In short:
Susan Neill-Fraser was convicted in 2010 of murdering her partner, Bob Chappell, aboard their yacht, which was moored off Sandy Bay in Hobart.
asserted
which → convict → Hobart
Neill-Fraser, who was released from prison on parole in 2022, has continued to profess her innocence, but has been unable to speak about this to the media until now.
What's next?
asserted
What → release → media
Neill-Fraser is reportedly assembling a new legal team to pursue further avenues to overturn her conviction.
uncertain
Fraser → assemble → conviction
Convicted murderer Susan Neill-Fraser has given her first interview since a parole condition preventing her from speaking about her case was lifted, saying she "can't remain quiet" as she continues her fight to clear her name.
Neill-Fraser, now 72, was convicted in 2010 after a jury found her guilty of murdering her partner, Bob Chappell, 65, on board their yacht, the Four Winds, which was moored off Hobart on Australia Day 2009.
asserted
which → convict → Day
Mr Chappell's body has never been found.
asserted
body → find → ?
Nor has the murder weapon.
asserted
weapon → have → ?
Neill-Fraser appeared on an episode of Channel Nine's 60 Minutes program last night.
asserted
Fraser → appear → program
When asked how she felt about "finally telling Australia your side of the story", Neill-Fraser said:
"I am nervous but I am very determined.
asserted
I → ask → story
Sitting with a wrongful conviction is like having an infected thorn in your mind; it's there all the time."
asserted
it → sit → mind
She also said she had "probably put myself at risk doing this program".
asserted
she → say → program
"But you can't remain quiet about this sort of thing."
asserted
you → remain → thing
Neill-Fraser told journalist Amelia Adams she felt her life was at risk, and that she feared her fight to clear her name could also lead to her parole being revoked.
uncertain
parole → tell → name
"There are huge vested interests in keeping this quiet and I'd like to say now I'm not depressed and I'm not suicidal, and if I'm found to have suicided, I have not."
There was no further information provided about what she meant by the "huge vested interests".
asserted
she → be → interests
After serving 13 years of her 23-year sentence, Neill-Fraser applied for and was granted parole in 2022.
asserted
Fraser → serve → 2022
A condition that prevented her from speaking to the media about her case was lifted last month.
asserted
that → prevent → case
Since she was first charged, Neill-Fraser has continued to profess her innocence.
asserted
Fraser → charge → innocence
Two appeals — one in 2012 and another in 2021 — against her conviction failed, and she also failed in a bid to have her case heard by the High Court.
asserted
case → fail → Court
Mr Chappell's death was also examined by a coroner, who concluded in findings handed down in 2014 that Neill-Fraser murdered Mr Chappell.
asserted
Fraser → examine → Chappell
Adams said Neill-Fraser was "assembling a new legal team to pursue other avenues to quash her conviction".
asserted
Fraser → say → conviction
Neill-Fraser told the program what she thought happened on board the yacht the night Mr Chappell was killed.
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Chappell → tell → yacht
I don't think it was premeditated.
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it → think → ?
I think what happened was a group of young people, probably inebriated went out to the yacht … for whatever reason and Bob — he was the sort of personality who never got angry unless he felt threatened — I think probably he'd have come up and said, 'Get off my boat' or something like that and it probably escalated from there.
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it → think → that
"
Academic has 'no doubt' Neill-Fraser could clear her name
Flinders University academic and researcher Bob Moles was also interviewed by Channel Nine.
Dr Moles told the program he had "absolutely no doubt at all" that Neill-Fraser would be able to clear her name if certain evidence was presented to the court.
uncertain
evidence → clear → court
He said this was because of three issues that were not part of the previous appeals:
- A theory given to the jury at trial by then-director of public prosecutions Tim Ellis SC about the murder weapon, which Dr Moles said was not based on evidence heard at trial.
- A DNA sample found on the deck of the Four Winds that was matched to then-15-year-old homeless girl Meaghan Vass combined with a statement Ms Vass made during an interview with 60 Minutes in 2019 that she went on board the Four Winds with two males and vomited on the deck after she saw one of them murder Mr Chappell.
-
asserted
one → say → Chappell
Photographs shown to the jury of the Four Winds dinghy that had been tested for blood using luminol, which Dr Moles said "was totally meaningless".
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Moles → show → luminol
"If they were presented to the court I am absolutely confident that if the court was doing its job properly it would have no hesitation in setting aside the conviction,"Dr Moles said.
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Moles → present → conviction,"Dr
Ms Vass, who told the trial she had never been on board the yacht, was a witness in Neill-Fraser's second appeal.
asserted
she → tell → appeal
On the first day, she told the Court of Criminal Appeal she had been on the yacht with three men, at least one of whom assaulted Mr Chappell.
asserted
one → tell → Chappell
On the second day, under cross-examination, she changed her story, saying she had never been on the yacht.
Neill-Fraser's lawyers eventually decided to relieve her and abandon her evidence.
asserted
lawyers → change → evidence
When applying for leave to allow the second appeal, Neill-Fraser's lawyers called an expert witness about the luminol testing of the dinghy, but this evidence was not part of the appeal itself.
asserted
evidence → apply → appeal
In her summary of the crown case at trial, one of the appeal judges, Helen Wood, said: "The state did not rely to any significant extent on the luminol reaction in the dinghy."
asserted
state → say → dinghy
Neill-Fraser and the lies she told police
Neill-Fraser told Channel Nine she and Mr Chappell, who had been together for about 20 years, "were really like an old married couple" who had a "very peaceful and wonderful life".
asserted
who → tell → life
During Neill-Fraser's 2010 trial, the court was told she lied when she told officers she had gone to Bunnings on the afternoon of January 26, 2009, and she lied when she said she had stayed home that night.
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she → tell → January
The prosecution argued these lies were probative of guilt.
asserted
lies → argue → guilt
Neill-Fraser was asked about both of these inconsistencies by Channel Nine.
asserted
Fraser → ask → Nine
She said she thought she had gone to Bunnings that afternoon.
"
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she → say → Bunnings
I don't know but I think I had transposed the days.
asserted
I → know → days
I look back through my statements and I see that I told them half a dozen different things," she said.
"
asserted
she → look → things
I'd never lost my memory before, I didn't understand what was happening …
asserted
what → lose → memory
I can't to this day account for it."
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I → account → it
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia