GUILTY Australia - Bruce Saunders, 54, fed into woodchipper, Gympie, Qld, 12 Nov 2017 *arrests in 2021*

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Trial begins for man found dead in wood-chipping machine

Graphic details have been heard in court on day one of the trial into the death of Bruce Saunders.

www.9news.com.au

1.26 min Video

 

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MSN

The trial before Justice Martin Burns is expected to run for a month.

 

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Suggestion Queensland woodchipper death was an accident ‘didn’t make sense’, murder trial hears

Property owner Sharon Beighton tells court she thought ‘where’s Bruce?’ before being told 54-year-old had fallen into woodchipper

www.theguardian.com

Property owner Sharon Beighton tells court she thought ‘where’s Bruce?’ before being told 54-year-old had fallen into woodchipper
Sharon Beighton was initially in shock when told Bruce Saunders had fallen into a woodchipper during a “terrible accident” on her property in 2017.

But Beighton later thought it did not make sense after she asked Gregory Lee Roser questions about the incident, the Brisbane supreme court heard on Tuesday.

 

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https://www.couriermail.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-qld/woman-accused-of-woodchipper-murder-told-friends-she-would-get-everything-if-victim-died-first/news-story/6df061b1aa38f51b0901518a24621c9d?amp

The accused told friends that she would get everything if he died first.

A witness said that Bruce Saunders said that Sharon Graham had hit him.

 

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Woodchipper murder accused ‘didn’t want to be with him, but he had money’

A woman who stands accused of urging two male lovers to kill one of her ex-boyfriends before his body was crushed in a woodchipper had admitted she was only interested in his money.

www.watoday.com.au

 

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Sharon Graham allegedly asked friends to make false statements 'because of insurance' after Bruce Saunders' death

A long-term friend of Ms Graham gave evidence about a phone call she received from her just after Mr Saunders had died, describing her as being "hysterical" and crying.

"She said one of the guys had fallen into the woodchipper," she recalled Ms Graham telling her.

Ms Simpson told the court that about a week or two later, Ms Graham had asked her to write a letter to her lawyer "because of insurance".

"Saying her and Bruce were in a relationship at the time of his death," she said.

Ms Simpson told the court she refused "because it wasn't true".

 

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Murder accused 'sought insurance letter'

Soon after Bruce Saunders was found in a woodchipper, Sharon Graham tried to claim she was still in a relationship with her ex-partner "because of the insurance", a ...

www.sheppnews.com.au

Other neighbours told the court that there were regular parties at the Nambour residence after Mr Saunders' death.

They said people were "coming and going" including Graham in her deceased ex-partner's car and "things being removed from the house".

"It (parties) started after he died and continued on for a number of weeks ... definitely up to Christmas (2017)," neighbour Colleen Paice said.

Ten days after Mr Saunders' funeral, Graham texted a friend saying: "We are going to the Yandina Hotel…GREAT BAND….WOOHOO."


The trial before Justice Martin Burns continues.

 

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Woman asked friend to say she was still with ex-boyfriend found dead in woodchipper, court told

Brisbane supreme court hears Sharon Graham asked a friend to claim she was in a relationship with Bruce Saunders ‘because of the insurance’

www.theguardian.com

Graham told another friend that Saunders had been texting her before his phone fell into the woodchipper and he may have died trying to retrieve it, the court heard.

“Can’t talk I’m devastated Bruce has passed away. He was texting me when his phone must have drop into the wood mulcher and he must of went to grab,” Graham’s text to the friend said.

“Police have said it is tragic accident. Both guys have been vomiting all night.

“As Greg turned around to pick up tree stump he just push button to stop but too late.

“Oh my God I am so sick … Been crying all night. I’m devo.”

 

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Property owner tells of moments after man’s woodchipper death: ‘Where’s Bruce?’

The owner of the property where Bruce Saunders died has told a court it didn't make sense after asking questions about the tragedy.

7news.com.au

Beighton’s granddaughter told the jury Graham would make a “big deal” about how much money Saunders had and that “he would die first and she would get everything”.

Keira-Lee Beighton confirmed Graham also said, “it’s not my fault that he loves me and wants to give me everything”.

However, former work colleagues said Saunders was in debt and had to borrow money to maintain Graham’s lifestyle but never mentioned it to his partner for fear of losing her.

Keren Armstrong said Saunders would ring in tears telling her Graham had hit him.

Another colleague Christeena Grills said a month before his death a “distraught” Saunders had rung saying Graham was verbally abusive.

Saunders had also told her Graham was “domineering and controlling” and that he was “quite scared of her”, the court heard.

Grills said Graham had told Saunders a former partner “knew people who knew how to make someone disappear”.

Graham would also demand money, with Saunders at one stage “caving in” and paying her $11,000, the court heard.

