Nat Fraser 'did not seem bothered' when his estranged wife went missing

A mother has told a court she confronted the man accused of murdering her daughter after she vanished 14 years ago.

Isabelle Thompson is the first witness in the trial of Nat Fraser, accused of murdering his wife Arlene in 1998.

She told the High Court in Edinburgh that her daughter and Fraser had separated before she disappeared and said Fraser had moved out of the family home.

Mrs Thompson said she was told of Arlene's disappearance by her other daughter's husband on April 29, 1998.

She told the court she confronted Fraser and asked if he had "done anything" to her, but said he "didn't seem all that bothered" that his estranged wife was missing.

She said: "I didn't think he was very enthusiastic to find out anything about Arlene."

Mrs Thompson recalled that the last contact she had with her 33-year-old daughter was a phone conversation four days earlier.

The witness also told jurors that Mrs Fraser's estranged husband appeared "agitated" after his wife vanished.

Fraser is charged with killing Arlene at her home in New Elgin, Elgin, Moray, or elsewhere in Scotland, between April 28 and May 7 1998.

The 53-year-old denies acting with others in the killing and has lodged special defences of alibi and incrimination.

Mrs Thompson, 66, told the court that she was contacted by her son-in-law on the morning of Wednesday April 29 that year.

She said: "I was told that Arlene was missing."

Mrs Thompson, from Motherwell, Lanarkshire, described how she then went to Elgin with her daughter, Carol, and they visited the police station.

The court heard she was later informed that Arlene had disappeared on Tuesday April 28.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, asked her: "Did Mr Nat Fraser ever contact you that day, that's the Wednesday?"

"No," she replied.

"Did you speak to him in any way?," the lawyer went on. "I don't think so," said the witness.

Mrs Thompson said she later saw Fraser at her daughter's home. Asked how Fraser appeared, she said: "He seemed agitated."

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