Lip-reader helped to catch wife killer

Arlene's body has never been found

Police have revealed how a forensic lip-reader was used to help catch the killer of Arlene Fraser.

Arlene's husband Nat Fraser was convicted of murder on Wednesday and sentenced to life imprisonment.

One of the key concerns in securing a conviction in the case was the lack of a body.

Arlene has never been found since she disappeared from the couple's home nearly five years ago.

Fraser was snared using CCTV footage

Now Grampian Police have released details of how the case against Nat Fraser was built.

Detective Superintendent Jim Stephen told BBC Scotland's Frontline programme their major concern was that they had no forensics, no crime scene and no body.

But he said he was determined to build a circumstantial case against Fraser.

The breakthrough came when Nat Fraser was in prison in Inverness in October 2000. He had been jailed for 18 months for assaulting Arlene.

While he was there a conversation was recorded on CCTV cameras which was then passed on to police.

'Cut her up'

Mr Stephen described the two tapes as a breakthrough, despite the lack of sound.

They were passed on to a forensic lip-reader who took seven months to analyse the conversation.

"For me it at last confirmed Arlene had been murdered," Mr Stephen said.

"It was absolutely a huge bonus it really was."

Jim Stephen said the lip-reader helped the case

According to the lip-reader, Nat said to his visitor: "I don't think they'll find her - it's been a long time."

He then used expressions like "pull teeth out" and "cut her up".

He added: "They can't find her - it's impossible."

Mr Stephen said this information gave the police what they needed to take the inquiry forward.

"We at last could see a light at the end of the tunnel - that Nat Fraser was going to be charged with murder."

Fraser was arrested and charged with murder on 19 June, 2001.