Jury selection has begun in the murder trial of a Mintlaw man who allegedly gunned down his disabled wife in America.
Wayne Fraser, 47, is facing life imprisonment for the fatal shooting of his 55-year-old wheelchair-bound partner Natalie Ryan-Fraser in Mississippi.
Lowndes County Sheriff’s deputies discovered her body during a welfare check at an apartment on Cedar Street, Caledonia, at 8am on Thursday December 30 2021.
Just a day before, Natalie had checked the pair into a steakhouse and sushi bar, posting on Facebook: “Dinner with my love”.
Police recovered a 9mm handgun from the tragic scene and Fraser was later charged with first-degree murder when a Grand Jury returned the indictment on April 25 last year.
Today, jurors at Lowndes County Court, Columbus, could begin hearing the first evidence in the case against Fraser.
‘Feloniously, wilfully and unlawfully with deliberate design to effect the death of Natalie Fraser’
He is being represented by one of the county’s five public defender lawyers after being declared “indigent”, meaning he is financially unable to pay for his own defence.
Chance Fair, of Tompkins Law Firm, has been described as “a relatively young public defender” by a legal insider.
A Sixteenth Circuit Court document states that his client “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”.
Fraser has been locked up at Lowndes County Adult Detention Center ever since he was arrested, despite the opportunity of temporary freedom when a bail bond of $500,000 was set upon his detention.
‘If convicted the only sentence is life in prison’
Relatives of Natalie Ryan-Fraser – a senior English lecturer at Angelo State University in Texas – have said they will attend proceedings.
It’s understood that Judge James T Kitchens Jr is presiding over the murder trial of the former Mintlaw Academy student, who also attended Banff and Buchan College in his earlier years.
“He will be pleasant but stern,” André de Gruy – the State Public Defender for Mississippi – told The Press and Journal.
“Mr Fraser is charged with murder in the first degree. If convicted of that charge the only sentence available is life in prison,” he explained.
Mississippi does not have any option of parole in the event of any kind of homicide conviction.
“There is a provision of law that would allow him to seek conditional release at age 65 having served 15 years,” Mr de Gruy added.
“The jury may be allowed to consider the lesser charge of murder in the second degree and, depending on the evidence, manslaughter by culpable negligence or heat of passion.
“If convicted of murder two, the prosecutor could ask that the jury consider a life sentence.
“If he doesn’t ask or the jury does not agree to that sentence, it would be up to the judge to sentence to a minimum of 20 years or a maximum of 40 years.
“That would be without parole but a judge could suspend some of the time. A conviction of manslaughter carries up to 20 years set by the judge.
“There is parole eligibility on that charge after a person serves 50% of the sentence imposed.”
Parole is decided by a five-person panel of people who have been appointed by the state governor.
Wayne Fraser moved away from the north-east of Scotland to start a new life abroad.
He had been working as a foreman for an industrial painting and coating firm based in Hamilton, Mississippi.
His wife Natalie Ryan-Fraser, who married the Scot in 2014, was visiting him from Texas at the time of her death.
District Attorney (DA) Scott Colom, the ambitious man leading Fraser’s prosecution, has been nominated by President Biden to serve on the federal trial-level court.
However, his appointment is being held up because a US Senator has refused to support the nomination.
“The DA is skilled in the courtroom,” Mr de Gruy told The P&J.
Why the death penalty is off the table
Whatever the outcome of the court case, Fraser is not at risk of receiving the death penalty, which is only given to people who are convicted of the charge of capital murder.
It’s the state’s most serious offence that involves specific circumstances of unlawful killing.
It includes the murder of a ‘peace officer’ (police officer, judge, fireman); contract killings; murder by explosive device; or murder as part of rape, burglary, kidnapping, arson, robbery, sexual battery, or sex with any child under the age of 12.
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