlene had married was not all he seemed.
00:33:14
ALAN SMITH: There was
a very much a dark side to the private Nat Fraser. And what we saw there was--
was-- was quite alarming.
00:33:21
He clearly had a history
of domestic abuse. Arlene had been subjected
to domestic abuse
00:33:29
on many occasions. Emotional abuse. He was a controlling individual. It's not that he had a temper
that he couldn't control,
00:33:38
it was that he
was a man who used violence to get his own way. There's a big difference.
00:33:45
Nat Fraser had a charge
against him the month before. So for me, I just
felt that it wasn't
00:33:54
Arlene that was responsible
for her disappearance. And that-- that was-- from then on, you know,
I never really ever felt
00:34:04
that Arlene could be somewhere. Be alive. NARRATOR: But Fraser
had a water-tight alibi.
00:34:09
So perfect in fact, that
it raised suspicions. ALAN SMITH: He knew
that he would become
00:34:15
the focus of attention
during the time frame that he knew she was
going to go missing.
00:34:20
Tuesday morning between
9:00 and 10:00 AM. So during that period
of time he made sure
00:34:27
that he was accompanied by
a van delivery boy that day which he didn't normally have.
00:34:34
He made sure that his
vehicle was seen on CCTV at a particular location. He made sure that he
was on a telephone call
00:34:45
to a lady who he'd previously
had a relationship with but hadn't phoned in years.
00:34:52
And ironically,
never phoned again. So he made sure that he was
marking his scent that morning.
00:34:59
He's been so very visible on
the day that she goes missing. That it just can't
be him, can it?
00:35:05
The problem is we know it's him. The problem is, it must be him. But how to prove that?
00:35:11
NARRATOR: Getting
the proof would start with a need to establish
that Arlene was actually dead.
00:35:17
ALAN SMITH: The proof of
death in relation to Arlene is about closing doors
of life possibilities.
00:35:25
So no activity on her
bank or any finances for x period of time. No apparent interaction
with pharmaceutical outlets
00:35:36
for medication that she-- she needed in the UK. Not just locally, in the UK. Similarly, with
her contact lenses.
00:35:44
Her renewable contact lenses. No activity in that regard. To telephony. Nothing that would suggest
contact with friends, family.
00:35:54
All of these elements had to
be proved in a negative sense to be able to then
say it looks very
00:36:04
much like there's
just no evidence that this woman is alive. NARRATOR: For many, Mr.
Fraser's plan was all along
00:36:11
to be seen to be a long
way from the family home when Arlene went missing. HECTOR MCINNES: All
he did was spend
00:36:18
time with a lawyer
or solicitor trying to get back in the house. So it's obvious he wouldn't be
trying to get back in the house
00:36:28
if he thought Arlene
was coming back. NARRATOR: Unable
to charge Fraser for the murder of Arlene, who
was still officially missing,
00:36:37
police could bring
charges and get him jail for another offense. The earlier assault on Arlene.
00:36:44
And he is found guilty
of that assault. Fraser is now in
prison for 18 months. They know exactly where he
is because they just put him
00:36:53
in jail for
attempting to strangle his wife, which she reported. They are now free to do
a proper, thorough, and
00:37:00
systematic search for Arlene,
and to try and get the evidence to prove who killed her.
00:37:04
NARRATOR: Whilst
in prison, the case was subject to constant
review and a circuitous lead
00:37:09
was discovered. The purchase of a car the day
before Arlene went missing. ALAN SMITH: We uncovered
a significant break
00:37:18
for the first time in
relation to a vehicle which was a Ford Fiesta. And the Ford Fiesta had
been purchased the night
00:37:30
before Arlene had gone
missing, 27th of April, by a very close associate of
Nat Fraser in circumstances that
00:37:42
could only be described as
very covert and cash in hand and see nothing. NARRATOR: The man was
called Hector Dick.
00:37:49
He had been best man
at the Fraser wedding. TONY KENT: He bought a car
from a business associate.
00:37:55
I think, a business partner
in fact, called Dick. One of the
stipulations on the car
00:37:59
was, Hector, it must
have a big boot. What the hell is he asking
for that for, other than we
00:38:04
need to put stuff in that boot. NARRATOR: Smith
and his colleagues are faced with a question.
