for that philip fraser case why doesnt the police check for some dna where the alleged killer was spending at the couple's house where he was staying the night?or better yet why not check for dna where he spent money at the gas station they can check for dna there also

for that philip fraser case why doesnt the police check for some dna where the alleged killer was spending at the couple's house where he was staying the night?or better yet why not check for dna where he spent money at the gas station they can check for dna there also

Phillip was murdered in 1988, which was still fairly long before DNA technology became feasible; it was expensive, rare, and not very reliable because of the limited evidence it could provide at that time.

I believe it was at least a couple months before all the connections were made between the hitchhiker sighting at the gas station and at the Olson residence. By that time, whatever DNA and fingerprints he left behind could have disappeared.

Honestly, I think Phillip's murderer is already incarcerated. I strongly believe the hitchhiker was serial killer Michael Wayne McGray. Do a google search of him.

ok thanks ill check it up

i read he was a canadian killer but who was the couple that let him spend the night were they american or canadian?

i read he was a canadian killer but who was the couple that let him spend the night were they american or canadian?
Eddie and Pauline Olson are Canadian. They lived in Kitwanga, British Columbia.

Phillip was murdered in 1988, which was still fairly long before DNA technology became feasible; it was expensive, rare, and not very reliable because of the limited evidence it could provide at that time.

I believe it was at least a couple months before all the connections were made between the hitchhiker sighting at the gas station and at the Olson residence. By that time, whatever DNA and fingerprints he left behind could have disappeared.

Honestly, I think Phillip's murderer is already incarcerated. I strongly believe the hitchhiker was serial killer Michael Wayne McGray. Do a google search of him.

Wow, he looks like the composite! Good sleuthing, zach! My question is, did we ever hear what the murder method was in this case? I don't recall it being mentioned in the segment. Is there any possible DNA they could have gotten from the killer? The two should be compared!

Wow, he looks like the composite! Good sleuthing, zach! My question is, did we ever hear what the murder method was in this case? I don't recall it being mentioned in the segment. Is there any possible DNA they could have gotten from the killer? The two should be compared!

The segment didn't say how Phillip was killed. They do say that his body was found six weeks after he was seen with the hitchhiker, and about 70 miles from the Olsons' home. It's safe to assume he was murdered within mere hours after leaving the 40 Mile Flats cafe/gas station where he was last seen and shortly before the hitchhiker broke down while driving Phillip's car then was picked up by the Olsons. Since it was 6 weeks before Phillip's body was found, his body might have been too badly decomposed for coroners to determine his cause of death.

Despite the decomposition, the RCMP were able to confirm whose body it was by obtaining dental records from Alaska in quick fashion; since Phillip's parents filed a missing persons report and he was thought to have been potentially a homicide victim by that time.

However, information on the internet indicates McGray murdered most of his victims by stabbing. Perhaps Phillip stopped for a short break if he wanted to use a roadside restroom or stretch his legs, etc. Then the killer snuck up behind him and slit his throat or stabbed him in the chest.

Michael Wayne McGray definitely looks to be the most likely suspect in Philip's death.

Have any of the Frasier witnesses come out and said McGray was the guy?

WOW! Looks just like the comp.

Michael Wayne McGray definitely looks to be the most likely suspect in Philip's death.

A suspect, certainly, but it is interesting to note that McGray hasn't confessed to Philip's murder (he did to many others - but of course this is hardly determinative). I would hope that police would try to determine if he had be placed in the Yukon/northern BC area during the time required - I had a lengthy post in another thread on this case relating to the killer's movements and am, frankly, surprised this avenue hasn't played out better, considering the limited population and routes in the area.

One caveat about McGray is his self-professed "searing hunger to kill," could such a person not have killed the Olsens given the easy opportunity to do so?

One caveat about McGray is his self-professed "searing hunger to kill," could such a person not have killed the Olsens given the easy opportunity to do so?

I'd say anything is possible when it comes to serial killers. Maybe McGray didn't think he could overtake both of the Olsons without causing a stir, possibly leading to someone calling 911. The Olsons were in a suburban neighborhood IIRC, whereas Philip was killed in a remote location. He may have thought it was too risky. On a side note, I wonder if anyone has thought it prudent to show the Olsons a picture of McGray to see if he's the same man that stayed at their house.

