Arlene Fraser murder trial: I saw tear in Fraser’s eye, claims officer

A FORMER senior policeman has claimed Nat Fraser showed a unique degree of “numbness” towards his wife’s disappearance, and that a tear came to his eye but there was no distress.

William Robertson, 58, a retired detective inspector, said he had gone to see Fraser hours after Arlene Fraser had been reported missing.

He told a jury that in missing persons cases, he was used to relatives praying for information, and desperate to find out what had happened and to be of help.

“We got nothing from him,” said Mr Robertson.

The jury at the High Court in Edinburgh also heard rings found in Mrs Fraser’s home more than a week after she disappeared had been there within hours of the police being alerted.

The discovery of her engagement, wedding and eternity rings on a wooden peg, or dowel, under a soap dish in her bathroom was the cornerstone of the prosecution’s case against her estranged husband at a previous trial.

However, Neil Lynch, 59, a retired Grampian Police constable, said he saw jewellery, including three rings, on a visit to the house on the first night.

“I believe I am right. I concede I could be wrong. I don’t think I am,” said Mr Lynch.

Fraser, 53, denies acting with others to murder his wife, who vanished on 28 April, 1998, the day she was to have seen a solicitor about a divorce. He pleads alibi and incrimination, blaming Hector Dick, a former friend, and another or others if she was killed.

Mrs Fraser, of New Elgin, Moray, was reported missing about 8pm on 28 April and Mr Robertson said he saw Fraser in the early hours next day.

He said Fraser’s attitude in such circumstances was “unique, a one-off”.

He added: “I had never encountered such inaction, numbness before in my career or since.”

It was a “surreal” meeting and Mr Robertson had asked if there was any possibility Mrs Fraser had taken her own life.

“A tear came to his eye. He said, ‘I don’t want to think about that’. He said it but I did not get the feeling he meant it.

“There was no distress, no anxiety or sign of worry coming from him,” said Mr Robertson. Earlier, Mr Lynch said he retired from the police in 2002 and spent six years as a consultant training police in Iraq. Currently, he works as a transport manager with London Olympics.

He explained he had not been called to give evidence at Fraser’s trial in 2003, but was aware a great deal of significance had been attached to the rings.

The jury at the present trial has been shown a video of Mrs Fraser’s bathroom, filmed the day after she disappeared, where, quite clearly, there are no rings on the dowel.

The jury has heard Mrs Fraser’s rings were found by her stepmother on the dowel on 7 May, not long after Fraser had been in the bathroom.

Mr Lynch said he and a colleague had gone to the house in New Elgin, Moray, about 11pm on 28 April, to check to see if Mrs Fraser had returned home.

He said he noticed jewellery in the bathroom.

“As far as I can recall, three rings and a yellow metal bracelet or necklace, a chain...I thought it was interesting, thought it unusual for a woman to leave home without what appeared to me to be a wedding ring, an engagement ring and an eternity ring,” Mr Lynch said.

The trial continues.