00:38:08
Why a big boot? Was it to put a body in perhaps? In his wedding vows
Nat Fraser had promised
00:38:15
to love and protect Arlene. 10 years later, would he finally
stand accused of her murder?
00:38:29
Investigators suspect
that Nat Fraser is responsible for Arlene
Fraser's disappearance,
00:38:33
and probably, her death. But proving it has been hard. The discovery that he had bought
a car from Hector Dick the day
00:38:40
before Arlene vanished
was another piece of circumstantial evidence. ALAN SMITH: What we had was
a lot of circumstances that
00:38:51
in isolation meant
perhaps very little and certainly wouldn't
be compelling. But when you take each of
them and intertwine them,
00:39:03
it goes from being a thread
to a small piece of string to a thicker piece
of rope and it
00:39:09
becomes then a stronger case. More compelling. To get those circumstantial
pieces of evidence
00:39:18
you've got to be
patient and you've got to be exhaustive in
what you're looking at.
00:39:23
NARRATOR: At that point
in the investigation, Nat Fraser still believed
that he had the upper hand.
00:39:28
ALAN SMITH: Nat believed that if
Arlene's body was never found, there could never be a
conviction for murder.
00:39:35
He thought he could
outwit the police. He thought he was cleverer
than everybody else.
00:39:40
And he never
thought for a minute that he was going to get
convicted of her murder.
00:39:45
NARRATOR: In 2002,
police pounce. They arrest Nat
Fraser who immediately showed little loyalty
to his former best man.
00:39:54
TONY KENT: That's what
led to him saying, well, what about Hector Dick? And that's what led
to Hector Dick saying,
00:39:59
well, now you need to
know the following. And what the following
included was probably
00:40:03
his biggest mistake of all. He had told Hector
Dick, actually told him, I'm hiring a guy from down
South to get rid of Arlene.
00:40:12
NARRATOR: The groom
and the best man had overnight become
each other's accuser. The accusation was that Fraser
had hired a man to kill Arlene,
00:40:21
and that Hector Dick was used
to buy the getaway vehicle. So meticulous is the
planning of the murder.
00:40:27
So calculated and cold,
that he hires a hitman. He actually does this
with colleagues, as well.
00:40:33
So he's open about his
intention to kill her. He actually gets
a car to make sure
00:40:38
that when they move
the body there won't be forensics linking it to him. He actually has her
body dismembered, ground
00:40:46
down so that nobody
can find a body. Because remember, it's very hard
to try a murder without a body.
00:40:52
NARRATOR: Hector Dick became
a witness for the prosecution. Yes, he had bought
the car for Fraser.
00:40:57
But he did not know
why he wanted it. Fraser alone faced the
charge of murdering his wife.
00:41:04
We had no silver
bullet around about Nat being involved in her
murder and disappearance.
00:41:12
What we built was a
circumstantial case. NARRATOR: A case
still without a body. TONY KENT: It's assumed that
he ground Arlene's body down
00:41:21
and distributed it
in different places, small parts here, small parts
there, in again his attempt
00:41:26
to outwit everyone else. If you can't find
the body or even a substantial part
of the body then
00:41:31
you can't prove me
guilty of murder. NARRATOR: In
January 2003, it was time for a jury to decide
the truth about what
00:41:38
had happened to Arlene Fraser. Would they find
Nat Fraser guilty? Carol, her sister,
believed they would.
00:41:45
CAROL FISHER: I felt
very, very confident. And I had drafted up the
word guilty as a text.
00:41:53
And when it came I was
pressed the button. I had to believe. I really, really had to believe.
00:41:59
NARRATOR: Fraser was sentenced
to 25 years for the murder of his wife, Arlene. HECTOR MCINNES: They definitely
didn't appreciate the verdict.
00:42:08
Not a surprise because it
was 25 years or something. NARRATOR: But Nat
Fraser had no intention
00:42:13
of serving his sentence. He lodged an appeal. In 2010, having exhausted all
legal avenues in Scotland,
00:42:20
he appealed to the
Supreme Court in London. EMMA KENNY: He has really
thought about this.
00:42:24
Because as far as
he's concerned, he wants to do the
crime but he definitely doesn't want to do the time.