I'd say anything is possible when it comes to serial killers. Maybe McGray didn't think he could overtake both of the Olsons without causing a stir, possibly leading to someone calling 911. The Olsons were in a suburban neighborhood IIRC, whereas Philip was killed in a remote location. He may have thought it was too risky. On a side note, I wonder if anyone has thought it prudent to show the Olsons a picture of McGray to see if he's the same man that stayed at their house.

The Olsens were in a pretty isolated area as well; many of McGray's kills were in urban areas, so I doubt that it concerned him much one way or the other. Regardless, it's not determinative one way or the other, of course. I would hope McGray was investigated - some pictures of him do resemble the composite and he certainly had the willingness to kill.

I felt compelled to join this forum after lurking here for over two years but much more frequently in the past year. I am extremely impressed with the intelligence and objectivity of most of the posters here.

The cause of death for Phillip was said to be gunshot by a person who posted in another thread claiming to have grown up with him. Having said that, said poster also claimed that Phillip died in 1983 when in reality it was in June of 1988. I noticed UM categorized this as an "Unexplained Death" but I'm unsure on what basis such categorizations were made.

Does anyone have the height and weight [at the time] of Michael Wayne McGray? The hitchhiker was said to be 5'9 and 225 pounds.

By chance is this the same Tina Frocklage that was featured on the episode? I am unable to post links but this is the Facebook profile of the person I am referring to:

Facebook /tfrocklage

Incidentally, there is information about Dr. Robert Fraser online which leads me to believe he is still alive and possibly even practicing medicine in Alaska or at least still active in the medical community in some capacity.

Perhaps he saw all the guns in the basement and feared he'd be staring at another in his face if he made a move towards the Olsens.

As far as why he didn't kill the married couple, many serial killers get the urge, then kill and its out of their system for a while. It's possible after killing Philip, he did not feel the need to kill again so soon.

As for the composite, it doesn't look anything like Michael McGray to me. McGray looks more like George Lucas ith a mullet than he does that sketch. Doesn't mean it isn't him though.

I'm sure this has been brought up in another thread, but the thing that I find so unsettling is the whole chain of events. Philip tells the hitchhiker that he needs to go into the cafe, ultimately decides not to, gets into his car, pulls back onto the road, and then what? Unfortunately we don't know exactly what transpired between the two, other than he stopped for the hitchhiker (initially), began to drive off, then the guy grabs the door, Philip STOPS and then lets him into his car. Why would Philip stop? Or perhaps, why be so indecisive? Based off of what he told to the couple he stayed with, he was able to learn quite a bit from Philip about who he was and where he was going. I don't know, but if I begrudgingly let the hitchhiker into my car as what appeared to have happened, I wouldn't have said anything to the guy.

I'm sure this has been brought up in another thread, but the thing that I find so unsettling is the whole chain of events. Philip tells the hitchhiker that he needs to go into the cafe, ultimately decides not to, gets into his car, pulls back onto the road, and then what? Unfortunately we don't know exactly what transpired between the two, other than he stopped for the hitchhiker (initially), began to drive off, then the guy grabs the door, Philip STOPS and then lets him into his car. Why would Philip stop? Or perhaps, why be so indecisive?

I have actually found this to be among the most disturbing unexplained incidents in the history of UM. What had to have been said to 1) encourage Philip to begin to roll away, and then 2) get him to finally brake his vehicle, and let the stranger in? I'm not sure if we will EVER know the answers to those questions. The speculation, however, is amazingly unsettling.

I wonder (bread) if Phillips killer was caught. I always assumed the killer was American maybe a drifter up in Alaska trying to get back to the 48 states and needed money and a ride to get there. or is he Canadian? UM said the killer was familiar with Seattle and another big city name in Canada. They probably got this info from detectives who interviewed the couple who offered him a place to stay.

I do not think he is currently incarcerated. then again who knows? he could be in prison for another murder or theft or rape. but I still think he is free and living in America. I bet he was so scared that he lost a lot of weight and probably lost weight on purpose to change his ID.

As far as why he didn't kill the married couple, many serial killers get the urge, then kill and its out of their system for a while. It's possible after killing Philip, he did not feel the need to kill again so soon.

As for the composite, it doesn't look anything like Michael McGray to me. McGray looks more like George Lucas ith a mullet than he does that sketch. Doesn't mean it isn't him though.

There aren't many pictures of McGray with a clean-shaven face available on google. But I still think he could be the man in the composites. He also fits the profile of a drifter/hitchhiker.

As for Eddie and Pauline Olson (the couple who picked up the hitchhiker), he didn't really have a legitimate reason to harm them. In the segment, Eddie speculated about his case of guns he had in the room where the hitchhiker slept, but I think he only speculated on that AFTER realizing he and his wife were aiding a potential killer.

