Meet, Marry, Murder - Season 1, Episode 17 - Fraser - Full Episode | Forensic Files

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

When Arlene Fraser disappeared, her husband Nat had a watertight alibi. But local cops weren't to be fooled.

Though wedded couples vow to stay together until death do they part, this new true crime series looks at what happens when a groom or bride causes their beloved's death.

Brief Summary

Arlene Fisher's disappearance leads to her husband's conviction for murder amid a history of domestic abuse.

Key points

The Sinister Question. Detectives ponder if Arlene's disappearance is a simple case or something more sinister.
Nat Fraser's Control. Nat Fraser's controlling nature becomes evident as he isolates Arlene from her friends.
Escalation of Violence. The violence in Nat and Arlene's marriage escalates, leading to severe consequences.
Arlene's Decision to Leave. After years of abuse, Arlene finally decides to leave Nat, but fear holds her back.
Arlene's Disappearance. Arlene Fraser vanishes unexpectedly, leaving her home in disarray and her family distraught.
Nat Fraser's Alibi. Nat Fraser maintains a strong alibi during the time of Arlene's disappearance, raising suspicions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Arlene was just the girl next door.

Carol Fisher describing Arlene's personality.

1:55WatchJun 8, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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