By Seamus McGraw
Caught between a rock and a hard place
The way LoMonoco saw it, for all of her careful planning, Ryan never considered what she might do if someone other than Black were suspected, let alone arrested in connection with her murder. Even though Scott Black had been cleared as a suspect, authorities still believed that he had been the last to see young Natasha alive, and he was pressured to sign a sworn statement to that effect. The prosecution felt the statement would convince jurors that Black had officially been eliminated as a suspect, and thus make it easier to make the case against Fraser.
LoMonoco was troubled by what his client, Black, was being asked to do, he told Stuff. He suspected that perhaps Natasha Ryan was alive. "I always had my doubts about whether the girl was dead," LoMonoco says. "I said to Scott, 'Listen, if this statement isn't correct — I'm not saying you know where she is now — but if you know that she is somewhere or that she's alive... do not sign this statement."
"No worries," Black responded.
Black signed the statement. Years later, it would come back to haunt him when he was forced to plead guilty to charges of lying to police, according to a report in the British newspaper The Guardian.
In the meantime, Fraser went on trial. It was coincidence that his trial for multiple murders, including that of Natasha Ryan, began on April Fool's Day 2003.
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