Convicted Killer Neill-Fraser Reveals Details of Disappearance
Sue Neill-Fraser, a convicted killer, has spoken publicly for the first time since her incarceration, detailing lies told to police after her partner’s disappearance and expressing fears for her safety. She maintains her innocence and disputes the circumstances surrounding Bob Chappell’s death.
What happened
- Sue Neill-Fraser, a 72-year-old woman convicted of murdering her partner Bob Chappell in 2009, has revealed details of her actions following his disappearance.
- She stated she lied to police about her whereabouts on the day of the death, initially claiming to have been at Bunnings Warehouse when CCTV footage showed she was not.
- Neill-Fraser admitted to giving a deliberately false account, claiming she had received a distressing phone call about Chappell’s youngest daughter and went to Sandy Bay to check on her.
- She described the events leading up to Chappell’s death, stating that he was fiddling with the yacht’s electrical wiring when she decided to return to land.
- According to Neill-Fraser, their last words were idle chit-chat.
- She recounted that Chappell’s body was winched up two sets of stairs and maneuvered over the edge of the vessel into an inflatable dinghy.
- She then dumped the body somewhere in the Derwent River.
- Neill-Fraser expressed confusion about how she could have physically accomplished this, citing a slipped disc.
- She also admitted to a deliberate lie about being at Bunnings Warehouse and a nervous, disoriented state following the event.
- Investigators believed Neill-Fraser stood to inherit Chappell’s assets and was motivated by money, a claim she vehemently disputes.
- Flinders University academic Bob Moles believes Neill-Fraser could clear her name if certain evidence, including a DNA sample found on the yacht and Meaghan Vass’s contradictory statements, were presented to the court.
- The case remains unresolved, with Neill-Fraser continuing to fight her conviction.