Convicted killer Susan Neill-Fraser has spoken publicly in detail for the first time since a parole condition preventing her from speaking to the media was lifted, insisting her campaign to clear her name is continuing.
The 72-year-old was released on parole in 2022 after serving 13 years in prison for the 2009 murder of her partner, Bob Chappell, aboard their yacht on Hobart’s River Derwent.
Mr Chappell’s body has never been found, nor has the alleged murder weapon. Neill-Fraser has consistently maintained her innocence, although multiple legal challenges to her conviction have failed.
Speaking in an interview broadcast on Sunday night, she said she was “placing herself at risk” by discussing the case and had received death threats since her release.
“Sitting with a wrongful conviction is like having an infected thorn in your mind. It’s there all the time,” she said. “But you can’t remain quiet about this sort of thing.”
The restriction on media interviews was removed in September after her legal team discovered it had relied on fake case law contained in an AI-generated report.
Neill-Fraser again denied killing Mr Chappell, but acknowledged that she had told police “one lie” about her whereabouts on the night he disappeared. She said she had gone to Sandy Bay, where the yacht was moored, because she was concerned about the mental health of Mr Chappell’s daughter, but did not want to disclose her difficulties to police.
“But not in any sense of … trying to avoid responsibility for doing something wrong,” she said.
Neill-Fraser said she last saw Mr Chappell when she left the yacht after speaking to him about electrical wiring. “I said, ‘goodbye, I’m going back now’. And he said, ‘yes, yes’,” she said.
She suggested Mr Chappell was probably killed during an “escalated” confrontation with intoxicated young people who had boarded the yacht.
Sarah Schwartz, legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said she understood Neill-Fraser was assembling a legal team in connection with her criminal case.
“One thing that we brought attention to in this case is that wrongful convictions do happen and that there are avenues for individuals to challenge wrongful convictions,” Ms Schwartz said.
She said a challenge could be pursued through the criminal legal process if fresh evidence emerged, or through the establishment of a criminal review commission or a commission of inquiry.
Neill-Fraser’s supporters, including federal MP Andrew Wilkie, have alleged flaws in the police investigation. The Tasmanian Government has repeatedly ruled out establishing an inquiry, while the state’s police association said on Monday it had confidence in the forensic specialists, prosecutors and others involved in the case.
Her two appeals and an attempt to take the case to the High Court have all failed, with judges ruling that there was no fresh and compelling evidence.
One appeal focused on evidence from homeless teenager Meagan Vass, who initially said she had been on the yacht with men who assaulted Mr Chappell. Her DNA was found aboard the vessel, but she later said she had never been there, and her evidence was eventually abandoned during the appeal.