Remember, Phillip's body was found only about 70 miles from the Olsons' home. He was still fairly close to Phillip's body when the Olsons picked him up which means he still could have easily been caught by a state trooper who might have been passing by. He had a priority to get away from the dump site and get rid of the car as soon as possible. He saw a chance to make some money with the car by selling it to Olson but he couldn't wait that long because the authorities might have been hot on his trail and he couldn't risk getting caught. Plus, if he had murdered the Olsons, he would have left a much bigger trail. That on top of the fact he didn't feel the urge to do such a dirty deed again so soon.

dynoguy88 posted a really intriguing possibility in this thread:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=4488478&postcount=25

And zack007attack makes some great theories as well:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=4552916&postcount=42

I think the hitchhiker ultimately was trying to flee to Seattle by any means necessary, and as quickly as possible. But I think the trail runs cold at the car wash in Prince George. As mentioned in that thread, Prince George is a transportation hub where he could have gone anywhere in any direction, but based off of the timeline he was always headed south, and I believe he mentioned to the Olsons about wanting a plane ticket to Seattle in exchange for the car. If he took on Philip's persona of going to Seattle for med school, that would be an easy escape plan. If he stayed in Canada for much longer he was bound to get caught. There's also debate if his killer was Canadian or American. I think he's Canadian based off of the Olson's account of him initially taking out one wallet and then secretively opening another wallet and paying them $20 in American. It was probably his first instinct to open his own wallet and then realized it would have been a red flag paying them in Canadian money.

If I had more time and patience I'd cross reference murders in Canada in 1988 and see if any of those details match up with Philip's case.

https://criminali.st/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/johnmartincrawford-1.jpg
Canadian serial killer John Crawford

https://unsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/existing/une_phillip_innes_fraser4.jpg
Fraser's killer.

Maybe?

https://criminali.st/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/johnmartincrawford-1.jpg
Canadian serial killer John Crawford

https://unsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/existing/une_phillip_innes_fraser4.jpg
Fraser's killer.

Maybe?

Doesn’t fit the profile. Crawford only killed aboriginal women and all his crimes were sexual in nature.

The composites of the suspect in this case has given me creeps ever since I was a kid almost 100 years ago in the early 90s. Thumbing through the unsolved website I came across someone that reminded me of him. Roger Hoan Brady, killed a police officer in 93. https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Martin_Ganz
The area could work as well, Oregon is pretty close to Washington if I remember my geography correctly.
This is probably a dead thread, but heck, I still registered just to share that.

The composites of the suspect in this case has given me creeps ever since I was a kid almost 100 years ago in the early 90s. Thumbing through the unsolved website I came across someone that reminded me of him. Roger Hoan Brady, killed a police officer in 93. https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Martin_Ganz
The area could work as well, Oregon is pretty close to Washington if I remember my geography correctly.
This is probably a dead thread, but heck, I still registered just to share that.

Wow. Looks exactly like him:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MJIkXgTw1Ew/WQF8-_6hqFI/AAAAAAAAEPI/hK0-GK127yoh2_lAXavp24bpDt6Cib9BgCLcB/s320/roger%2Bbrady%2Bcalifornia%2Bdeath%2Brow.jpg

Wow. Looks exactly like him:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MJIkXgTw1Ew/WQF8-_6hqFI/AAAAAAAAEPI/hK0-GK127yoh2_lAXavp24bpDt6Cib9BgCLcB/s320/roger%2Bbrady%2Bcalifornia%2Bdeath%2Brow.jpg

Holy hell. That's so close it's scary..........

That is a pretty amazing resemblance. :eek:

I wonder if Gaye and Tina Frocklage and Eddie and Pauline Olson have seen that photo.

The way that Tina and Gaye Frocklage describe the suspect as really giving them the creeps, thinking he looked like he escaped from a mental institution, I feel like they'd be able to recognize him as well. This case has stood out to me, as well as Curt Sova, the most.

This S04 Philip Fraser segment is extremely unsettling. The remote nature of the locale where he was driving through & the brutal nature of the crime really creeped me out.

It seems fairly obvious that the hitch-hiker was the one that committed the murder of PF. It's not clear if it was anyone that the authorities already knew/know about, however. It also definitely seems that the hitch-hiker found out a lot of personal info. about Philip Fraser (probably from asking him about himself as they were driving) so he could kill him & at least briefly assume his identity.

