THE mother of murder victim Arlene Fraser has said she does not believe her killer will ever reveal where her body is.
Nat Fraser is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 17 years after being convicted at a retrial in 2012 of organising the murder of his wife.
The mother-of-two disappeared from her home in New Elgin, Moray, in 1998. Her body has never been found.
The trial heard a claim that Fraser told a former friend that he paid a hitman £15,000 to kill his wife after she began divorce proceedings.
Now, her mother Isabelle Thompson has said Fraser’s refusal to admit his guilt means she believes he will never confess where his wife’s remains are. But she said plans to bring in “Suzanne’s Law” – allowing the parole board to factor in if killers refuse to reveal the location of their victim’s body when ruling on release - would be a “step in the right direction” for families in their situation.
READ MORE: Independent inquiry to probe handling of Margaret Fleming's care
In an interview with STV, she said: “[Fraser] would need to admit to his family that he was guilty.
“They’ve never attended any of the trials that he had, so they don’t hear the evidence, so naturally they’re going to think that he’s innocent.
“So, if he was to admit to where Arlene’s body is, that’s admitting to his family as well that all these years they’ve thought the wrong thing.
“That’s basically the reason, I think, that he’ll never let us know where she is.”
Arlene’s sister, Carol Gillies, said the family was “left with the feeling that Arlene is still out there”, adding: “Where is she? Will we ever find out? One day you might think ‘I’m never going to find out’, the next day you think, ‘well, maybe I will’.
“At the moment I feel the law is helping [Fraser] because he’ll have served his sentence for murder and he would get out.
“This is where I think we need help from the Government.
“If he was up for parole next week and they said, ‘oh, you know, you’ve been a model prisoner, you’re released, have a nice or life or whatever’, where does that leave us?
“We’re no further forward. We continue to live the sentence whereas he doesn’t.
“I also feel if you’re withholding information, something really important, a body, surely when he’s released from prison he’s continuing to commit a crime against us?”
The Scottish Government plans to amend existing parole board rules to allow a prisoner’s failure to disclose the location of a victim’s body to be taken into account when deciding if parole should be granted.
The family of Edinburgh murder victim Suzanne Pilley – killed by her former lover David Gilroy in 2010 – have pressed for the change as he has never revealed where her body is.
Thompson said she believes the change would be “a very good thing” but does not think it would help in her daughter’s case due to Fraser’s refusal to admit guilt.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here