THE family of Arlene Fraser said it was time to "lock the cell door" on her husband after he was convicted for the second time of her murder.

Arlene's 49-year-old sister Carol Gillies, her 71-year-old father Hector McInnes and mother Isabelle Thompson, 66, said they have now accepted Nat Fraser will never tell them what happened to the 33-year-old.

They had asked Fraser, 53, to reveal the whereabouts of her body after he stood trial and was convicted in 2003, but yesterday said they would not make such a plea this time.

After Fraser was jailed for a minimum of 17 years for hiring a hitman to kill the mother-of-two, Mrs Gillies said: "He'll never tell us. Just lock the cell and leave him."

She added: "We've gone through two trials, we've all been witnesses. From this day forward, as far as I'm concerned, Nat Fraser can take the information he has in his head back to the cell. I don't want to know any more because it is just too much.

"I'm moving on. I'm taking Arlene with me, but I'm moving on."

Arlene disappeared on April 28, 1998, after seeing her children off to school.

Her disappearance soon became a murder inquiry, but after 14 years, and one of the biggest police investigations ever seen in Scotland, two trials and years of legal wrangling, the mystery of who actually ended her life or where her remains are has never been solved.

Mrs Gillies added: "Every time I hear those words on the radio or television, 'remains have been found', I think maybe it is Arlene but I've got to accept that it never will be.

"I have been under the impression Nat had a human side to him in that he can see our suffering, he can see the pain we are in. I always thought 'one day, one day' but it's not going to happen, so he is on his own now."

Arlene's parents, who separated when she was a young girl, found their lives bound together again as they searched for a trace of their missing daughter.

Mrs Thompson said of the verdict: "I was very nervous. We tried to pass the time waiting for the verdict and then when it came I felt like just staying where I was, I ww want to get up."

Mrs Thompson said she felt "stunned" when she heard one of the jurors announce the word "guilty". Fraser was convicted by a majority.

Asked if she expected Fraser to try to fight the conviction, Mrs Thompson said: "He will. When is enough going to be enough? How many appeals has he had already? There should be a time when enough is enough."

The family said they believed they knew who else had been involved in the actual killing but would not reveal the name of the person.

They also backed changing the law to allow previous information about an accused to be shown to juries, saying an alleged assault by Fraser on Arlene shortly before she disappeared should have been taken into account.

At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, Judge Lord Bracadale sentenced Fraser to a minimum of 17 years in prison, taking account of the time he has already served following his previous conviction, which was quashed by the Supreme Court when new evidence came to light.

Lord Bracadale told Fraser: "You instigated in cold blood the premeditated murder of your wife and mother of your children, then aged 10 and five years.

"The murder and disposal of the body must have been carried out with ruthless efficiency for there is not a trace of Arlene Fraser from that day to this and her bereft family continue to live with no satisfactory knowledge of what happened to her remains."

Grampian Police yesterday welcomed the conviction and praised the strength of Arlene's family since the start of the investigation.

Detective Chief Superintendent Campbell Thomson said: "Our immediate thoughts are obviously with Arlene's family. Hector, Cathy, Isabelle, Bill, Carol and Steven have shown such courage throughout the last 14 years."

The Crown Office said the case highlights its determination to bring criminals to justice regardless of how long ago their crimes may have been committed.