Family of 1975 murder victim Bertie Frazer ‘failed by RUC investigation’

The family of a Co Armagh man murdered by the IRA in 1975 were “failed by the RUC investigation into his death”, a watchdog report has found.

Bertie Frazer, 47, a part-time member of the Ulster Defence Regiment, was shot dead as he left a farm near Whitecross.

The father of nine was pronounced dead in hospital.

No-one has ever been convicted of his murder.

A Police Ombudsman investigation also found that the level of available archive material is “a stark example of limited police record management”.

The conclusions were made by former police ombudsman Marie Anderson before her retirement on December 31 2025.

She found the initial police response to the murder was “prompt and reflected the standards of the day”.

However, she said the relevant archived RUC material was limited in scope and detail, providing only a partial account of the circumstances surrounding the murder and the subsequent police investigation.

While acknowledging the challenges of investigating complaints about historical matters due to the passage of time and unavailability of relevant witnesses and documentation, Mrs Anderson called it “a stark example of limited police record management”.

Despite the limited documentation, the report said it appears key lines of inquiry were not pursued.

There was also criticism of a detective constable leading the murder investigation, a “lack of engagement” by police with the Frazer family and disposal of a recovered weapon.

The former police ombudsman stated that Mr Frazer was a victim of sectarian violence, and the Provisional IRA alone was responsible for his murder.

She also concluded that, from the failings identified in the investigation, Mr Frazer’s family were failed by the RUC investigation into his murder.

The ombudsman report was received by the Frazer family on Thursday.

They first made a complaint to the Police Ombudsman in 2013 and further statements of complaint in 2014 and 2016.

Responding, Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally said Mr Frazer was “an innocent father of nine children murdered in a sickening, sectarian attack”.

“The pain of such a devastating loss does not fade and my thoughts today are with the Frazer family who I met recently with the Chief Constable,” he said.

“We will take time to study the findings of this report, which highlights the investigative failures, poor record management and a lack of engagement with Mr Frazer’s family by police.

“Policing has developed enormously over the past 50 years and the Police Service of Northern Ireland has greatly improved policies and procedures which guide how we approach criminal investigations today.

“Intelligence handling, training and investigative standards for detectives, forensic opportunities and family liaison processes today are unrecognisable from what were in place at the time of this terrible murder.”