Wife killer Nat Fraser's conviction appeal to be heard in September Convicted wife killer Nat Fraser's latest appeal will be heard in September. The businessman has twice been found guilty of arranging the murder of his estranged wife Arlene Fraser. An appeal against the second conviction was delayed as his legal team asked for more time to examine newly discovered police documents. Defence QC John Scott told the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh today: "So far there's no hint of new grounds of appeal." Judge Lady Dorrian fixed the full appeal hearing for September 5. Fraser was not present in court. The 54-year-old was jailed for life, being ordered to spend at least 17 years behind bars, in May last year for organising the murder of mother-of-two Arlene whose body has never been found. The ex-fruit and vegetable wholesaler's conviction at the High Court in Edinburgh followed a retrial which lasted five weeks, which heard that Fraser told a former friend that he paid a hitman £15,000 to kill his wife after she began divorce proceedings. Fraser was found guilty of the murder in 2003 but his conviction was quashed in 2011 and a fresh trial was granted after the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court in London, ruled that the initial conviction was unsafe. Fraser has consistently denied involvement in the disappearance of his wife who was 33 when she vanished without trace from her home in New Elgin, Moray on April 28, 1998.