Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Mintlaw man claimed his wife shot herself, the disabled woman’s brother tells US murder trial

It's claimed Natalie Ryan-Fraser's brother called 911 to report what Wayne Fraser had told him over the phone.

Kory Ryan and his sister Natalie Ryan-Fraser, who was allegedly murdered by her husband Wayne Fraser. Images: LinkedIn/Facebook
Kory Ryan and his sister Natalie Ryan-Fraser, who was allegedly murdered by her husband Wayne Fraser. Images: LinkedIn/Facebook

A Mintlaw man who is accused of gunning down his wife in America claimed his disabled spouse had shot and killed herself, a court has been told.

Wayne Fraser, 47, denies a charge of first-degree murder after his 55-year-old wife Natalie Ryan-Fraser was found dead at a Mississippi (MS) apartment on December 30 2021.

On Thursday, one of her brothers gave evidence, testifying against his brother-in-law.

Kory Ryan, the founder of and managing partner at a major Texas-based law firm, recalled the day he heard that Natalie was dead.

He told the court Fraser contacted him by phone in the morning and his sibling’s husband told him that she had shot herself.

Then the panicked relative raised the alarm with the emergency services by calling 911, the jury heard.

Murder accused Wayne Fraser. Image: Facebook

Kory Ryan is the District Attorney’s last witness.

His multi-millionaire businessman brother Texas-based tax consultant and entrepreneur George Brinton “Brint” Ryan, whose firm is worth $2.5 billion, has previously told The Press and Journal that the family have been “working closely” with the prosecution.

However, Brint Ryan has not testified in the trial and hasn’t been called to testify.

Earlier, the jury at Lowndes County Court House heard evidence from a digital forensics expert who retrieved and examined images from a mobile phone.

On Tuesday, jurors in the southern city of Columbus were presented with the first evidence in the court case that could now run into the weekend.

Other evidence heard by the jury so far

First to recollect the tragic fatal shooting was local 911 call operator Cindy Lawrence, who answered questions from the witness stand.

The following day, a representative from the state medical examiner’s office offered testimony as the court was shown disabled Natalie’s wheelchair on Wednesday.

Scenes from this week’s proceedings have been broadcast by local television news station WCBI.

Murder accused Wayne Fraser hears evidence about his wife’s fatal shooting from the medical examiner’s office as Natalie’s wheelchair is shown to the jury. Images: WCBI

Fraser, who swapped the north-east of Scotland to live the American dream, was captured on camera looking down at the desk he was sitting at while he wrote notes.

The Scots expat had been married to Natalie, an educator at Angelo State University in Texas, for around a decade.

At the time of her death, she had travelled from their Texan home to visit her partner who had been working part-time out-of-state as a foreman for an industrial painting and coating company in Hamilton, MS.

Fraser faces life imprisonment if he is convicted.

He could avoid spending the rest of his life locked up only if he’s acquitted or found guilty of less serious homicide offences that carry custodial sentences of 20-40 years.

Ex-Mintlaw Academy pupil receiving US equivalent of legal aid

The ex-Mintlaw Academy pupil, who went on to study at Banff and Buchan College, is receiving the US equivalent of legal aid.

Fraser is being represented by a public defender after he was declared unable to finance a defence attorney on his own.

He had already been detained for around 20 months before the murder trial started this week.

Lowndes County Sheriff’s deputies arrested him when they responded to Cedar Street in the town of Caledonia.

There they carried out a welfare check but instead discovered Natalie’s body and recovered a 9mm firearm from the scene.

Wayne Fraser was arrested at a Cedar Street apartment in the town of Caledonia. Images: Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office/Google Street View

Just the day before she had checked the couple into a steakhouse and sushi bar on Facebook, posting: “Dinner with my love”.

Natalie Ryan-Fraser’s final Facebook post before her death. Image: Facebook

Fraser denies that he 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”.

The murder trial, presided over by Judge James T Kitchens Jr, continues.

For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.