It was interesting that the owner of the remote cafe & her daughter (who ran it with her) both mentioned that the hitch-hiker seemed "off" and that they were really glad when he left; the daughter said he seemed like he escaped from a mental institution. This is so true - there are some people out there that just give off bad "vibes", and he was obviously one of them. I've definitely run into people like this before.

I'm sure this has been brought up in another thread, but the thing that I find so unsettling is the whole chain of events. Philip tells the hitchhiker that he needs to go into the cafe, ultimately decides not to, gets into his car, pulls back onto the road, and then what? Unfortunately we don't know exactly what transpired between the two, other than he stopped for the hitchhiker (initially), began to drive off, then the guy grabs the door, Philip STOPS and then lets him into his car. Why would Philip stop? Or perhaps, why be so indecisive? Based off of what he told to the couple he stayed with, he was able to learn quite a bit from Philip about who he was and where he was going. I don't know, but if I begrudgingly let the hitchhiker into my car as what appeared to have happened, I wouldn't have said anything to the guy.

This is one of the biggest unanswered questions I have about the way this segment was presented. As was presumably observed by the cafe owner & her daughter, this is what happened:

First, as the hitch-hiker is leaving the cafe (after eating), he approaches PF in the parking lot & asks him for a ride. PF is hesitant & says he's going into the cafe to eat, and the hitch-hiker goes on his way.

However, not long after, PF (who decided not to go into the cafe after all) drives towards the hitch-hiker & as he drives past him, appears to slow down & say something to him. Right afterwards, the hitch-hiker runs after the car, grabs the door - and then gets in the car. So, it seems that PF was being wishy-washy re: whether he wanted to pick the guy up or not. And, if he really didn't want to pick the guy up...did he let the guy the guy in the car because he was forceful/aggressive, and PF was being too polite?! to tell the hitcher to get out of the car?! The hitcher was much bigger than PF (who had a thin build, based on the segment). So, it's possible/probable that the hitcher intimidated him.

That all being said - this whole situation is puzzling, because if he really didn't want to pick up the guy, he should have gone in the cafe to eat (or else spent some time in there), and then waited until the hitch-hiker had left the area before leaving. Of course, he may have still passed by him while driving - but it would have been a lot easier to avoid him if he was speeding down the highway.

I guess we'll never really know what happened here.

Had Phillip been having car problems?

It's been awhile since I have seen this and I think I know why Phillip might have acted hesitant as to drive-by or stop to let the hitch-hiker into his car. Maybe Phillip believed that if he didn't give a ride to him, that Phillip might be stranded down the road. Eventually, the guy walking (or riding with someone else~ might request to be dropped off) might be there in a pissed-off mood. There are people who thrive on revenge and retribution. They get a kick going out of their way to upset others.

Suppose Phillip gives him a ride with the thought that his car will eventually break down and the hitch hiker will walk away looking for another ride. I don't think that we'll ever know what transpired and led to his death.

Had Phillip been having car problems?

It's been awhile since I have seen this and I think I know why Phillip might have acted hesitant as to drive-by or stop to let the hitch-hiker into his car. Maybe Phillip believed that if he didn't give a ride to him, that Phillip might be stranded down the road. Eventually, the guy walking (or riding with someone else~ might request to be dropped off) might be there in a pissed-off mood. There are people who thrive on revenge and retribution. They get a kick going out of their way to upset others.

Suppose Phillip gives him a ride with the thought that his car will eventually break down and the hitch hiker will walk away looking for another ride. I don't think that we'll ever know what transpired and led to his death.

It's possible. I never thought of that. I don't know if PF was having car problems or not; it was never addressed either way in the segment. However, if he was having car problems - your reasoning as to why he grudgingly let the guy in his car makes sense.

That being said, if there was something wrong with his car - he didn't seem to check on this when he stopped at the cafe (where the hitcher asked him for a ride). I.e., the cafe owner & her daughter noted that after he stopped & parked the car, he appeared to be looking for something in his car - maybe he was looking for something in his back-seat, that he wanted to make sure he brought with him?!

And, they didn't say that he opened up his car hood - which would presumably be something you would do if you thought there was an issue with the mechanics/operation of the car. But, he didn't go in the cafe to get anything to eat, and it wasn't clear if he got gas.

I guess this case hits close to home for me because I have driven cross-country alone (not recently, though), though never in as remote of an area as PF was driving through. So, I can unfortunately see how something like this can happen to someone.