Arlene Fraser's family 'moving on' 14 years after she disappeared

Family: Hector McInnes, Carol Gillies and Isabelle Thompson spoke on Wednesday.STV

The family of Arlene Fraser have said they are "moving on" from the case.

On Wednesday, Nat Fraser was found of guilty for a second time of murdering his wife in April 1998.

Mrs Fraser, 33, was planning on seeing a lawyer about getting a divorce from her estranged husband.

Her parents, Hector McInnes and Isabelle Thompson, and sister Carol Gillies, have sat through two murder trials and watched as Mrs Fraser’s killer had his conviction quashed last year.

After the verdict on Wednesday, Ms Gillies said she was "moving on" and would not be attending anymore court hearing. It is expected that Fraser will launch an appeal against his conviction.

Ms Gillies said: "This is significant for me and a deciding factor for me. We have gone through two trials, we have all been witnesses. We went through a three week hearing in 2007.

"From this day forward as far as I’m concerned Nat Fraser can take the information in his head back to the cell. I don’t want to know anymore because it’s too much. I’m moving on and I’m taking Arlene with me.

"We have lived with this for 14 years. The police are part of our family; the press are part of our family. It takes too much out of you. You become obsessed with it.

"I can’t have a photograph of Arlene in the house. I can’t look at her smiling because of the horrible things that have happened to her. What I do remember about her is her sense of humour because she was very, very witty.

"It's time we moved on and got some joy in our lives."

Mrs Fraser disappeared from her Elgin home in April 1998 and her body has never been found. Although Fraser has been found guilty of her murder, it is not known exactly how she died.

The family said they did not expect Fraser to tell them where Mrs Fraser was or what happened to her.

Ms Gillies said: "Every time I hear those words on the radio 'remains have been found' I stop and think it could be Arlene. But it’s never going to be. Nat Fraser is never going to tell us the truth."

Mr McInnes added it was "maybe better not to know" what happened to Mrs Fraser.

Fraser was found guilty of ordering his wife’s murder and it is believed there was someone else involved.

Ms Thompson said: "There must have been another person. Surely Nat Fraser should name him. I would think this time he should be realising he’s in jail so let’s just come clean. Nat Fraser will never tell us."

Ms McInnes also thanked the authorities for the support for more than a decade.

He said: "I would like to thank Grampian Police for the 14 years that they have supported us. I would also like to express my appreciation to the Crown and Prosecution Service because this has been a long struggle for them as well as for us."

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