 

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She sounds like a really scary lady. It's difficult to wrap my head around these apparently normal-if not very nice-murdering a person, someone the knew, with a wood chipper, for his insurance-simply awful!

 

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“Oh my God I am so sick … Been crying all night. I’m devo.

Devo is not short for devoted I gather

 

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Devo is not short for devoted I gather

I thought it was devastated. The reports of parties after the murder indicate she was not devo, whatever that may mean!

 

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I thought it was devastated. The reports of parties after the murder indicate she was not devo, whatever that may mean!

Yes I knew what she meant.
I was being sarcastic, hence my roll eyes icon.

 

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https://twitter.com/7NewsSC
7NEWS Sunshine Coast


"She has that effect on men." That's what a jury was told about a woman accused of getting her boyfriend to murder her ex. Bruce Saunders died four years ago near Gympie, his body found in a woodchipper.

I don't get the attraction from looking at any of her photos ?

 

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Man found in woodchipper had a 'safety first' at work approach, court hears

www.9news.com.au

As a butcher, Bruce Saunders had a "safety first" approach at work before his body was found in a woodchipper, a court has heard.

Roser and Koenig told the property's owner after the tragedy that Saunders had been an "absolute idiot on the day" and had been standing on the chipper, leaning back into it, the Brisbane Supreme Court has heard.
Graham's friend Leonie Whyte also earlier told the jury that Koenig and Roser said Saunders' death was an accident after he had been "messing around" with machinery and "wasn't being very careful".

However, work colleagues on Friday said Saunders was safety conscious, always wore protective gear and was careful around band saws as a butcher.

However, work colleagues on Friday said Saunders was safety conscious, always wore protective gear and was careful around band saws as a butcher.
"He was good, always wore his mesh glove, safety was always first with him," Joseph Sciberas told the jury.
Fellow butcher Ross Mills told the court that Saunders would definitely not act recklessly at the workplace.
"He was very tidy, not clumsy, really careful working with the band saw," he said.

 

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Co-accused in bed after woodchipper death

The night Bruce Saunders was found in a woodchipper Sharon Graham moved into his room, soon sharing the...

www.youngwitness.com.au

The night Bruce Saunders was found in a woodchipper Sharon Graham moved into his room, soon sharing the bed with murder co-accused Gregory Lee Roser, a court has heard.

And the day after his death, Graham had allegedly produced Mr Saunders' will, saying he had "left everything to her".

 

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Sharon Graham allegedly had 'a premonition' of a 'terrible accident' before Bruce Saunders' death while tree lopping

A woman accused of plotting the murder of her former partner, whose body was fed into a woodchipper near Gympie, allegedly had a “premonition” about someone being injured in a “terrible” land-clearing accident only weeks before he died, a jury has heard.

 

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Judge rules Sharon Graham to get separate trial from partner Gregory Roser over alleged murder plot

A woman accused of plotting the murder of her former partner, whose body was fed into a woodchipper, will be judged separately to her partner who is also charged with the murder, after the judge decided he was asking too much of the jury.

Sharon Graham and her partner, Gregory Roser, were charged with the murder of 54-year-old Bruce Saunders, who died while tree lopping at a property in Goomboorian near Gympie in November 2017.

The pair were being tried together at the Supreme Court and pleaded not guilty last week.
Supreme Court Justice Martin Burns told the jury they would now only need to consider Mr Roser's matter.

"Sometimes it is asking too much of a jury to expect that you can give separate consideration to the respective cases," Judge Burns said.

"That would be where there is just so much evidence that you need to put it out of your minds, especially when some of the evidence is prejudicial, that to ask you to give the cases separate consideration would be asking you to perform impossible mental gymnastics."

Ms Graham, 61, was remanded in custody, with a date for a new trial to be reviewed on October 21.

 

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Woman allegedly asked lovers why ex-partner wasn’t dead before body found in woodchipper, court hears

Peter Koenig tells trial Sharon Graham asked why Bruce Saunders had not yet been killed one week before alleged murder

www.theguardian.com

A week before Bruce Saunders’ body was found in a woodchipper north of Brisbane, Sharon Graham asked her two lovers why her ex-partner had not already been killed, a court has heard.

 

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‘You trying to say somebody chucked a body in?’: Woodchipper expert on alleged murder

When shown pictures in court of the alleged murder scene, the expert was baffled by blood spatter, a lone branch, and why the victim was not totally consumed.

www.brisbanetimes.com.au

A woodchipper expert was baffled by blood spatter, a branch resting on the machine’s feeder tray, and a victim’s legs not being consumed, when police showed him pictures of the grizzly scene.

The existing Brisbane Supreme Court trial continues, with Roser the sole defendant.