Scot who shot and killed paralysed wife in US jailed for 20 years

Wayne Fraser was found guilty by a Mississippi jury of the manslaughter of Natalie Ryan-Fraser.

Aberdeenshire man shot and killed paralysed wife in US jailed for 20 years Facebook

A Scottish expat has been jailed for 20 years in the United States after shooting his paralysed wife to death.

Wayne Fraser, 47, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Natalie Ryan-Fraser, 55, at Lowndes County Court House on Thursday.

The 47-year-old originally moved to America in 2010 from Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, after forging a relationship with university professor Natalie Ryan Fraser.

The couple married in 2014 and settled in Texas.

Mrs Fraser’s body was found in an apartment in Caledonia, Mississippi, in December 2021, one day after she made a post on social media from a restaurant with her husband saying “dinner with my love”.

The jury took three hours to return its verdict.

Judge James T. Kitchens Jr told Fraser he would spend the next 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence that he could impose for the crime.

The indictment against him stated that “he did feloniously, wilfully and unlawfully with deliberate design to effect the death of Natalie Fraser… without the authority of law and not in necessary self-defence”.

Mr Fraser did not face the death penalty as he was not charged with capital murder – which is reserved for the “most serious cases”.

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