Jurors in the murder trial of a north-east man accused of shooting his wife dead in America have heard evidence from a 911 emergency call operator.
Wayne Fraser, who’s originally from Mintlaw, has gone on trial charged with the first-degree murder of the 47-year-old’s disabled partner Natalie Ryan-Fraser.
The process of selecting members to sit on the jury began on Monday and District Attorney Scott Colom introduced the prosecution’s first witness on Tuesday morning.
Lowndes County 911 Directory public servant Cindy Lawrence was the first person to take the stand and give testimony.
Natalie, 55, was allegedly gunned down after travelling from Texas to visit her husband, who was working as an industrial painting and coating foreman in Hamilton, Mississippi.
‘Dinner with my love’
Fraser, a former student of Mintlaw Academy and Banff and Buchan College, had been living in the area part-time.
The Scot moved overseas for a better life and married Natalie Ryan in 2014.
Just a day before her disturbing death, Natalie posted on Facebook that she was having “dinner with my love” at a steakhouse and sushi bar.
Lowndes County Sheriff’s deputies found the wheelchair-bound Angelo State University lecturer’s body when they carried out a welfare check on the morning of December 30 2021.
They also recovered a firearm – a 9mm handgun – from an apartment on Cedar Street, Caledonia.
Fraser, who was arrested after police arrived at the scene around 8am on the day of the tragedy, is facing life imprisonment if he is found guilty.
The trial is expected to last throughout this week.
Relatives of the victim have previously said that they planned to attend the Sixteenth Circuit Court’s proceedings in the southern city of Columbus.
James T Kitchens Jr, a “pleasant but stern” judge, is presiding over the murder trial.
Locked up for almost 20 months
It comes around 20 months since Fraser was taken into custody at Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
Justice officials have declared the accused too poor to pay for his defence lawyer.
He is being represented by one of the county’s five public defenders, who work for private law firms with contracts to provide the US equivalent to Scotland’s legal aid.
When he was first detained, Fraser was given the opportunity of temporary release from jail, with a bail bond of $500,000 being set.
However, the 47-year-old has remained locked up ever since.
On April 25 last year, a Grand Jury made up of as many as 20 registered voters, deliberated in secret after hearing initial evidence and voted to send the case to trial.
According to the indictment, it’s claimed that Fraser “did feloniously, wilfully and unlawfully with deliberate design to effect the death of Natalie Fraser, a human being, kill Natalie Fraser, without the authority of law and not in necessary self-defence”.
Wayne Fraser has pled not guilty to the charge and the trial, which continues, is expected to last through the week.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.