00:42:28
NARRATOR: In 2011,
Nat Fraser's appeal was granted on a technicality. There was a question, a
technical question, in relation
00:42:37
to the integrity of
the chain of evidence. Now, the conviction
was declared unsafe by the Supreme Court.
00:42:45
And the conviction
was therefore quashed and a retrial was ordered. The quashing of the conviction
was extremely frustrating.
00:42:54
I cannot explain how
stressful the court process was at the beginning. So apart from the fact
that he was now free,
00:43:05
we knew that probably ahead of
us was the same process again. NARRATOR: Chief
Inspector Alan Smith
00:43:12
was on hand to witness Fraser's
reaction to winning the appeal. ALAN SMITH: Gloating.
00:43:16
Gloating on the steps
of the High Court. He couldn't help himself. The old Nat came back.
00:43:22
It was as if
everything had lifted. And he was back to
being the cheeky chappy in the
[inaudible] in Elgin
00:43:28
delivering his fruit and veg. He could not contain himself. Nat reverted to type.
00:43:33
And so, that absolutely
was all the motivation that was needed to-- to-- to get
this train back on the track.
00:43:42
Let's get this investigation
and redouble our efforts to get him back into court.
00:43:48
NARRATOR: In 2012,
Fraser was back on trial at Edinburgh's
High Court with another jury
00:43:54
about to hear the case. ALAN SMITH: And so he went
on trial for a second time. And this again
was the first time
00:44:00
that an individual who
had a conviction quashed was reindicted and-- and put on trial for
murder for the same crime.
00:44:10
So he went on trial and he was
convicted for a second time by a different jury for murder.
00:44:18
And that's the situation
as it remains today. And he is now
serving what is very
00:44:24
probably the rest of
his life in prison for the murder of Arlene. You try not to be, you
know, jump in the air.
00:44:32
You know, you try
to stay composed but the relief is unbelievable. Just unbelievable.
00:44:38
Because the alternative
was that he would just walk through the doors. And it was have
all been in vain.
00:44:44
There's no way
you can describe the emotions around that. But for the right reasons
justice had been done.
00:44:52
NARRATOR: Nathaniel Gordon
Fraser has since launched and lost appeals for a retrial.
00:44:56
Justice may have
been served, but it's scant consolation to those
who loved Arlene Fraser.
00:45:02
HECTOR MCINNES: I
grieved for Arlene. Then I grieved for myself. And then you've got
to get on with it.
00:45:09
And I think they Arlene and
good times that we did have. So I love you but--
but not enough.
00:45:18
NARRATOR: They had been
Elgin's golden couple but Nat Fraser always believed
his star shone the brightest.
00:45:24
JANE MONCKTON-SMITH:
He was so self-obsessed and so entitled
that it's like he bought into his own publicity.
00:45:35
And you know, he just
started to believe that he was this wonderful
special person who everybody
00:45:41
should kneel at his feet. And when he didn't
get his own way he was like a
recalcitrant toddler.
00:45:48
But you know, a big one. A powerful one. A dangerous one. NARRATOR: Nat Fraser may
have lost his freedom,
00:45:55
but he does keep one secret. ALAN SMITH: One thing
that Nat still controls is the secret in relation
to where Arlene's body is.
00:46:08
That's the one thing
that he can hold on to-- to this day in
terms of retaining control over the family.
00:46:19
And I've been asked many
times, do you think Nat will ever give up Arlene's body?
00:46:27
Because he probably
is the only one who really knows where her body is. And I doubt very, very much,
knowing what I know about Nat
00:46:35
Fraser, and that's extensive. Knowing him as I do, I would
be amazed if he ever gives
00:46:43
up that final piece of control. NARRATOR: Arlene was
a beloved daughter, sister, mother, and friend.
00:46:50
Her downfall seems to have
been marrying the wrong man. He was a very manipulative
and charismatic person.
00:46:58
And by the time she fell for
him, it was already too late. Once he decided that she
was going to be his wife
00:47:09
it was sealed. She isn't his wife. She's his prize. She's his possession. And Fraser is not
a man who's going
00:47:15
to let his possessions go. He is a man who believes
in, if I can't have you, no one could have you.
00:47:21
[music playing]