Prospective St Andrew’s University student killed by his uncle in knife attack

A prospective St Andrew’s student was killed in a knife attack by his uncle.

William Fraser, 21, was attacked by Erlend Fraser on Orkney last spring, suffering 20 stab wounds to the front of his neck, chest, back and left arm.

He was found dead in the toilet of Erlend Fraser’s home, the most significant wound puncturing his heart, Evening Telegraph reports.

The attack occurred after William attended his uncle’s house on the evening of June 19th 2022, after being with friends.

Erlend told doctors that his nephew had turned up at his home and had been “aggressive” and that he reacted to this violence.

The details of the attack are unknown, however Alan Mackay, prosecuting, said Fraser text his own father at around 7am asking him to come to his house, where he admitted to stabbing William Fraser.

His sister and her partner then arrived at the bloody flat, where she said she had “never seen him so excited before”.

Fraser later asked police “what he was looking at” for the killing and later faced a murder charge at the High Court in Glasgow, however prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to the reduced charge of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The hearing heard how Erlend had a mental disorder, described as a “form of learning disability” since birth and which led to an abnormality of mind.

William was talented at computing and had accepted an offer to study at St Andrew’s University, which he later declined to instead work as an IT technician for Orkney local council.

After losing this job to the pandemic, he was said to have been suffering from personal issues.

Mr Mackay said William’s parents and sister had written an emotional victim impact statement with the details of how they had been affected. The said: “William’s tragic passing has left all of us in fear of the future and struggling.

We all feel part of us has died and struggle to find solace in the things we used to enjoy”.

They also had a fundraiser for William’s headstone.