Arlene Fraser murder trial: Witness accused of lying over police statement Published on Wednesday 2 May 2012 15:09 THE farmer Nat Fraser claims may have killed his estranged wife Arlene faced suggestions in court today that he had lied to a murder trial jury. Witness told trial that Nat Fraser confessed to paying a hitman Arlene Fraser disappeared in April 1998 Hector Dick told police in 1999 that the accused had never told him what he had done The allegation from Fraser's defence QC, denied by witness Hector Dick, came as the lawyer examined a statement Mr Dick gave to police 18 months after Arlene Fraser disappeared. Mr Dick, now 56, has told the trial that Fraser said he had paid a hitman to kill his wife, who vanished in April 1998. However, the court heard that, in October 1999, Mr Dick said to police: "Nat has never told me what he's done." The 33-year-old mother-of-two, of New Elgin, Moray, vanished on April 28 1998. She has not been seen since and no body has ever been found. Businessman Fraser, 53, denies acting with others to murder his wife and says that if the alleged offence was committed, then it could have been carried out by Mr Dick. Mr Dick, of Mosstowie, Elgin, is giving evidence for a fifth day at the trial of his former friend at the High Court in Edinburgh. The witness told the court last week that Fraser admitted paying a hitman £15,000 to kill his wife. Mr Dick said Fraser told him his wife's body had been burned and her teeth "ground up." Fraser also said in the weeks after his wife's disappearance that she would "never be found," Mr Dick told the court. John Scott QC, defending, today pointed Mr Dick to a voluntary statement he gave to police on October 12 1999, less than two weeks after he was charged by police with attempting to pervert the course of justice for "lying about a car" thought to be relevant to the investigation into Mrs Fraser's disappearance. In the statement, the court heard Mr Dick told officers: "Nat has never told me what he's done but my opinion is he was involved in his wife's disappearance." Mr Scott suggested that what Mr Dick said to police was the truth and questioned: "Why not just tell the police everything that you're now telling us had been said by Nat Fraser?" Mr Dick said he had been "confused" by Fraser, later adding: "We hadn't crossed that threshold. This was all about the car at that point. Mr Scott put it to the witness: "I'm suggesting that what you're saying in evidence here is a lie." "No, what I'm saying in evidence here is correct," Mr Dick said. Mr Scott went on: "You are either lying to police again in your statement or you're lying to this jury." Mr Dick replied: "I never understood what was right and what was wrong with Nat's stories."