A Mintlaw man who shot his wife dead in America has found his appeal delayed after court staff repeatedly failed to file paperwork.
Wayne Fraser, 48, is locked up at a Mississippi prison after slaying his paralysed 55-year-old spouse Natalie Ryan-Fraser with her handgun on December 30 2021.
The former Banff and Buchan College student, who fired into Natalie’s neck as she sat helplessly in her wheelchair, was exposed as a domestic abuser during his trial.
It ended with jurors unanimously finding the former North Sea worker guilty of the downgraded charge of manslaughter, with a judge jailing him for 20 years and imposing a $10,000 fine.
Fraser appealed in mid-October 2023, however, Court of Appeals judges have still not begun to consider his case, The Press and Journal can reveal.
Transcripts of the hearings against Fraser were finally provided to the state’s highest court just over a week before Christmas, by what is known as a court reporter – a person who records and transcribes court proceedings word-for-word.
They were originally due more than a year before, on December 12 2023.
Correspondence and official legal documents seen by The P&J blamed “a voluminous backlog of appeal transcript, motions, plea hearings”.
Lowndes County Courthouse in the southern city of Columbus, where Fraser was convicted, operates with three judges and only three court reporters.
But, with a busy court schedule and no “floater” – a spare court reporter – completed and acceptable transcripts remained “overdue” until December 17 last year.
Various extensions had been granted amid the threat of overstretched county court staff being “sanctioned”.
Overdue notices and court demands for explanations
Thirty-day extensions had been granted three times before court reporter Gloria Clark requested a further 14-day extension.
“Clark has been issued two overdue notices and three show-cause notices in this matter,” Judge Anthony N. Lawrence III said.
The show-cause notices compel individuals to explain, in this case, the delays.
Clark was granted the 14-day extension in June this year.
However, among other conditions, the judge ordered Clark to detail “the amount of work accomplished on the transcripts ” in future requests for extensions.
Further deadlines were then missed, with Mississippi’s Supreme Court demanding explanations.
Towards the end of August, transcripts of pretrial hearings held on May 26 and July 12 2023 were found to be missing from submissions.
Another 30-day extension was requested and another court hearing was held.
It heard that “[Fraser’s] attorney has proposed corrections to the record, and the court reporter has not provided the necessary transcripts.
“On November 25, 2024, after the circuit clerk filed the current motion for time, the court reporter filed a notice of completion of the transcripts.
“The motion for time is well taken.
“Because the court reporter has now filed the transcript, the panel finds that a fourteen-day extension of time to prepare the record is appropriate.”
The completed record was finally filed on December 17 last year and a “Briefing Schedule Notice Letter” was issued on the same day.
However, despite the progress, the clock counting down to the deadline for judges to rule on Fraser’s appeal has not even started.
‘Judges have 270 days to rule on this case’ after all paperwork is filed
Jacob Howard, Legal Director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, previously explained the process to this newspaper.
“Once the record is received, the Supreme Court clerk will issue a briefing schedule,” he said.
“The appellant (Fraser’s attorney) will file an opening brief, the State (prosecutor) will file a response, and then the appellant is permitted to file a reply.”
The briefing process takes up to 84 days and may include even more extensions.
“When the briefing is completed, the court may or may not hear oral argument. The court will then issue a written decision,” Mr Howard added.
A Mississippi Supreme Court staffer also explained: “The brief and replies go to the judges and then they have 270 days to rule on this particular case, unless motions in between slow the case.”
Nobody ever thought that “quiet loon” Wayne Fraser, who was nicknamed “sheepy” because of his curly hair, would leave Mintlaw Academy and go on to stand trial for murder abroad.
But when news of Fraser’s arrest started spreading online, people revealed on social media that he was a “wild card” and a “strange one”.
Before his notoriety, the firearms fanatic was snapped on camera during a visit to the San Angelo Gun Club in Texas with his local university professor partner.
Emails between the couple later seen in court, along with mobile phone photos of black eyes and facial bruises, unmasked Fraser as a horrible wife-beater.
Fraser, an industrial painting and coating foreman before his detention, claimed he and his lover had been “playing” with the deadly weapon which he “accidentally” fired.
However, he offered several conflicting versions of events to explain what had happened before landing in the dock in front of jurors.
During the prosecution’s evidence, they heard that the cold-blooded killer had waited five hours to alert anyone to the tragedy instead of calling 911 right away.
He’d told Sheriff’s deputies the gun was accidentally discharged after phoning one of his victim’s brothers claiming his sibling had shot herself.
Fraser may only serve half his sentence behind bars
The District Attorney put Natalie’s wheelchair on display to the jury as they took in testimony about her final moments with Fraser.
He may be eligible for parole once he serves half his 20-year-long jail sentence.
According to Mississippi law, Fraser may be given the opportunity of early release from custody – under strict conditions – as part of parole, allowing the prisoner to serve the rest of his sentence in the community.
Read more: ‘Madcap’ killer husband was a ‘wild card’ and a ‘strange one’ – former workmates reveal
Other stories:
- Exclusive – Domestic abuser waited 5 hours to report wife’s fatal shooting
- Guilty – Killer Mintlaw gun fan turned deadly firearm on his disabled wife
- Opinion – We’ll have no women left if men keep getting away with murder
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