A Scots man is facing a life-long jail sentence after he allegedly shot his wife dead in their US apartment.
Wayne Fraser, from Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire moved to the States to start a new life with his wife, Natalie Ryan-Fraser.
Natalie, who was American, had been visiting her 45-year-old husband at his rented flat in Caledonia, Mississippi while he was working away from their home in San Angelo, Texas, according to AberdeenLive.
But officers were called to Cedar Street at around 8am on Monday, December 30, 2021 following reports of a gun being fired.
The 55-year-old university instructor, who used a wheelchair, was pronounced dead at the scene and Fraser was swiftly arrested. Cops recovered a 9mm pistol from the flat.
Natalie's devastated brother, Kristopher, previously paid a heartfelt tribute to his late sister. He said: "This just doesn’t seem real. She will be dearly missed.
"She was always there for me after mom died. This is just so difficult to swallow. She was definitely one of a kind. Just such a senseless tragedy."
Since being arrested just over a year ago, Fraser, who was 44 at the time of the event, has been held at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center in Mississippi.
Prosecutors have charged the north-east man with killing his wife and he is set to go on trial next month. It is understood the trial will start at the end of February.
Mississippi is one of 32 states that still carry the death penalty, with lethal injection the usual method, however the use is rarer than in some other states.
In December, Thomas Edwin Loden Jr., 58, who raped and killed a 16-year-old girl in Mississippi, was put to death by lethal injection, becoming the second inmate to be executed in the state in 10 years.
It is believed Fraser won't face death as he has been charged with a lesser form of murder.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
