Wrongful Convictions Report

Andrew L. Urban

Death on the Derwent – by Robin Bowles
Scribe Publications, February 19, 2019, 384 pp, $32.99
ISBN:9781925713176

Robin Bowles has been writing crime books for 20 years. She lived and worked in Tasmania from 1977 to 1987; her parents lived there and children & grandchildren still live there. Her connection to the place is deep. And the man for whose 2009 Australia Day murder Sue Neill-Fraser was jailed for 23 years, Bob Chappell, once saved Robin’s widowed mother’s life after a bad fall at her home. So her connection to this story about the case is also deep.

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Andrew L. Urban.

In the view of some, it seems the ‘defence’ perspective of the murder conviction of Sue Neill-Fraser is a ‘tainted view’.  Tainted with the facts, perhaps? One reader has articulated this in the comments thread under my recent article, Who killed Bob Chappell? The cops don’t know but we do…

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Andrew L. Urban.

This past week saw nearly the end (finally) of the seeking leave to appeal process for Hobart’s Sue Neill-Fraser; whether Justice Brett grants her leave to appeal pivots on how the court regards the DNA evidence found at the crime scene. The prosecution has always downplayed it as ‘a red herring’ and repeatedly proposed to the jury and the High Court that it was not a direct deposit but probably transferred on a policeman’s boot. Only if BigFoot is a Tasmanian cop …

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In our February 12, 2019 report (Abuse of Power – Tasmania style), we exposed a tendency by Tasmania’s legal system to frustrate the process in which Sue Neill-Fraser is seeking leave to appeal her murder conviction.  And how frustrating were the delays that have stretched the process over three years.

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Andrew L. Urban.

With great power comes great responsibility, no? No. Not in Tasmania, it seems, where through the example of the Sue Neill-Fraser case, we see the State’s legal apparatus shown up to be anything but responsible. Police abuse their powers, the DPP dismisses DNA evidence and the leaders of the Government ignore vital new information.

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Andrew L. Urban.

It wasn’t only direct, probative evidence of Sue Neill-Fraser’s guilt that was missing in the case that has convulsed Tasmania and concerned the nation. According to Colin McLaren’s new book, Southern Justice (Hachette), evidence went missing during and after the police investigation

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It was around 11 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2019, the second day of the cross examination of author Colin McLaren, that Daryl Coates SC, Tasmania’s DPP, made a theatrical gesture with papers in his right hand, almost smacking his junior in the head, angrily accusing McLaren of having made it all up about Meaghan Vass and her affidavit and never having met her. A pack of lies! He threw his words across the bar table. Continue reading →

Andrew L. Urban.

Within two days, a new website, www.savesue.com has propelled interest in a petition calling for a Royal Commission into the case of Sue Neill-Fraser. It has so far attracted over 2,500 signatories. Launched by filmmaker Eve Ash and a dedicated team, the website and the petition mark a further intensification of the campaign for an independent review of the case, coming amidst the launch of two new books and a 6-part TV series**, all examining the case and coming to the same conclusion: the police investigation was woefully inadequate and the conviction is wrong.

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